Washington DC is considering legislation that would establish a bottle bill in the nation’s capital. The proposal introduced by Ward 1 Councilmember Brianne Nadeau would add a 10-cent refundable deposit on most beverage containers to incentivize their recycling by 2028. “The promise that was made to my generation years ago, that if we dutifully put our recycling into the bin, it would not end up in landfills, is a lie. In fact, the majority of it is not being recycled,” said Nadeau.
Anacostia Riverkeeper, Trey Sherard, says plastic bottles make up 60% by weight of all the trash floating on the Anacostia River. “If a bottle is worth 10 cents, you’re not going to see many bottles in the ground in the first place. We saw this with the bag fee in D.C.,” he said as he led a boat ride on Tuesday with some of the bill’s supporters.
In 2010, the District imposed a five-cent fee for single-use carryout bags at certain retail and food-serving businesses. Sherard says the impact of that legislation was almost immediate along the Anacostia. “Almost in no time at all, we stopped seeing bags as the number one item,” he added…