A new study finds adding a nickel deposit on wine and liquor in New York would help keep them out of the trash but increase the cost to retailers.
The Albany Times-Union reports that Rochester Institute of Technology’s Pollution Prevention Institute’s study completed in November looks at the cost of expanding New York’s bottle deposit program. New York Department of Environmental Conservation had commissioned the study.
The study estimates expanding the bottle bill would increase recycling rates of wine and liquor bottles by 65%. But it could also cost New York’s over 4,500 wine and liquor stores $36 million in costs.
Just three states — Iowa, Maine and Vermont — include wine and liquor bottles in deposit programs. Environmental groups hope New York expands its bottle bill in 2020.
The newspaper reports nearly 488 million wine and liquor bottles were sold in New York in 2015.
