Retailers push to move Michigan bottle returns out of stores as bottle law turns 50

MICHIGAN., (WPBN/WGTU) -- Fifty years ago, Michigan’s bottle return law went into effect and for the past five decades people have been paying and then getting back those dimes for cans.

Participation by consumers is dropping and a growing number of retailers are voicing frustrations with the system in place.

"Back in the 70s and 80s was at 95 percent," said Bill Wild, CEO Midwest Independent Retailers Association.

But these days fewer folks are getting their dimes back.

"Currently the bottle bill return rate is barely 70 percent and it's trending downward," Wild said.

There are a host of reasons for the trend but it's not only consumers that may be losing some of the interest in the entire can returning process.

"Well, we've known for a while that our retailers are not real big fans of the bottle return process," Wild said.

Wild is the CEO of the Midwest Independent Retailers Association, the trade association wrapping up a survey of their retailers around the state.

"Over the years, our retailers have always complained about the economics of the bottle bill and that's the burden it puts on their business for labor and the cost of the machines and the storage space it takes," said Wild.

If a store sells deposit eligible drinks, they by law, have to take them back, which can mean costly machines and loosing important retail floor space.

"Well, I think the thing that really jumped off the page was that over 90 percent of our retailers support moving bottles out of the store,” said Wild. “86 percent of them supported that change very strongly."

The survey results suggest 97 percent of retailers have concerns about the cleanliness of in store bottle returns.

"When you think about our grocery stores where they're doing everything they can to keep food safe on its way in, with this bottle bill requiring people to bring these dirty bottles back, people are trudging into the grocery stores and bringing all these bottles back in, it's bringing contaminants into the grocery store," said Wild.

Retailers say germs and contaminants aren't the only things brought in from the outside and then left for stores to deal with.

"Our survey said that 95 percent of the people that bring bottles and cans back to a store, if the store doesn't accept them, they leave them there anyway,” said Wild. “So now our stores are handling, it's basically trash people are leaving it there."

Survey respondents and Michigan's independent retailers are overwhelming calling for change.

"The bottle bill is public policy,” Wild said. “Most public policy doesn't last for 50 years. So this one did a great job, but now that the participation rate is at 70 percent, MIRA is trying to raise awareness of this and we're trying to spark a conversation on what's the best way to maybe move on to a future phase of recycling in the state of Michigan."

A future that may not include the instore returns we have now.

"We think comprehensive recycling is the best way,” said Wild. “If it's a drop-off center, if the state wants to maintain that deposit rate, that's probably the best way to do it. But if the state was ready to move away from charging a deposit on it, then I think curbside recycling would be the best avenue."

For now, the survey results are being presented to those who can implement change.

"We've been talking to the gubernatorial candidates,” said Wild. “We've been talking to legislators that are coming into office and talking about the bottle bill and the effect, the burden it's placed on retailers."

What's exactly next is unsure. MIRA and many of their retailers are calling for change that reflects where we are today.

"They're just asking not to use their store, their retail outlets as de facto recycling centers, but at the end of the day, there's only nine states in the entire country that use a bottle bill like the state of Michigan does, where there's a deposit and you have to bring them back to the retailers,” said Wild. “There hasn't been a state in the country in the last 25 years that has implemented a bottle bill."

While many retailers are pushing for a complete overhaul of Michigan’s bottle bill, some lawmakers have in Lansing have introduced bills as recently as this summer to modify what's currently in place, some of those include more obligations for retailers.