Executive Committee holds hearing on SB 85
SPRINGFIELD – The Can Manufacturers Institute (CMI) and the Illinois Environmental Council (IEC) laud today’s hearing by the Senate Executive Committee on Sen. Laura Murphy’s (D-Des Plaines) bill (SB 85) to create a beverage container recycling refund program in Illinois.
“Recycling refund programs play a vital role in raising beverage container recycling rates, and this legislation would have a significant impact on improving Illinois’s environment and boosting its economy,” said Scott Breen, CMI’s vice president of sustainability. “The aluminum in cans has the ability to keep circulating forever since aluminum can be recycled infinitely. This is how 75 percent of all aluminum ever produced is still in circulation. CMI is grateful to Sen. Murphy for introducing this bill and for the support of all the co-sponsors. We also appreciate the Executive Committee holding this hearing to move SB 85 forward.”
“Illinois has a long history of championing recycling and composting programs, but it has a long way to go,” said IEC Executive Director Jen Walling. “Thanks to the efforts of Sen. Murphy and the other co-sponsors of SB 85, we can continue to make progress in reducing the amount of valuable materials that take up the dwindling space in the state’s landfills.”
SB 85 would place a refundable fee of 10 cents for containers 24 ounces or less, and 15 cents for containers more than 24 ounces. Once consumers are done with the beverage, they return the container to a convenient redemption location to get their refund.
Returned containers help reduce litter and provide clean materials for manufacturers to use as recycled content in beverage containers. The result is an increased domestic supply of recycled material needed to make the beverage containers people depend on. This means manufacturers need to use less new material to make containers, which, in turn, reduces carbon emissions.
The bill is co-sponsored by Sen. Laura Fine (D-Glenview), Sen. Adriane Johnson (D-Buffalo Grove), Sen. Mattie Hunter (D-Chicago), Sen. Julie A. Morrison (D-Lake Forest), Sen. Patrick J. Joyce (D-Essex), Sen. Rachel Ventura (D-Joliet), and Sen. Mike Porfirio (D-Lyons Township).
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About Can Manufacturers Institute
The Can Manufacturers Institute (CMI) is the national trade association of the metal can manufacturing industry and its suppliers in the United States. The can industry accounts for the annual domestic production of approximately 130.7 billion food, beverage and general line cans; employs more than 28,000 people with plants in 33 states, Puerto Rico and American Samoa; and generates about $15.7 billion in direct economic activity. CMI members are committed to providing safe, nutritious and refreshing canned food and beverages to consumers in the most sustainable packaging.
About Illinois Environmental Council
The Illinois Environmental Council (IEC) works to safeguard Illinois—its people, its plants and animals, and the natural systems on which all life depends.
Since our founding in 1975 by a group of dedicated grassroots environmentalists, IEC has led issue advocacy campaigns by allowing environmental organizations to pool their resources and create a higher profile for environmental issues.
Today, IEC represents more than 100 environmental and community organizations and nearly 500 individual members from throughout Illinois.
Contact: Sherrie Rosenblatt (CMI) [srosenblatt@cancentral.com] | Tucker Barry (IEC) [Tucker@ilenviro.org]