(Tompkins Weekly, 3-11-26, by Joey Diana Gates)
In the efforts to reduce waste the mantra, “Refuse, reduce, reuse and recycle,” is very familiar. This hierarchy of actions offers the best ways to keep food packaging out of landfills. While efforts to encourage Refuse/Reduce such as Bring Your Own containers, and Reuse, such as the provision of reusable dishes at the Ithaca Farmers Market, the reality is that our infrastructure is set up in support of doing things in the reverse order starting with recycling. Recycling is picked up weekly in containers put out to the curb, locally as a single stream of all recyclables without the need for separation. Also, since 1983, in accordance with the New York State (NYS) Returnable Containers Act, certain types of beverage bottles are sold to consumers with an added 5 cent deposit fee, which is returned to whomever brings them back for redemption. This is by far the most successful form of recycling with a 70% redemption rate. However, the people who do the work processing these returns, and the related infrastructure are strained.
Since 2022, the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation has been working with the public and parallel advocacy groups to put forth the (bigger) Better Bottle Bill (BBB) to increase the number of items eligible for the deposit/redemption systems such as coffee and wine bottles. The new bill also proposes that the redemption fee be raised to 10 cents per item. Despite all costs associated with these transactions increasing over the years, this 5-cent fee has never changed and according to Jade Eddy, the owner of MT Returnables, in Queensbury, NY, almost 200 redemption centers have closed since 2023 alone. Frustrations with the system led her to fill a U-Haul full of bottles and dump it outside of the governor’s mansion in November 2025.
Locally, Trumansburg Redemption Center owner Nick Moe explained that he is only paid 2½ cents per item on top of the 5 cents, by Tomra, the hauler who services his store. The only way to make it in the business is through sheer volume. The Center, born out of his parents’ Pat & Jackie’s redemption setup at their Finger Lakes Beverage Center business of 22 years. The Center, opened just prior to the pandemic, only experienced about a month of shutdown, and has been keeping a steady pace since. Unlike stores who often only take containers for beverages they sell, Nick takes all redeemables with a close eye on the incoming stream to ensure non-redeemables are not in the mix. What motivates him and his folks who help in the Center to keep going? Keeping things out of the landfill and providing a service to the community are the top 2 reasons cited by father Pat.
Laurie Konwinski, local advocate for the BBB, in coordination with the New York Public Interest Research Group explains further that the fees provide a supplemental and even a form of income to a subset of the population such as the “canners” in New York City. Folks will also use their deposit return funds to donate to local nonprofits, as is seen in the line of over a dozen receptacles for local causes on Nick’s front counter. As Laurie says, “It’s time for a dime,” however this is met with powerful resistance from the beverage industry and unions. When asked what the hold up is, Laurie points to the already slow legislative process and the lower priority the BBB receives relative to issues such as affordability, housing, and prison reform.
As several local landfills face closure such as Seneca Meadows, which was due to close at the end of last year, and the Ontario County Landfill, which is set for closure in 2028, the monetary price of throwing things “away” will continue to get steeper. Successful efforts such as the redemption plan are a vital part of keeping things out of the landfill. The reuse sector is budding in parallel with this, with local work being done to shift us closer to the 1st two R’s of Refuse and Reuse. Asked if he would be interested in shifting operations to collecting containers for reuse, Nick replied, “sure, if we can make the numbers work.”
Joey Diana Gates is the Founder, Head Dishwasher of Dish Truck & Regeneration & Elements in Design, whose mission is Bringing Sustainability to the Party.
Signs of Sustainability is organized by Sustainable Finger Lakes. If you’d like to contribute an article, email: signsofsustainability@gmail.com. If you liked this article, check out our complete archive.
