SACRAMENTO, Calif.,
Sept. 11, 2019 /PRNewswire/ --
Amendments to AB 54 (Ting) last night freed $5 million for beleaguered consumer recycling
centers, seeming to seal what appears to be a short-term band-aid
for recycling center problems until a larger solution is developed
next year. AB 54 already provided $5
million for mobile recycling and a short few months
exemption for grocers affected by August recycling center closures
that would otherwise have to redeem bottle and can deposits
earlier.
Legislators, stakeholders and advocates all agreed AB 54 would
be just the beginning of a major overhaul of the recycling system
next legislative session.
Supermarket, drugstore, convenience and big box chains that
invested more than $1 million in
campaign donations to California
lawmakers since 2017 appear to be rebuffed in their
eleventh-hour legislation, SB 643 (Glazer), to exempt thousands of
retailers from recycling obligations for two years. Glazer is the
second largest recipient of grocer and retailer contributions in
the legislature.
"The legislature did no harm, which is the best you can hope for
in the last week of legislative session, but it also did only a
little good," said Consumer Watchdog president Jamie Court, whose group supported the measure
as amended. "If California's bottle deposit program is not
overhauled next year with consumer convenience at its core then the
CRV deposit will become a tax not a deposit. California consumers are already leaving
nearly three quarters of a billion dollars on the table in deposits
because there are so few places to redeem their bottles and cans.
All parties appear aware and willing to work toward a real
solution, which is an important first step."
Read Court's op-ed yesterday in the Sacramento Bee on the
grocers' end of session power grab
here: https://www.sacbee.com/opinion/op-ed/article234899717.html
California is only one of
two bottle deposit states out of ten that doesn't require every
retailer that sells beverages carrying a California Redemption
Value to refund deposits. When no other recycling centers exist in
an area, however, California
grocers and retailers have a duty to redeem.
Campaign filings with the Secretary of State since 2017 show
that Glazer is the second highest recipient of retailer
donations--$27,000. Assemblyman
Phil Ting, author of AB 54, which
would give supermarkets a reprieve of months from taking back
empties now that hundreds of redemption centers closed last month,
is the eighth highest recipient at $22,400. The top 20 lawmakers receiving donations
captured $433,200, or 43%, of the
total $1 million.
RECIPIENT
|
Amount
|
|
|
|
Low, Evan
|
$27,900.00
|
|
|
|
Glazer,
Steve
|
$27,000.00
|
|
|
|
Wilk,
Scott
|
$24,600.00
|
|
|
|
Grayson,
Tim
|
$24,400.00
|
|
|
|
Dodd,
Bill
|
$24,200.00
|
|
|
|
Dahle,
Brian
|
$23,300.00
|
|
|
|
Cooper,
Jim
|
$22,900.00
|
|
|
|
Ting, Phil
|
$22,400.00
|
|
|
|
Atkins,
Toni
|
$22,300.00
|
|
|
|
Mullin,
Kevin
|
$21,800.00
|
|
|
|
Burke,
Autumn
|
$20,900.00
|
|
|
|
Eggman,
Susan
|
$20,800.00
|
|
|
|
Mayes,
Chad
|
$20,500.00
|
|
|
|
Gray, Adam
|
$20,100.00
|
|
|
|
Rubio,
Blanca
|
$20,000.00
|
|
|
|
Daly, Tom
|
$18,300.00
|
|
|
|
Gipson,
Mike
|
$18,300.00
|
|
|
|
Gonzalez,
Lorena
|
$18,100.00
|
|
|
|
Irwin,
Jacqui
|
$17,800.00
|
|
|
|
Quirk-Silva,
Sharon
|
$17,600.00
|
|
|
|
For the full breakdown by donor of the contributions to the top
20 lawmakers, see:
https://consumerwatchdog.org/sites/default/files/2019-09/GrocerContributionsToLegislatorsTop20_0.pdf
The Bay Area, represented by Glazer (Orinda) and Ting (San Francisco), among others, has been among
the hardest hit regions of California as redemption centers facing
economic hardship, severe state underpayments, and evictions from
supermarket parking lots close down. Currently, that area
features only 64 redemption centers serving eight million
consumers, resulting in hours-long lines, according to the
Container Recycling Institute.
Major grocery, convenience store, and drug store chains, plus
the California Grocers Association PAC and the California Retailers
PAC have donated $1.069 million since
2017 to the campaigns of 107 lawmakers. The chains are:
Albertsons/Safeway, Walmart/Sams Club, 7-Eleven, Northgate
Gonzalez, Target, Rite Aid, CVS and Walgreens. CVS and Walgreens
have been the biggest givers with CVS donating $358,900 and Walgreens donating $208,000. Albertsons/Safeway and Walmart/Sams
Club each donated more than $80,000.
A May survey by Consumer Watchdog of 50 Los Angeles-area
grocery, convenience and drug stores – legally obligated to redeem
deposits – found that two-thirds of the retailers visited simply
refused—including Walgreens, 7-Eleven, Albertsons, and Rite Aid
stores visited. More than half of the state's violations against
beverage retailers over the last five years were for illegally
refusing to redeem deposits. Read the survey and watch the
videos here:
https://www.consumerwatchdog.org/energy/consumer-watchdog-report-shows-66-grocery-stores-surveyed-refused-recycle
Major chains selling beverages have long wanted to get out of
recycling responsibilities, though the most successful bottle
deposit programs in other states and countries put the ultimate
responsibility for recycling of product packaging and the running
of the bottle deposit systems onto the beverage industry with state
oversight.
Read Consumer Watchdog's report "Half A
Nickel": https://www.consumerwatchdog.org/energy/watchdog-report-finds-california-consumers-lose-half-every-nickel-bottle-deposit
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SOURCE Consumer Watchdog