Can, Bottle Law In Iowa Seeing Less Participation: Iowa DNR

DES MOINES, IA — Iowans are recycling and redeeming fewer glass, plastic and aluminum containers than in past years, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources found in a new Waste Characterization Study. The group says the state's recovery rate for containers covered under the bottle deposit law is 71 percent, down from 86 percent in 2007.

Iowa DNR works with contractors every five years to complete a Waste Characterization Study to determine what types of solid waste is thrown into landfills in Iowa. Through the studies, along with beverage sales data from the Container Recycling Institute, the DNR is able to determine the recovery rate for the state.

The study results for Iowans' habits are consistent with findings of other states that also have a bottle bill: Users are tossing containers into the trash with more frequency and taking advantage less often of getting their money back on empty containers for which they have paid a deposit.

The state's bottle and can redemption bill has been in effect for 40 years and supporters and opponents regularly call for changes. Some legislators and the Iowa Sierra Club, a nonprofit environmental champion, would like to see the bottle bill expanded or strengthened to cover other types of containers, which they say would discourage users from littering or tossing them in the landfill. But other groups, including the Iowa Grocery Industry Association, would like to see the bottle bill eliminated or altered so containers are redeemed at or returned to redemption centers instead of stores. They cite sanitary issues and employee time spent on can and bottle returns as factors to oppose the bottle bill.

The Iowa waste study found the following recovery rate by container type:

• Aluminum: 69 percent
• Plastic: 60 percent
• Glass: 83 percent

The DNR said the Waste Characterization Study samples solid waste and the quantities of recyclable materials taken to landfills. The study provides percentages of the overall waste stream for more than 60 categories of solid waste being thrown away. Those percentages are then multiplied by the total tons of solid waste disposed of in all Iowa landfills for that year to come up with tonnage data for the different categories of solid waste, such as paper, cardboard, plastics and organics.

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