HB 2771 (View Legislation)
Johnnie Roebuck
March 5, 2007
Bill has been referred to House Rules committee and is scheduled for discussion on March 7.
Administering Agency: Department of Environmental Quality
Amount of Deposit: 5¢
Handling Fee: 1½¢, paid to the Department of Finance and Administration
Containers Covered: Nonrefillable, sealed containers of glass, metal, or plastic, containing no more than 4 gallons
Beverages Covered: all liquids intended for human consumption, excluding medicines, products intended for use by infants only, frozen juices, powders, liquid food products.
Containers Returned to: Redemption centers
Unclaimed Deposits: Allocated to the Department of Education Public School Fund Account.
The "Beverage Container Litter Reduction Act" (HB 2771) was introduced in the 2007 legislative session on March 5 by Rep. Johnnie Roebuck (D-Arkadelphia.) Although she succeeded in getting over 20 co-sponsors of the bill in the Arkansas House as well as a number of co-sponsors in the Senate, the bill died in the House Rules Committee.
The opposition was led by the Arkansas Beverage Association, the Arkansas Beer Wholesalers, the Arkansas Retailers and Wholesalers Association, and, unexpectedly, the Arkansas Recyclers Association, which believed the new system of collection for aluminum beverage containers would somehow threaten its near monopoly on aluminum recycling in the state.
Supporters of the bill, although disappointed in the outcome in 2007, were buoyed by the endorsement by the Association of Counties, County Judges Association, Farm Bureau, and the Department of Highways, among others, as well as the grassroots support of numerous Arkansas students (pictured below at an anti-litter rally).
Representative Johnnie Roebuck
870-403-4382
[email protected]
Bill Lord
Program Director
Northwest Arkansas Regional Solid Waste Management District
P.O. Box 190
Harrison, AR. 72602
870.741.6536
[email protected]