DES MOINES, Iowa — Many Iowans likely have empty cans and bottles ready to be returned, but some are worried that a proposed bill could make the redemption process a little more difficult.
Iowa’s bottle redemption law has been around for almost half a century.
When you buy a can or bottle, you pay a 5-cent deposit and get that deposit back when you return the empty container.
"If you can return your cans bottles at the place of purchase, that is legitimately the easiest way to participate in the program,” said Jess Mazour, conservation coordinator at the Iowa Chapter of the Sierra Club.
Mazour said they're concerned a proposed bill would take the convenience out of return process since grocery stores could opt out of state requirements to accept empty containers.
"If we make it less convenient to recycle,” Mazour said. “If people have to drive a ways to take back their cans and bottles, they might be less likely to do that. If that happens, then that five cents becomes a tax and not just a deposit."
David Adelman with the Iowa Wholesale Beer Distributors Association said overall, they support House File 814 and are in favor of grocers still accepting returns.
They are, however, supporting this bill because there are changes in it benefitting small businesses.
"After 40 years, we also fully admit that it's worth taking another look at the law and seeing how it can be improved and how it can be made more efficient to be able to serve the customers that are taking back the cans,” Adelman said.
According to the Cedar Rapids Gazette, Republican leaders don't think this bill will make it through the Legislature before session's end, which is scheduled for the end of the month.
"Despite widespread support for enhancing the bottle bill, action appears unlikely," the newspaper reports. "HF 814 has no companion bill in the Senate, where Majority Leader Jack Whitver, R-Ankeny, declared the issue dead for this session."
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