Could NY double bottle deposits to 10 cents? Support grows, criticism persists

NEW YORK (PIX11) -- It's a pretty common sight in New York City -- people with bags full of bottles and cans that they've gathered to take to deposit locations and receive 5 cents in return for each bottle or can they turn in. 

That 5-cent amount has gone unchanged for more than four decades. Efforts to change it, as well as other aspects of the deposit program, failed in the New York legislative session that ended last month. However, the sponsors of the legislation, called the Bigger Better Bottle Bill, are now saying they will bring it back with changes that will let more items get more cash back, despite some criticism of the effort. 

The deposit process was on display at a bottle and can redemption center on St. James Place and James Street in Lower Manhattan on Wednesday. 

There, a constant stream of people brought bags and bags of cans and bottles. Each delivery resulted in a few dollars for each person, called canners.

However, as a cold drink vendor who goes by the name "Big Willie" who was outside of the redemption center mentioned, the few dollars that each person received could be doubled. 

"That would be a boon," he said. "If [the rate] is 10 cents, all you need is 10 cans." 

He was talking about the new legislation that's set to head to Albany in the next session that would double the amount of each deposit, to 10 cents, from 5 cents. 

Part of the reason for the proposed change is that the 5-cent rate has declined in value over the more than four decades that it's been in place. 

It was passed into law in 1982. When adjusted for inflation, that's worth 16 cents in 2024 dollars. To put it another way, the 5 cents that people get now for each bottle or can would have been worth only 2 cents back when the legislation first passed. 

Another aspect of the new bill would expand the types of bottles and cans that would qualify for deposit redemption. 

Currently, only water, soft drink, and beer bottles and cans qualify. The proposed legislation would add things like iced tea, coffee drink, and sports drink bottles to the list of what's eligible. 

In recent years, there's been a variety of rallies and demonstrations in support of efforts to expand the bottle redemption law. 

However, as Michael Correra, the executive director of the Metropolitan Package Store Association and the owner of a wine and liquor store, pointed out, the law's requirement that vendors provide space for turned-in bottles and cans to be stored, is a non-starter for him. 

"It would be detrimental to our small businesses," he said in an interview. "We don't have the space, we don't have the manpower," he said. "It's an undue burden."

He also said that raising the redemption rate to 10 cents from 5 cents adds too great a cost to drinks that are purchased. 

On his first point, though, the primary sponsor of the Bigger Better Bottle Bill said that she agrees.  

"I was never thrilled with the idea of wine and liquor bottles," said Assemblymember Deborah Glick, a Democrat from Manhattan. She said that the new legislation, while it expands the types of bottles and cans that could be redeemed, won't include wine and liquor bottles. 

Whether that exemption is enough to get the bill to pass, after it failed in the 2024 legislative session, is an open question. Glick said that it has to pass. 

"We have landfills in New York State that are reaching their useful life," Glick said.

Connecticut also has a 5-cent deposit. It and New York are among only 10 states that have any deposit. Michigan and Oregon's deposit amount is 10 cents. New Jersey has no bottle deposit, but one is being considered by the legislature in the Garden State.