Bills promoting recycling of bottles and cans, disposable bags and electronics are going nowhere this legislative session.
One Democratic sponsor and a lobbyist for a conservation group said that’s because the House leadership has little interest in tackling environmental issues.
“They are unfriendly to environmental protection starting with the speaker and environmental chair on down,” said Sandy Bahr of the Sierra Club’s Grand Canyon Chapter. “They think there’s a choice between being friendly to business and the environment. I think that’s a false choice.”
Barrett Marson, a spokesman for the House Republican leadership, called that assertion “inherently incorrect,” noting that Speaker Jim Weiers, R-Phoenix, supports a GOP-sponsored bill that would help increase solar energy production and has backed energy-saving legislation in the past.
“To say that the speaker doesn’t support environmentally friendly legislation flies in the face of facts,” Marson said.
None of the three bills dealing with recycling has received a hearing by the House Environment Committee.
H2760, sponsored by Rep. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Phoenix, and 14 other Democrats, would have Arizona follow the lead of California and Michigan by requiring a deposit of a nickel for glass, aluminum or plastic containers 24 ounces or smaller and a dime for larger containers. Distributors, entertainment venues and consumers would pay the deposit.
The state would authorize redemption centers to take back the containers and return the deposits.
“You start to think about what it takes to make that bottle,” Sinema said. “It’s a reminder that there’s a cost for everything.”
Marson said Weiers opposes the bill because it would impose a new tax, something that would be especially difficult on Arizonans in a tough economy.
H2520, sponsored by Rep. Ed Ableser, D-Tempe, would require manufacturers to provide collection sites or pickup for discarded monitors, laptops, desktop computers and televisions. Modeled after an Oregon law, the bill would require a sticker to notify buyers if the product needs to be recycled after use.
Ableser said the bill would keep large electronic garbage out of landfills and would benefit manufacturers.
“There’s so much electronic trash out there,” Ableser said. “A lot of the pieces can be reused, but they’re just getting thrown away.”
Ableser and Sinema co-sponsored H2761, which would require retailers to pay a surcharge of 15 cents for each plastic bag and 25 cents for each paper bag, a cost that could be passed along to shoppers. Retailers would have to offer recycling bins for people to return bags.
Sinema said the bill would encourage consumers to purchase reusable cloth bags.
Rep. Ray Barnes, R-Phoenix, chairman of the House Environment Committee, said people prefer plastic bags to cloth and said the government shouldn’t force them to change.
“I don’t like to tell other people what to do,” he said.
Ableser said House Republican leaders see energy conservation as an infringement on personal liberty and the free market, which he said makes recycling legislation unappealing.
“For leadership in this body to take a step in a direction that shows that natural resources are dwindling and landfills are filling up, you address issues of the unintended consequences of mass-produced society,” Ableser said.
Barnes said the recycling bills haven’t been heard because people already have access to recycling bins for glass, paper and plastic. He said more regulations would only confuse the public.
“Why do we have to have more recycling laws when we already have to go in and mandate this and penalize people when they’re supposed to be doing it anyway,” Barnes said. “It’s constantly changing the law.”
Web Link: Sierra Club, Grand Canyon Chapter: arizona.sierraclub.org?