Maryland, My Maryland

Chesapeake Bay Mag, Could MD Bottle Trade-In Bill Help Solve Plastic Pollution Problem?

Readers of a certain age might remember something called “deposit bottles,” those soft drink bottles you could take back to the store after you’ve emptied them and get a few cents back. They could be coming back thanks to a pair of bills working their way through the Maryland General Assembly.

Known as the Maryland Bottle Bill, it would lead to deposit fees of 10 cents on bottles of 24 ounces or less and 15 cents on larger bottles. The idea is to sharply reduce the amount of pollution from plastic bottles, reduce litter and at the same time encourage recycling in the state.

More than half the trash in the Anacostia River and Baltimore Harbor, two Chesapeake Bay tributaries that have been declared impaired by the Environmental Protection Agency, comes from discarded bottles, said state Sen. Benjamin Brooks, a Baltimore County Democrat and lead sponsor of the Senate version of the bill.

“Litter floating down our waterways is contributing to a plastic pollution crisis,” he told the Senate Education, Energy and Environment Committee during a hearing last Wednesday (March 5). Meg: Do you want to say last week? Not sure how you want to do the time element.

Most of the bottles that wash up seem to come of the streets from stormwater runoff. If the cities would control their stormwater this would also be significantly reduced.  

“Maryland,” he said, “has a beverage container and plastic pollution crisis and a bottle bill is proven to solve that problem. It has the potential to transform our state and reduce cost to local government.”

Christopher Williams, of the Anacostia Watershed Society, said the plastic “pollutes public spaces and fouls wildlife habitat, interfering with foraging, feeding and other behaviors.” And studies have found that microplastics, created when plastic bottles decompose, damage reproductive systems in sea life and harm humans.

My goodness, what a hassle that would be for both consumers and retailers. Theoretically, but not really practically, all these plastic bottles are recyclable, and hardly anybody recycles them. And a dime isn't worth what it used to be in the good old days before Bidenflation, and it's dubious that it would produce a significant rate of return. 

The Wombat has Rule 5 Sunday: Sleeping In ready as usual at The one and only Other McCain.