FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, Oct. 13, 2005
Contact: Rep. Gabe Leland
Phone: (517) 373-6990
LANSING - State Representative Gabe Leland (D-Detroit)
introduced legislation that would add juice and water containers to the current bottle-deposit return law.
"The Legislature has to play a larger role in improving the state's recycling system," said Rep. Leland, who introduced
House Bill 4172 in February that would expand the law. "This legislation will give consumers and residents more
opportunities to recycle. Hopefully, it will help increase the state's overall recycling rate."
A survey, the most recent available, by Biocycle Magazine pegs the state's residential recycling rate for the year 2000
at 20 percent -- sluggish compared with the average of 26 percent in other Great Lakes states.
Leland's bill agrees with Gov. Jennifer M. Granholm's position that the state should expand the bottle-deposit return
law. Under the current law, only beer and pop containers can be returned for a 10-cent deposit. However, bottled juice
and water have grown in popularity among consumers since the bottle bill was created in 1976.
Michigan Recycling Coalition statistics show recycling is a $2-billion-a-year industry in Michigan, accounting in 2001
for 5,028 jobs and $137 million in wages.
"The recycling industry is essential in Michigan," Leland. "We must provide stronger laws that will expand its
viability. This law will do that and it will reduce the amount of waste in our landfills."
Leland: State Needs to Include Water, Juice Containers in Bottle Law
— October 14, 2005