Of all places, Hawai'i deserves a bottle bill

In a column a couple of years ago, Jan TenBruggencate, The Advertiser's longtime environment writer, described with a touch of whimsy how the Canadian province of Nova Scotia had successfully dealt with what was turning into a big trash problem.

Taking drastic steps, it put into place mandatory measures — reduction, recycling, reuse, composting. No doubt independent-minded businesses and individuals bridled at the requirements — until they saw the results: a 50 percent trash reduction. It meant they didn't have to open new landfills, which no one wanted in his or her back yard.

Among the least expected benefits was the discovery that there are 10 times more jobs in recycling than there are in disposal.

One of Nova Scotia's requirements is a bottle bill. "You pay 6 cents a bottle when you buy a bottle of soft drink or water," wrote TenBruggencate, "and get 3 cents back when you return a bottle — the remaining cash goes to vendors and recycling programs. They now claim an 80 percent return rate."

Reacting to TenBruggencate's column, letter writer Randy Ching, from the Sierra Club on O'ahu, wrote of a similar bottle law nearer home — Oregon, where customers pay a nickel for any beverage container, plastic or glass. It works there, too.

Again this year, Hawai'i's Legislature is considering a bottle bill. In this bill, consumers would pay 7 cents a bottle, getting a nickel back when they return it.

Are Nova Scotia and Oregon more environmentally aware and cleaner than Hawai'i? We can't think of a place on the Earth that has more reason for a bottle bill.

The beverage industry managed to defeat a similar bill last year by promising to bring an alternative to the table this year. Unfortunately, it involves taxpayer-subsidized curbside recycling, an idea that has been tried, found expensive and ineffective in stopping bottles littering in non-urban places.

Indeed, it's disappointing that the industry-proposed plan does not address the large number of soft-drink containers used outside the home and thus fails to address a major source of litter.

The bottle bill is the better idea. Let's pass it this year.