By Denise Richardson
The nickel deposit on bottled water will generate some handling hassles but will be better for the environment, local consumers and retailers agreed Wednesday.
``Overall, it's a good thing,'' said Darryl Beers, of Franklin, after a shopping trip to Hannaford Supermarket in Oneonta. The hassle will be in putting the bottle into the recycling bin and taking it to a redemption site instead of throwing it into the trash, he said, but the "bright side'' will be less trash in the landfills and litter on the roadside.
In a change that began at 12:01 a.m. Saturday, all water products sold in New York state now must be labeled with a deposit of at least 5 cents, according to the state Department of Environmental Conservation. A court injunction on implementing water-bottle amendments to the Returnable Container Act expired Friday, and retailers were given a grace period to comply that ends Sunday.
``We will be ready,'' said Barbara Page, public relations manager at Price Chopper, a grocery chain with stores in Oneonta and the region. Water in bottles without deposit labeling is being marked down in preparation for the change, she said.
``If there is a deposit, then more people will recycle more often,'' Jacqueline Graves of Oneonta said while in the Hannaford grocery store parking lot of Wednesday night.
David Hutchison, chairman of the city of Oneonta Environmental Board and a retired professor of geology from Hartwick College, said Oneonta has excellent water, which makes him wonder why someone would buy water in a bottle. But the bottle deposit is a step toward reducing trash, he said.
``I support it,'' Hutchison said. ``I'm glad that it is finally in effect.''
Since New York adopted the bottle bill in 1982, 90.6 billion beverage containers have been recycled, according to the DEC, and roadside container litter has been reduced more than 70 percent. Nationally, only 10 percent of plastic water bottles are recycled "" 90 percent becomes garbage or litter, the DEC said.
When the New York's bottle bill passed, noncarbonated drinks such as iced teas, sport drinks and bottled water made up a small fraction of the beverage market, DEC said. Today, noncarbonated water makes up more than 23 percent of the market.
The New York State Association for Reduction, Reuse and Recycling said the deposit on water bottles is long overdue, and the measure will provide an incentive for people to recycle beverage containers.
Don Scanlon Jr., owner of Hometown Deli and Grocery at 61 Spruce St. in Oneonta, said he has nothing negative to say about the 5 cent deposit on water bottles. The changeover was simple at his business because he will be selling two brands of water, he said.
Generally, the deposit will result in fewer water bottles discarded onto the roadside, Scanlon said, but he has cautioned employees to check for deposit labels on bottles returned to his deli.
Jim Hoffman, of the Oneonta Redemption Center at 459 Chestnut St., said the change will be good for his business accepting returnable bottles and cans.
Hoffman, who also goes by ``the can man,'' said he already is taking back water bottles labeled for deposits, and it will be about a month before returns will be steady. He increased his sorting system to accommodate about 60 brands of water, he said.
``It will be a lot of extra work,'' Hoffman said.
