Fix NY's Bottle Bill
Your voice matters. Make it heard.
Support A6267 & S5820A for fair redemption access
🎯 The Problem
For nearly 20 years, handling fees haven't changed. Result? Redemption centers closed, hours cut, and consumers locked out of their own deposits.
💰 Who Benefits?
When you can't redeem, the state keeps your money. Tens of millions in unredeemed deposits flow to NY annually, a hidden consumer tax.
✅ The Solution
Bills A6267 & S5820A restore fair handling fees, reopen redemption access, and end this broken promise to New Yorkers.
📝 Submit Your Testimony
Your Official Testimony (Pre-filled)
New York
Chair and Members of the Committee,
My name is [Your Name], and I am a New York resident.
As a consumer, I am legally required to pay a deposit on beverage containers under New York's Bottle Bill. That requirement is supposed to guarantee that I can redeem those containers and recover my money. Today, that guarantee is no longer being honored.
For nearly twenty years, the handling fee paid to redemption centers has remained outdated. As a result, redemption centers have closed, hours have been reduced, and many retailers now limit or refuse returns. In many communities, especially working-class and urban neighborhoods, meaningful access to bottle redemption has effectively disappeared.
This outcome was foreseeable. Consumers are still required to pay deposits, but our ability to redeem them continues to decline. When deposits go unredeemed, the money does not disappear, it is retained by the State of New York. Public data shows that tens of millions of dollars in unredeemed deposits are collected by the state every year, and that amount grows as redemption access shrinks.
This creates a deeply unfair system: consumers lose access to their money while the state benefits financially from a broken redemption infrastructure. What was designed as an environmental incentive now functions like a hidden consumer tax.
New York's Bottle Bill is often praised as a successful environmental program, but only when redemption access exists. What consumers are experiencing today is not a broken law, but a broken promise.
We are not asking for special treatment or subsidies. We are asking for the ability to recover money we are legally required to pay.
The Legislature has the power to fix this now. Including a fair and equitable handling fee in this year's budget will restore redemption access and end a system that rewards failure. Bills A6267 and S5820A directly address this issue and must be included in the budget.
Thank you for the opportunity to submit this testimony.
Sincerely,
Signed: [Digital Signature]
Email: [Email Address]
Address: [Street Address, City, Zip]