Advocates urge passage of the 'Bigger, Better Bottle Bill'

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10)--- For years, environmental advocates and owners of bottle redemption centers have been calling on the state legislature to pass the Bigger, Better Bottle Bill. They’re hoping that 2025 will be the year it gets done.

"The Bigger, Better Bottle Bill is a legislative proposal to expand the bottle deposit that has existed in New York State for over 40 years but stayed at the same level of 5 cents since that time. So, we’re proposing increasing it to 10 cents, " said Ryan Castalia, Executive Director of Sure We Can.

The bill would also increase the types of bottles New Yorkers could get deposits on. 

"Beverages like Gatorade, Snapple, sports drinks in general, coffees, ciders, teas. None of that stuff is covered right now," explained Castalia.

For bottle redemption centers, the bill would raise the handling fee to 6 cents— something Jade Eddy, owner of MT Returnables said is desperately needed to keep these businesses operating.

'We have lost 700 jobs and 168 redemption centers because we are still operating on 2009 pay," said Eddy. "No one can survive that in 2025. It’s shameful that this still has not been fixed."

The Business Council of New York State opposes the bill saying in a statement, “…bottle return mandates duplicate what curbside collection programs already achieve, thus raising costs for consumers and businesses.”

The legislative session is now set to end on June 17th.