A2O-Lancaster Farming. Saturday, July 19,1197 Farmers Wonder: Second Ih A Series Editor’s Note: It’s clear that farmers are frustrated and angry about the amount of trash they find in the fields and what that trash has done to their liveli hoods. Part two of the series will look at the proposed Bottle Bill legislation and what it would entail to farmers and consumers. ANDY ANDREWS Lancaster Farming Staff MYERSTOWN (Lebanon Co.) —George Moyer has made a "col lection" of his own headaches. His "headaches" are what he found alongside road frontage, in his fields. They include Pepsi and Mountain Dew bottles. Some of the collection is unique. A friend gave him a sarsa parilla bottle made in Mexico, marketed in Sioux Qty, Calif., imprinted in clear letters: S cent deposit, VT-lA. Moyer, who helps manage Mor- Dale Farms in Myerstown, bought a sixpack of Mountain Dew in lowa that cost him about 35 cents a can—with a S-cent deposit clearly marked. An iced tea bottle in Arizona is imprinted with a S-cent deposit in Massachusetts. One bottle Moyer obtained from a friend included a 10-cent deposit Recently, 500 signatures were gathered from schools in the Elizabethtown and Hummelstown districts , all in favor of a bill in Michigan. “I never met anybody who opposes a bottle bill,” said Moyer. All those states have mandatory deposit legislation. Pennsylvania, for whatever rea son, doesn't Actually, Moyer knows why Pennsylvania doesn’t have a Bottle Bill. Pressure from Bottle Associa tion lobbyists has been fierce, heated, and relentless at the state assembly. The reason? The bottlers insist it would cost too much money in helping to set up collection sites and paying for the returned mater ial, according to Moyer. Recyclers claim a tight return on their invest ment, and recycling glass is still costly. But if other states have mandat ory deposits, why doesn’t Pennsylvania? On the results of the winter survey, ques tion number 3 asked: ‘Would you support a “bottle bill” that would require a five cent deposit on all beverage containers sold in Pennsylvania?* Of the respondents, 68.5 percent voted *yes * to the question, and only 29.1 percent voted no. Oregon passed the state’s Beverage Container Act (also called the Oregon Bottle Bill) in 1971. Actually, the bill was written up in 1969. Oregon instituted the nation’s first statewide program to begin recycling in 1984. Other states have modeled their prog rams on Oregon’s bill, which prop onents claim has substantially reduced litter in the state. According to Oregon’s Depart ment of Environmental Quality (DEQ), within two years of the bill’s implementation, litter from beverage containers had dropped by 83 percent According to figures from the Container Recycling Institute, bottle bill slates recycle more than twice as much glass, per capita, as non-bottle bill stales. The states that don’t have the bill, such as Pennsylvania, continue to landfill a great deal of glass and aluminum knowing there is only so much land available. New York State has operated successful redemption centers for yean. Moyer, who has traveled to see these centers, says that store owners and consumers are happy with the system. Moyer serves on the one of the committees in the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau to ensure the passage of the bill. Now. the bureau is gear ing up to get signatures to support H.B. 922. More legislators will be peti tioned until the bill is passed. Recently, 500 signatures were gathered from schools in the Eli zabethtown and Hummelstown districts, all in favor of a bill. Consumers have already voted in favor of a bill. Moyer.pointed to a survey conducted in die winter of 1985 by Sen. David J. Brightbill (R-48th). More than 7,000 indivi duals responded to a survey mailed in the winter of 1985 from Bright- bill’s office. On the results of the winter survey, question number 3 asked: “Would you support a ‘bottle bill’ that would require a five-cent deposit on all beverage containers sold in Pennsylvania?” Of the respondents, 68.5 percent voted “yes” to the question, and only 29.1 percent voted no. In the summer survey, 52,1 per cent of the responded voted for a five-cent deposit on cans and bot tles. Almost 80 percent of the respondents indicated that a forced deposit of that type would moti vate them to return used containers. In the summer survey, on ques tion 4, “Do the problems created for farmers by littered cans and bottles cause you to look at litter legislation more favorably?,” 81 percent of the respondents indi- cated yes. On