SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The Maryland General Assembly will consider a “bottle bill” aimed at establishing a beverage container recycling and refund program this year. The supporters of the legislation claimed that the move will significantly reduce plastic pollution in the state.

According to the bill, customers will need to pay a small deposit at the time of purchase of beverages in metal, plastic or glass containers. The fee could vary from 10 cents for containers less than 24 ounces to 15 cents for containers up to three liters. The fee on containers would be refunded too customers when they drop off the same at redemption centres.

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Martha Ainsworth of the Maryland Sierra Club’s Zero Waste Team noted that the major difference of the proposed legislation is that the materials dropped off would be recycled and then reused as beverage containers, thus preventing them from being down-cycled into some other products. In addition, the bill would reduce pollution by two-thirds, thus preventing huge volumes of plastic from ending up in Maryland’s waterways.

The House of Delegates and the State Senate have introduced bills to establish a beverage container recycling and refund program in Maryland.