The New York Public Interest Research Group (NYPIRG) is teaming up with over 600 organizations in the state to convince the New York State Legislature to include the "Bigger Better Bottle Bill" in the April 1st budget. The original Bottle Bill, passed in 1982, required a five-cent refundable deposit on beer and soda containers sold in New York, allowing consumers to receive five cents for every empty bottle and can they recycled; over 90 billion bottles and cans have been recycled as a result of the bill. NYPIRG is now lobbying for two major updates to the existing bill: one requiring beverage distributors to transfer any unclaimed deposits – an estimated $140 million a year – to the State Environmental Protection Fund, and another expanding the bill to include bottled water bottles. Because the original Bottle Bill does not include deposits for non-carbonated beverages close to 3 billion non-carbonated beverage bottles and cans are simply thrown away each year.

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Read about a similar Bottle Bill in Tennessee from Vanderbuilt University