Although the recycling bill introduced by Ald. Edward Burke has good intentions, it leaves a lot to be desired from a consumer`s point of view.
Part of the bill requires a 10-cent deposit on all cans and bottles. This looks like another ”shadow tax” created by the city council because of its inability to operate on the existing budget. As usual, taxpayers are the ones stuck filling in the revenue gaps.
This ordinance threatens recycling operations already in place since operating budgets are based on money made from aluminum cans. Over a million people in Illinois are recycling and over 50 Illinois communities now have curbside recycling programs.
Last year Americans recycled a record 50 billion aluminum cans, 61 percent of the total sold. If this current trend continues, Americans will recycle twice as many aluminum cans in 1995 as they do today. Let us continue on this path. Bottle deposit legislation is a deterrent to the recycling movement.
