higher job creation than with recycling and waste disposal, and significant energy savings. Numbers matter — it is estimated that Canada’s recovery of refillable beer bottles, other non-refillable beer containers and all associated beer packaging leads to the diversion of 1.3 million tons of beer packaging from Canadian landfills each year. This post calculates:
Refilling a bottle 10 times slashes the energy required per use to one-fifth of what’s needed to produce a new bottle every time (and one-tenth of an aluminum can), which converts into a savings of 3,140,000 tonnes of CO2.
So what accounts for differences between the US and the rest of the world? It has a lot to do with policy. Outside the US, taxes and bans on one-way containers, quotas for refillable bottles as a percentage of sales volume, and separate retail systems for refilled bottles promote bottle refilling. Aggressive marketing of one-way containers in the US is also to blame. This post cites three additional barriers that discourage refilling in the US: 1) a heavy reliance on packaging for marketing products; 2) the difficulty of managing collection and deposit refund programs; and 3) consumers’ throw-away mentality.
INFORM lists five public policy options that would encourage glass bottle refilling in the US:
- Requiring the use of generic (standardized) bottles
- Providing financial incentives for companies that switch from one-way containers to refillable bottles
- Establish broad materials policies — such as taxes on virgin materials or energy consumption
- Establishing government procurement guidelines that require or give preference to refillables
- Setting two-tier quantity based user fees for collection of recyclable and non-recyclable solid waste, giving consumers an incentive to to use refillables
Though bottle bills have proven to be a somewhat effective way to recapture used containers for recycling (and refilling in some cases), they are only part of the solution. Improving efficiency in the way we produce, package, distribute, and reuse glass bottles will increase its attractiveness as an alternative to plastic and other beverage containers. As with many industries, improving the sustainability of the glass bottle industry will require strengthening existing laws and pursuing more aggressive policies. In most cases, more stringent recycling/refilling programs will improve the economic incentives of doing so.
For more information on best practices/sustainability issues associated with refillable beverage containers, check out the Institute for Local Self-Reliance’s in-depth discussion.