Californians trashing recyclable bottles 

Jane Kay / SF Chronicle 25may01

Californians are not taking advantage of a new law that adds fruit drink, iced tea and bottled water containers to the bottle redemption program, effectively bringing down the state's recycling rate.

While Californians recycled more bottles and cans of beer and soda last year than the year before, they tossed out most of the other kinds of containers, state officials warn in a new $10 million ad campaign.

Because of the debut of the new drinks -- trendy water and sports drinks and bottled iced coffees and teas -- the state's beverage container recycling rate dropped from 74 percent in 1999 to 61 percent in 2000, said a report released yesterday by the state Department of Conservation.

"It's a case of educating the public that these products are not only recyclable, but they're also redeemable for a refund value. We want people to find a recycling bin, instead of the trash, when they're done with their drinks," said Mark Oldfield, a spokesman for the Department of Conservation.

The ad campaign alerts the public that it shouldn't toss out mineral water, Gatorade and Snapple bottles. In some TV spots, a laconic plastic bottle turns into a lifeguard buoy, and a masochistic can in a kick-the-can game transforms into a baseball bat.

When the "bottle bill" passed in 1986, it offered reimbursement for returns of beer, soda pop and sparkling drinks in glass, aluminum and clear plastic containers. By 2000, there were 13.1 billion containers in circulation.

The 2000 law put a new redemption value on fruit drink, tea, coffee and water containers. There were 3.4 billion of those containers, bringing the number in the program to 16.5 billion. Still left out of the payment program are whiskey and wine bottles and plastic milk jugs, yet they are also recycled.

In 2000, 10 billion containers were recycled -- up from 9.7 billion in 1999 -- leaving 6.5 billion going to landfills.

The reuse market is so healthy that every bit of aluminum, glass and plastic is snapped up by a manufacturer or a reprocessor, said Bill Armstrong, branch manager of market research with the Division of Recycling. Aluminum has the best market and gets the highest price. "All of the cans recovered turn into new cans," he said. As for glass, "The bottle manufacturers and fiberglass insulation manufacturers can't get enough of the stuff."

The plastic bottles get reused, he said. "Some go to the East Coast for rug manufacturing. Others recycle plastic into new bottles. Some plastic goes overseas, primarily turned into fiber, and comes back to the United States incorporated in lining in jackets, fabrics and other products," Armstrong said.

Also driving recycling is a state law that requires every jurisdiction to divert 50 percent of its waste from landfills by 2000. The state doesn't yet know which ones have met that deadline, but it estimates that statewide about 42 percent of waste, including beverage containers, is recycled.