While conversations continue in the Iowa Capitol between lawmakers during the legislative session, the bottle deposit laws have been a talking point.

State Senator for District 10 Jake Chapman says the idea of eliminating the deposits on bottles and cans has been around for several years. Chapman points out  that things have changed since the five-cent can and bottle deposit bill was enacted in 1979.

“There was a big movement at that time. A lot of people were finding cans in the ditches and there was an environmental concern of making sure that people were recycling their cans. A lot has changed.”

Chapman notes since the coronavirus pandemic began redemption places including grocery stores could choose to not accept bottle and can redemptions due to an executive order. Also, Chapman says with the inclusion of things like curbside pickup for recycling there are other options for cans and bottles. 

“From the environmental aspect we are not seeing any more cans necessarily in the ditch than what we did pre-COVID, and so it begs the question: is this the time to have a conversion on the bottle bill, and I think perhaps there is.”

Chapman notes this bill will continue to be looked at during the session.