The Bottle Bill and Glass Recycling in West Virginia

Millions of dollars are spent each year for cleaning up litter, because as of now there is no bottle bill in West Virginia. Glass recycling in West Virginia would be a very profitable endeavor, and at the same time it would clean up the environment. Glass recycling in West Virginia is far behind other states because most of the litter ends up in the landfills. The remedy for such waste would be for West Virginia to adopt a bottle bill. The lawmakers can't come to an agreement on the proposed bottle bill. The people that oppose the bill see a 10 cent refundable deposit as nothing more than another tax.

The bottle bill has been passed by a handful of states already and is working well to encourage recycling. Glass recycling in West Virginia would be greatly improved if the bottle bill was passed into law. If the bottle bill were to pass into law, the residents would then pay a 10 cent deposit on their beverage bottles, and when they returned the bottles to the supermarket or to the recycling center they would get their deposits back. The bottle bill should not be seen as a tax, and it isn't a tax. Paying the deposit will just be an incentive to return the glass bottles for recycling. It's as easy as that. Glass recycling in West Virginia is falling by the wayside because the majority of the glass bottles ends up littering the land or ending up in the landfills.

The citizens of West Virginia should write their congressmen asking for the bottle bill to be passed. Glass recycling in West Virginia would create jobs in the glass recycling industry, and at the same time it would reduce the litter. The West Virginia Recycling Act was mandated before 2000, and if the bottle bill were passed it would help West Virginia comply with that act. The goals are that by January 1, 2000 that 30 percent of the population would be recycling, and by January 1, 2010 that 50 percent of the population would be recycling.

Glass recycling in West Virginia would save the tax payers money in the long run because the state spends over $3 million a year cleaning up the litter. The bottle bill would be responsible for reducing the prices of groceries in the supermarket, because as it is when bottles are littered on farmland farmers have to pay to have the litter removed, because litter damages livestock and crops. Any money saved by the farmers could be passed on to the consumers. There are so many reasons to pass the bottle bill. A 10 cent bottle deposit could save the state of West Virginia millions of dollars if the two houses of legislature could agree to pass the bill where it can be signed into law by the president.

If you live in West Virginia and you are interested in helping the environment, and you want to stop waste from accumulating, please write your congressman. The best way to institute change is to take a stand and support glass recycling in West Virginia.