Plastic bag and bottle bills, two high-profile environmental bills, move forward in Oregon Legislature

Legislation that could bring sweeping changes to Oregon's bottle bill passed the House environment committee Thursday, its first big hurdle toward becoming law.

The bill would expand the state's bottle deposit system to include just about any glass, metal or plastic beverage container, except for those that hold milk, wine or liquor. It would also increase the current nickel deposit to a dime if redemption rates fall below 80 percent. Finally, it marks a shift from the in-store collection system to one that relies largely on off-site redemption centers. 

Meanwhile, a Senate committee took action on another high-profile environmental issue by sending a bill to the full Senate that would largely ban single-use plastic checkout bags in Oregon. 

The move surprised lobbyists on both sides of the issue, and it was unclear if the bill had the votes to pass the full Senate -- let alone the House. 

The bottle bill expansion seemed to have more political momentum.

The committee sent it to the House with just one member opposed -- a promising sign, said Rep. Vicki Berger, one of the bill's co-sponsors and the daughter of the man credited with coming up with the bottle bill idea 40 years ago.

"The bill is one of the most successful recycling devices ever invented, but it's showing signs of age," said Rep. Ben Cannon, one of the committee's co-chairs and the bill's other co-sponsor, after the vote.

This vote alone represented a milestone in terms of edits to the bottle bill, which – except for approval in 2007 to include water bottles – has remained unchanged since first introduced in 1971.

Cannon had sought similar changes in 2009. This time around, the landscape has changed.

Thanks to the success of two pilot redemption centers that work with retailers to create a central location for container collection, the Oregon Beer and Wine Distributor Association and the Northwest Grocery Association both threw their support behind the bill.

Given the early success of the redemption centers, they expect return rates can remain high enough to avoid increasing the deposit to a dime. The legislation will also allow the Oregon Liquor Control Commission to launch a pilot project that would try the redemption center model in a larger setting.

"This is the way it's going in the future," Berger said. "You can't get the other pieces in there, you can't get to adding the other types of containers, and you can't get to the dime until you get Oregonians to understand the redemption centers have value."

The other two central changes are still a ways off. The new containers included under this legislation -- namely, sports drinks, coffee, juice, tea and others -- wouldn't actually get folded in until January 2018. And the increase from a nickel to a dime couldn't be triggered until after 2021.

The measure that would ban plastic checkout bags calls for shoppers to either use reusable bags or pay five cents for a paper bag. Critics say the flimsy checkout bags are a particularly unsightly form of litter that also blocks sewage and storm drains and snarls recycling equipment.

It is backed by environmentalists, the paper bag industry and by grocers seeking to keep Portland and other cities from adopting a patchwork of ordinances limiting the use of plastic bags.

The measure has been fiercely fought by plastic bag manufacturers and has been criticized by many Oregonians who see it as infringing on their freedom of choice.

For weeks, the bill has sat in committee just one vote short of the 16 votes it needs on the Senate floor, while futile attempts were made to find a compromise. Sen. Mark Hass, D-Beaverton, the bill's chief sponsor, said he decided it was time to move the bill to the floor and that he thinks he has the necessary support.

"It's going to be very, very close," he said.

Joe Gilliam of the Northwest Grocery Association said he was surprised by Thursday's vote. "So we are not certain what the fate of the bill is," he said.

Greg Peden, a lobbyist representing the plastic bag industry, said he doesn't think the bill can pass the House even if it gets out of the Senate. He said he would pursue legislation in the House aimed at encouraging the greater recycling of plastic bags.