Rep. Callahan Introduces Amendment to Address Bottle Bill Fraud
Key Takeaways
- Rep. Patrick Callahan offers amendment to restore 5¢ bottle deposit.
- CT's 10¢ deposit linked to roughly $10 million in cross‑state redemption fraud.
- Neighboring states' lower or absent deposits fuel out‑of‑state bottle redemption influx.
- Environment Committee pursuing alternate fixes
There was an e-cert raised during a recent meeting of the House of Representatives that could be considered urgent. This was an attempt to stem the fraud in bottle redemptions that have left businesses in Connecticut with losses of about $10 million.
When Connecticut increased the bottle deposit to 10-cents, the legislature didn't work in cooperation with our surrounding states. New York and Massachusetts only have a 5-cent fee on bottles and Rhode Island doesn't have a deposit law. That has led to truckloads of bottles sold out-of-state coming into Connecticut for recycling.
"I offered an amendment to go back to 5-cent deposits, but that was rejected mostly along party lines. The Environment Committee is working on a bill this session to address this issue from other angles, but until we go back to 5-cents (or neighboring states hike their fee), this will just be like putting band aids on a gaping wound," said Rep. Patrick Callahan.