Model Plastic Beer Bottle Resolution

GENERIC MODEL RESOLUTION FOR LOCAL GOVERNMENTS

ADDRESSING EXTRA COSTS FOR RECYCLING PLASTIC BEER BOTTLES

WHEREAS, ______ [County or City] has coordinated a recycling program for plastic containers with its municipalities since ______;

WHEREAS, ______ [County or City] incurs significant expenses for the separate collection of those plastic containers;

WHEREAS, part of those expenses are offset by revenues the municipalities receive from the sale of the recovered plastic containers;

WHEREAS, the amount of revenues received is related to how much costs processors incur to prepare the plastic containers for end markets and the quality of the recycled plastic which is produced;

WHEREAS, the design of plastic containers plays a significant role in how difficult the container is to process and its quality for end markets, and that poorly designed plastic containers can drastically undermine the economics of plastics recycling;

WHEREAS, although ______ [County or City] is committed to recycling, including plastic containers, it understands that it recycles in a national market, and that the viability of the national market for plastics is related to the relationship between the expenses incurred to recycle plastic and the revenues (and other savings) that derive from the sale of plastics.

WHEREAS, some brewers in the beer industry are testing new plastic bottle designs made from the resin polyethylene teraphthalate (PET) that is used in soft drink bottles, but, in order to provide the additional oxygen protection required by beer, often also contain other barrier materials that may be incompatible with PET, and, in order to provide light protection and brand identification are often tinted amber;

WHEREAS, the barrier materials and amber tint have the potential to both increase the cost to process PET bottles that have been separated for recycling, and decrease its value to end markets due to residual contamination;

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that ______ [County or City] requests that brewers which are considering the use of PET bottles that contain barrier materials to:

1. Meet with ______ [County or City] to discuss their concerns about how various bottle designs might adversely affect the economics before making a decision on which design to pursue;

2. Inform ______ [County or City] not later than the first release for public sale of all of the details concerning how the bottle design that they have selected will affect recycling;

3. Respond to any additional questions which ______ [County or City] may have to determine the effects of the design on recycling programs;

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that if ______ [County or City] determines that a plastic beer bottle design is not compatible with the ______ [County or City]'s recycling program, the brand owner shall not be permitted to sell its product in that container within ______ [County or City] until the brand owner has signed an agreement to reimburse ______ [County or City] for the additional costs ______ [County or City] will incur to incorporate the bottle into its recycling program.



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