Hearing today on bottle bill expansion proposal

BOSTON – A hearing is scheduled for today on Beacon Hill on a bill to expand the bottle bill to cover plastic water bottles, sports drinks and other beverages.While some critics of the measure contend the bill would increase the cost of the products, proponents including municipal officials in Lynn, Salem and Saugus maintain the expansion would boost recycling.The hearing before the Legislature?s Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy is scheduled today from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in Gardner Auditorium.Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino is also among the bill?s major supporters.?The expanded bottle bill is good for our neighborhoods, good for our environment, and good for our pocket book,” Menino said in a press release release in the spring. “These containers litter our streets, business districts and parks, and this legislation gives us a real opportunity to prevent litter while saving important resources.”Lynn Associate DPW Commissioner Manny Alcantara is also in favor of the bill.?I would like to see it pass,” Alcantara said. “A lot of these bottles end up in parks and recreation facilities. This bill will help get rid of that stuff. The environmentalist in me wants to see it pass.”The current Massachusetts bottle bill enacted in 1982 makes only soda and beer containers eligible for redemption. But over the nearly three decades since, the nation?s liquid consumption habits have drastically changed, with billions of plastic containers for water and other beverages that are not covered under the original law.?This bill would help eliminate all the bottles on the side of the road,” said Saugus DPW Superintendent Joespeh Attubato. “It would be great for the community.”?The bottle bill is nothing new. It has been going on for ten years,” Attubato said. “People think it will be more work for them. They don?t want to deal with it. They think it is a nightmare. They think all they have to do is put more recycling bins in parks. However, it has been proven that that doesn?t work.”If lawmakers approve the bill, the expanded bottle bill would take effect on December 1, 2012.