House Committee Takes Up SB 234

The House Natural Resources Committee meets today at noon to discuss Senate Bill 234, the bill to institute statewide curbside recycling to Delaware. I expect the committee will hear some of the same arguments about the four cent fee being a sales tax and the mythical trash police.
SB 234 has broad support from the business and environmental communities. Most of Delaware's environmental organizations are behind the bill, though some have expressed understandable reluctance to give up on the bottle deposit system. The relevant commercial interests are on board, including retailers, grocery stores, restaurants and beverage distributors. We are hearing some pushback from out of state glass interests, who seem to prefer source separated recycling. SB 234 would institute single stream recycling, which has been shown to boost participation and greatly reduce handling costs. The consensus was reinforced by the strong 17 to 3 majority the bill received in the Senate last week. SB 234 should be released from committee and placed on the House agenda at the earliest possible date.