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Stratford recycling center hopes bottle bill increase brings more bottles and customers in

Starting Jan. 1, Connecticut's Bottle Bill will increase its reward for each bottle returned from 5 cents to 10 cents.

Tom Krosnowski and Rose Shannon

Dec 27, 2023, 10:23 PM

Updated 359 days ago

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Starting Jan. 1, Connecticut's Bottle Bill will increase its reward for each bottle returned from 5 cents to 10 cents.
"We'll be more faithful about saving them, and not just throwing them in the recycling bin," says Kathy Aspinwall.
However, this also means customers will pay more when they purchase drinks.
Conrad Cutler, the founder of Returnable Container Management in Stratford, says the change along with this year's increase in eligible bottle types will help bring more customers and bottles in.
"Connecticut is a leader when it comes to the returnable container act, and it has an expanded bottle bill compared to other states," says Cutler.
Despite that, the state's return rate is just under 45%, the second lowest out of the 10 states with a bottle bill.
"The value of a nickel was substantially more in the 1980s than it was today. We're very optimistic about increasing the recycling rate throughout the state," says Cutler.
Returnable Container Management is a comingled facility. People can bring in their plastics and cans which are then crushed and turned into more cans and bottles for later use.
Along with returning bottles at supermarkets, people visit can RecyclingMakesCenterCT.com to find a nearby recycling or redemption center.