Santa Monica : Recycle Plan for Wine Bottles
Wine cooler bottles will soon be worth an extra five cents for ecology-minded Santa Monicans who recycle them.
The City Council Tuesday night voted unanimously to give tentative approval to an ordinance attaching a five-cent redemption value to wine and spirit cooler containers. The motion, proposed by council member Alan Katz, was amended to make Jan. 1, 1989, the effective starting date.
Katz said he hoped the state would adopt similar legislation. The ordinance was designed to fill a gap created by existing state recycling laws that do not include wine coolers.
“This ordinance is considered necessary due to the drastic increase in the number of wine coolers sold since 1982 . . .,” a city staff report said. “Littered wine cooler and spirit cooler containers are contributing significantly and in rapidly increasing proportion to the destruction of the natural beauty of the city’s streets and parks and is burdening the city’s solid waste disposal plan.”
Gary Bamberg, who said he represented the California Wine Institute, asked the council to reject the measure, saying it punishes the retailer.
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