An expansion to include more beverages and an increase to the 5-cent bottle deposit in New York won’t happen this session after intense opposition from the bottling industry and labor unions.
“It’s dead, I’m sad to say,” Assemblymember Deborah Glick, chair of the Environmental Conservation Committee and sponsor of the measure, told POLITICO on Tuesday.
Supporters pushing the expansion have said it would increase the recycling rate of containers and reduce the amount of waste destined for landfills. The measure was also a priority for redemption centers, which have seen costs rise as the handling fee has remained stagnant.
Opposition to the proposal from bottlers and beverage companies has been aggressive, on the grounds that it would increase consumer costs and prove difficult to implement for newly covered businesses. On top of that, labor unions — which are against the measure because they say it will cost employers more and leave less revenue for wages and benefits — rallied at the Capitol against the bill earlier Tuesday.
