Advocates suggest change to Michigan's bottle return law
LANSING, Mich. (CBS DETROIT) - Michigan has seen a significant drop in bottle recycling over the last five years.
That drop in recycling has created a problem for Michigan's environment and the companies that recycle those bottles.
Advocates tell CBS News Detroit it's time to change Michigan's bottle recycling process.
"A dime ain't worth what it used to be worth," said Michael Garfield, director of The Ecology Center based in Ann Arbor.
Garfield said there are several factors contributing to the decrease.
"The challenge now for recycling is twofold," he said. "Over time, that time doesn't mean as much to people. And so our recovery rates are not what they used to be. It used to be above 95% of all those containers would get returned to the store or wherever to get redeemed. Now it's, I think, below 80%. The second problem with or the second challenge facing recycling right now is that the shift to plastic containers is undermining recycling left and right."
According to the Department of Energy, Great Lakes and Energy, before the shutdown during the COVID-19 pandemic, Michigan had a very high rate of return for bottles and cans, hovering around 90%. Today, that rate hovers in the 70s.
"Anecdotally, what we found is that people's habits changed," said Jeff Johnston, a public information officer with EGLE. "When they couldn't do their regular habit of taking their bottles and cans back to the store, that was enough to sort of break the chain if you will."
That change in habit has had a significant impact on the companies whose business it is to collect those bottles and cans for recycling.
"It's hundreds of thousands of pounds of material that's not being recycled anymore in Michigan, and we were the number one deposit state for recycling in the past, and now we've dropped down to at least the second," said Shayna Schupan Barry, director of governmental affairs and strategic partnerships for Schupan & Sons, a recycling company in Michigan.
Advocates have different solutions in mind to fix the issue.
"We need to modernize the bottle bill," said Garfield.
It's an idea to which Johnston says EGLE would be open.
"From time to time, people propose various changes to the law to accept different types of containers or to change the deposit amount, and EGLE is open to changing or improving that law. But the devil's in the details, so we would want to see a specific proposal before we could respond on that," Johnston said.
Schupan Barry said the fix could be as simple as people getting back in the habit of returning their bottles to where they bought them.
"I think 10 cents is still a good enough incentive," she said. "We just have to make sure it continues to be accessible to people and not a hassle."