question 6, “Do you feel the ultimate social gain of a litter-free environment outweighs the costs to taxpayers in one form or another involved in either type of legislation?”, 73.5 percent noted yes. If so many people are voting in favor of the bill, why hasn’t it passed? According to Moyer, bottlers won a concession years ago with the passage of mandatory com munity recycling programs. How ever, communities with more than 5,000 people are part of the prog- What Will It Take To Pass B ram but many townships, such as Bethel, where Moyer lives, have less than 5,000 and so don’t have a program. And there are many townships and boroughs in the state with farms just like Moyer. “Our patience has run out,” said Guy F. Donaldson, Pennsylvania Farm Bureau (PFB) president, at a news conference at the Ronald Kopp Farm in Middletown last April “Bottles and cans are still being dumped along the roads, in our fields and front yards, and on public lands.” The PFB wants at least a five cent deposit placed on bottles and cans as an incentive to recycle instead of throwing them along the roadside. Incidentally, a news con ference was held at the Kopp Farm more than 13 years ago to show the need for a mandatory deposit on bottles and cans. In April, Donald son and Kopp walked along some of the road frontage of the Kopp Farm, picking up bottles, cans, and other trash that motorists dumped from their vehicles. Two years ago. in July 1995, Lancaster Farming published a series entitled "Vanishing Acres," which looked at the challenges far mers faced when dealing with urban neighbors. Lancaster Farming visited the farm of dairy man John Valkovec, KlecknersvU le, who farms more than 500 acres much near highly developed land. Valkovec remembered mowing some alfalfa near a development where residents decided to use the field as a golfball driving range. In all, the dairyman had to pick up 100 balls from the field. But for Valkovec. the golf balls aren’t nearly as frustrating as the empty beer calls. “When you’re chopping silage,” he said, “before you see the cans, they’re on the load and you have to throw the load away.” Like many farmers, he’s had to pick up bottles and cans strewn about in his fields. Opponents of the proposed Bottle Bill have said that mandat Dairyman John Valkovec, Klecknersvllle, farms more than 500 acres—much near highly developed land. Valkovec remembered mowing some alfalfa near a develop ment where residents decided to use the field as a golfball driving range. In all, the dairyman had to pick up 100 balls from the field. But for Valkovec, the golf balls aren’t nearly as frustrating as the empty beer cans. "When you’re chopping silage.” he said, "before you see the cans, they’re on the load and you have to throw the toad away.” ory township recycling laws have done much to stem the flow of trash into farmers’ fields. But “the recycling law is not working to solve the problems we have out' here in the country," said Ronald Kopp of Middletown. In London derry Township, home to about Oregon passed the state*s Beverage Con tainer Act (also called the Oregon Bottle Bill) in 1971. Within two years of the bill’s implementa tion, litter from beverage containers had dropped by 83 percent. 2,500 residents, there is no man datory recycling law. However, townships bordering Londonder ry, including Derry and Swatara and Lower Swatara, have recy cling laws. Kopp said there must be some kind of financial incentive for peo ple to recycle the cans and bottles. Now, however, people see no val ue in the trash and simply toss it out the window. People don’t have the incentive to keep the bottles Some of the collection Is unique. A friend gave George Moyer a sarsaparilla bottle made In Mexico, marketed in Sioux City, Calif., Imprinted in clear letters: 5 cent deposit, VT-lA, which he holds In his right hand. ottle Bill? and dans they buy, sometimes before they come home from work, for recycling. Many people won’t make that extra effort to put that trash in the recycling bin, insisted Kopp. A flve-cent deposit on bottles and cans would change that “Even if we had a 5-ccnt deposit return on containers, and someone still chose to throw that can or bottle or whatever out into the roadside, there wold be people out there that could benefit by picking up the cans, because they would have a nickel every time they picked something up,” he said. Before a trash pickup and news conference at his farm in April, Kopp said he and his wife Connie (Turn to Pago A2l)
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