The Bigger Better Bottle Bill, which would have expanded five-cent refundable deposits on beverage containers to water bottles and other non-carbonated beverages, was not included in the finalized state budget put out on Apr. 9 despite student activists’ lobbying efforts.

The campus environmental club and the Stony Brook chapter of the New York Public Interest Research Group, also known as NYPIRG, has been lobbying the state legislature for months by writing 95 letters and hand delivering them to state senator John Flanagan’s (D — Second District) office, hosting rallies and even driving up to Albany to make their voices heard.

The original Bottle Bill, passed in 1982, required five-cent refundable deposits on beer and soda containers sold in New York. The bill did not include non-carbonated beverages because at the time most of them did not exist.

“The bill is sound not only for environmental reason, but for the fact that it will make the state money,” said Luke Schordine, a student concentrating in environmental studies.

The defeated bill’s extension required beverage distributors to transfer any unclaimed deposits to the State Environmental Protection Fund. Many beverage companies hold onto the unclaimed deposits resulting in an estimated $140 million a year that can not be used to help fund special environmental projects.

“It’s not only good for the environment, but it also generates millions of dollars that can be used to help improve the state,” said Christian Williams, a NYPIRG intern and student activist.

Bigger Better Bottle Bill opponents include the Coca-Cola Company, PepsiCo., Anheuser Busch, grocers and even some liquor store owners. The opposition is largely in response to the possibility of higher operating costs if the bill was included in the budget.

“The soft drink industry, along with breweries and grocery retailers, opposes deposit legislation because this kind of legislation is too narrowly focused to effectively address the solid waste problem,” according to the Coca-Cola Company’s web page. “Furthermore, deposits divert only 3 percent of waste as opposed to comprehensive systems which divert up to 25 percent.”

Environmentalists don’t agree. “While soda containers are only 2.7 percent of the waste stream, all beverage containers (excluding milk containers) are 4.4 percent of the waste stream,” according to the Container Recycling Institute web page. “More importantly, the upstream environmental effects of container wasting are disproportionately high. For example, beverage containers account for 20 percent of the greenhouse gas emissions resulting from landfilling a ton of municipal solid waste and replacing the wasted products with new products made from virgin materials.”

There are 27 states in the United States without any form of Bottle Bill.

In 2002, Hawaii became the 11th state to pass any form of deposit legislation joining states such as Vermont, Connecticut, New York and California.

Currently, five states, including New York, are campaigning for expansions to their existing Bottle Bill legislation.

Lobbyists throughout New York will continue to push for the expansion of the bottle bill.

“I’m sure that John J. Flanagan, who has in the past been a good representative of the people of our district, could have done more to push the bill to his fellow senators,” said Schordine. “Our letters, e-mails and other contact with the senator unfortunately fell on deaf ears.” Senator Flanagan’s office did not return phone calls by deadline.

NYPIRG will continue to lobby for the bill expansion because of the results shown by the existing bottle bill. Over the last 25 years, over 90 billion bottles and cans have been recycled and returned as a result of the original bill, according to NYPRIG.org.

Environmental club president Michelle Pizer hoped the deposit on water bottles would increase recycling on campus because the five-cent deposits would give students the incentive to return bottles instead of discarding them because they would be making some money.

“It also means that the task falls to the environmental club and other socially and environmentally conscious groups on campus to spread the word about recycling and future versions of the Bigger Better Bottle Bill,” said Schordine.

NYPIRG and the environmental club will continue to lobby for the expansion in hopes of it being included in the 2009-10 state budget.