The Draft Beverage Container Bill, 1999 (amended 2012) seeks to provide for the establishment of the Beverage Containers Advisory Board, a deposit and refund system for prescribed sizes of beverage container; a regime for the collection of beverage containers to reduce their disposal into the environment, thereby alleviating the pollution problem and for other related matters. The bill also incorporates other administrative and fiscal measures to encourage the reuse and recycling of beverage containers.

Some of the Draft Bill’s key points:

Tax-free deposits for returning plastic bottles

The Bill will allow for anyone who sells a beverage ‘by wholesale or retail’ to collect a deposit for the item from the consumer which would be tax-exempt.  The customer would then be able to return the bottle and claim their deposit, either payable immediately in cash, or as a set-off against another purchase, or via cheque.

List of collection depots to be maintained regularly

A list of the designated collection depots would be made available to the public and updated regularly.

Manufacturers to pay ‘handling fee’ to collection depots

In addition, the Bill proposes that manufacturers pay a 20 percent ‘handling fee’ to the operator of the collection depot based on the value of the refund on each empty container collected by the manufacturer.

Fines for uncollected returns

Under the 2012 version of the Bill, manufacturers who refuse or fail to collect empty containers are liable to a fine of $5,000 for each day on which the containers remain uncollected.

Fines for improper disposal of plastic bottles

Manufacturers must dispose of empty containers in accordance with regulations – failure to do so could result in a fine of $500,000, or up to one-year imprisonment.

Fines for refunding plastic bottles twice

Anyone trying to get refunds on containers (plastic bottles) that have already been refunded, can be fined $100 per container.

The introduction of the Beverage Container Deposit/Refund System will encourage citizens to keep their recyclable containers out of the trashcan and, ultimately, the landfills.

Link to the Draft Beverage Container Bill, 1999 (amended 2012)

http://www.ttparliament.org/legislations/b2012s05p.pdf

(Extracted from LoopTT article:

https://tt.loopnews.com/content/after-flood-plastic-bottles-govt-discuss-beverage-bill)

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