Passed by voters in 1976, the state’s bottle return law for decades prompted high recycling rates, hitting 89% in 2019. Rates dropped during a complete system shutdown at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and haven’t recovered, falling to 75.6% in 2022.
“This is a real concern…where stores will sell you products, but they will not take them back,” Rep. Tyrone Carter, D-Detroit, said Tuesday during a House Regulatory Reform Committee hearing. “It started with COVID, but now we’ve ballooned to a ridiculous amount of folks that will not take them back.”
Industry statistics indicate that Michigan’s redemption rate exceeds most states with deposit laws, with 70% of cans being returned in California and New York and just 38% in Massachusetts.
Now, see! There’s something positive about ingrained Michigan culture! Three-quarters of us give a rat’s ass and don’t litter the great state of Michigan with cans and bottles!
Jerry Griffin, vice president of government affairs for the Midwest Independent Retailers Association, told lawmakers that consumers may simply be tired of carting bottles and cans to the store, advocating for a one-size-fits-all recycling program encouraging people to put their returnables in the recycling bin. […] “There is a lot of fatigue out there,” Griffin said. “To suggest that that’s only because a certain handful of small business retailers are limiting hours for people to bring things back, I think, is ignoring a larger question at hand.”
Oh, please. Fatigue. That’s like the nine-year-old crabbing about having to make their bed: “Awwww, I’m just gonna sleep in it tonight anywaaaaaay.” Sounds like it’s the retailers that Señor Griffin represents that just don’t feel like keeping up their end of the bargain…
Rep. Julie Rogers, a Kalamazoo Democrat and the bill’s sponsor, said the state needs a statewide standard. […] During spot checks in her district, Rogers said she found retailers who don’t accept returns on Sundays, long-broken machines, limits on total returnables and short time windows for returns.
Most of the people I know are already carting around USD$5 worth of empty cans and bottles rollin’ around in their cars already. Too bad there’s no deposit on fast food packaging, bubble packs or potato chip bags.
As a Michigan resident, I think part of the problem is the 10 cent deposit hasn’t changed since it was enacted 50 years ago. 10 cents used to get you a lot further than today. A relative told me back in the '80s when he was struggling that he would go through public garbage bins for pop cans and return them to get himself lunch for that day. Can’t exactly do that now unless you find several hundred cans and bottles and have a way to transport them.
Hell, I remember seeing a Seinfeld episode where Cramer takes a van-full of New York returnables and brings them to Michigan to double his earnings. I don’t think he was successful.
If we want to keep this system and keep recycling high, I think we need to raise the deposit to 25 cents or more per bottle/can. That may encourage drinkers to start recycling again. Though I also realize that will piss off a lot of people.
And/Or include the deposit on literally every bottle and can sold in the state. Not just carbonated beverages.
Edit: formatting
I too had contemplated raising the deposit to 20¢ but you know, even though that money returns to your pocket, people are going to have conniptions anyway! I do think anything higher that 25¢ is excessive, though. Keep in mind the point of this exercise isn’t an “alternative welfare scheme” but to recycle the materials and to keep Michigan clean.
I do think a big part of the problem is the smaller retailers not making it easy to return cans and bottles for whatever excuse. Anyone who sells product in Michigan with a bottle/can deposit is part of the chain and has to hold up their end of the contract. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve tried to return bottles with the retailer saying, “sorry, we don’t carry that brand here.” Who cares? It’s got a deposit on it and, as a retailer in the State of Michigan, you’re responsible for that. I didn’t buy this (minimally) winning lottery ticket here either! Are you not gonna pay out on that?
Oh, and any scheme that involves an “unaccounted-for” US Mail truck to deliver bottles and cans out-of-state is doomed to fail!
I’d rather not pay an extra $2.40 for a 12 pack on top of the currently inflated prices. $1.20 is already bad enough.
Imagine how much that extra $1.20 felt in the '80s. And they put up with that.
Also, that’s what recycling the cans is for. You get the deposit back and can use that to supplement your next purchase. And then return those to supplement your next purchase. And then return…
Edit: According to the inflation calculator, $1.20 in 1984 would be $3.58 today.