Connecticut has enacted an expanded bottle bill, now requiring retailers to collect a 5-cent deposit on many containers of water.
The state expects to collect $17 million annually in unclaimed deposits from retailers.
The bill exempts 3-liter containers, those made of high-density polyethylene and manufacturers that sell less than 250,000 containers a year.
“A generation of Connecticut residents has grown up with recycling as the law of the land,” said Gov. M. Jodi Rell, in a written statement. “They”™ve learned to pick up, pack up and properly dispose of bottles and cans. Adding water bottles to the recycling mix instead of our landfills is a natural move.”
Fairfield County is home to container maker Silgan Holdings Inc. and Nestle Waters North America. Nestle Waters successfully fought for an injunction this year on a New York bottle bill affecting water containers; a judge is expected to rule later this month whether to keep the injunction in place or lift it.
