Iowa Govenor Chet Culver laid out 3 key goals 31 Jan/08 for legislation being debated to update the state's 30-year-old Bottle Bill. He wants to expand the Bottle Bill to include the 330M water bottles, juice containers & sports drink containers that are currently not covered. Also, he aims to increase funding assistance to rural redemption centers which have declined from 300 to 100 in 5y. Thirdly, he wants to fully fund the Resource Enhancement Program (REAP) at US$ 20M. "Iowans believe it is time to expand the Bottle Bill to accurately reflect today's consumption habits. Common sense tells us it does not make sense to provide an incentive to recycle a Coke bottle while letting water bottles end up in ditches & landfill. Today, 330M containers/pa in Iowa are not covered under the current law & that is not acceptable", Governor Culver said in a press release.
