State Rep. Atkins pushes for bottle bill expansion

Atkins wants to see the law expanded to include non-carbonated drinks such as iced tea, sports drinks, water, and others that were not around years ago. She said consumers would not lose money.

"Give a nickel, get a nickel back," she said.

The bill is now before the Telecommunications and Energy Committee and she went to the hearing at the State House on it. She said the bottling industry is not in favor of it because they feel it infringes on their customary business practices and sales. But most of her constituents in Concord and Carlisle are behind it.

It’s a different story in Chelmsford, though, where residents can scoot over the state line into New Hampshire for their drinks.

Atkins said the expanded law would benefit towns because of the reduction of litter and associated clean-up costs. She said in Maine and New York, where expanded bottle bills are in effect, "there has been a 70 to 80 percent reduction of litter."

"We would have more money for environmental programs," if the Legislature voted to use the revenue for that purpose.

Betsy Levinson can be reached at betsy.levinson@gmail.com.