Economic and Environmental Benefits of a Deposit System for Beverage Containers in the State of Washington Dr. Jeffrey Morris, Sound Resource Mgt. Rick Hlavka, Green Solutions Bill Smith, City of Tacoma

Background City of Tacoma planned to transition to a fully automated curbside recycling system Decision required to add glass to recycling or not collect it curbside anymore –Glass is currently collected separately –Glass is a contaminant to the other commodities –Pierce County recently dropped curbside glass collection

History of Container Deposits in Washington Prior to 1970 deposit glass bottles were the norm Phased out by aluminum cans and “no deposit no return” bottles 1970 Citizen initiative to establish nation’s first container deposit system Industry responded with the “Model Litter Control Act” that established a litter tax Both initiatives were on the ballot in 1971 Deposit system defeated 51%-49%

States with Container Deposits

Economic Benefits of a Deposit System More Jobs –Recycling Creates jobs at a 7:1 ratio over disposal Increased Revenues –More Recycling Revenues from increased container recovery Collectors Residents Businesses Decreased collection and disposal costs

Environmental Benefits of a Deposit System Reduced GHG Emissions Increased Public Health Reduced emissions of chemical substances into the air, water and land Retention of natural open spaces not needed for energy or resource production Reduced Litter

$ Economic Benefits for WA Unredeemed Deposits$ 36.4 million Increased Material Sales$ 28.1 million Decreased Collection Costs$ 1.8 million Decreased Disposal Costs$ 3.5 million Decreased Recycling Costs$ 4.0 million Decreased Litter Costs$ 1.1 million Increased Jobs$ Net Benefit Total Economic Benefits$72.36 million

System Costs Retail StoresRedemption Centers Third Party Organization Millions of Containers 3,643 Cost Per Container $.0407$.0162$.0221 Total Cost (Millions) $148.27$59.02$80.51

System Costs Costs at Retailers are the highest due to wages paid to store personnel. TPO costs based on small data samples due to difficulty obtaining cost data from the few that exist. –RBRC, Carpet Alliance Redemption Centers the least expensive due to some automation from reverse vending machines

$ Environmental Benefits Reduced GHG Emissions$11.3 million Avoided Acidification$ 1.2 million Avoided Eutrophication$ < $500 Reduced DALY$ 3.6 million Reduced Human Toxicity$ 600,000 Reduced Ecological Toxicity$ 2.5 million Reduced Disposal Impacts$ 300,000 Reduced Litter ↑ Health$ 1.4 million Total Env. Benefits$20.9 million

Life Cycle Impact Categories & Estimated Costs of Releases Global warming: CO2 $36/ton Human toxicity: lead $4,293/ton Ecological Toxicity: 2,4-D $3,280/ton Criteria air pollutants: DALYs (disability-adjusted life $45,771 per year Acidification: SO2 $260/ton Eutrophication: N $4/ton

Total Energy Usage: SLO RLC vs. TLC

Net Energy Usage: SLO RLC vs. TLC

Net Greenhouse Gas: SLO RLC vs. TLC

Net Acidification : SLO RLC vs. TLC

Net Eutrophication: SLO RLC vs. TLC

Net DALYs: SLO RLC vs. TLC

Net Human Toxicity: SLO RLC vs. TLC

Net Ecotoxicity: SLO RLC vs. TLC

Net Energy Usage: SLO RLC vs. TLC

Net Greenhouse Gas: SLO RLC vs. TLC

Net DALYs: SLO RLC vs. TLC

Net Human Toxicity: SLO RLC vs. TLC

Net Ecotoxicity: SLO RLC vs. TLC

Why Now? We are experiencing the “perfect storm” of economic forces –Plastic recyclers are begging for materials Most is now going to China, especially from the West Coast and even from the Midwest –Rising Oil prices are making recycling products made from oil more important Plastic recycling is now a national and economic security issue

Why Now? Aluminum production uses a tremendous amount of energy –Recycling one can takes only 5% of the energy that it would take to make the can from scratch –71% of the electricity produced in the US still comes from the burning of fossil fuels.

Fuel Sources for Electricity Generation

What’s Happening Now Beverage Producer Environmental Council –NRC and beverage producers have been meeting since 2003 to come up with ways to reverse the declining recovery rate –Announcement expected at national conference in early August Beverage Product Stewardship Team –5 State governments working with the Product Stewardship Institute to come up with creative solutions

What’s Happening Now Northwest Product Stewardship Council encouraging the formation of a task force in the State to address the issues brought forward in the report –Currently not much interest due to most of the parties benefiting from the status quo Litter Tax generates $6 million per year which funds many environmental cleanup programs Tax rate on the industry has not increased since 1971

What Can You Do? If your State has a container deposit, work with the environmental community to increase the deposit and expand the type of containers subject to the deposit. If your State does not have an existing container deposit system, work with the environmental community to adopt one. Assist your local product stewardship organization with economic studies and reports.

Contact Information Northwest Product Stewardship Council – Product Stewardship Institute – Dr. Jeffrey Morris –