Commemorating 50th anniversary of Oregon Bottle Bill.

81st OREGON LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY--2021 Regular Session Enrolled House Concurrent Resolution 24 Sponsored by Representative SOLLMAN, Senator STEINER HAYWARD; Representatives ALONSO LEON, BREESE-IVERSON, CAMPOS, DEXTER, DRAZAN, EVANS, HAYDEN, HELM, HOLVEY, HUDSON, KROPF, LEIF, LEVY, MARSH, MEEK, MOORE-GREEN, MORGAN, NERON, NOSSE, POST, POWER, RAYFIELD, REARDON, RESCHKE, REYNOLDS, RUIZ, SALINAS, SANCHEZ, SCHOUTEN, SMITH DB, WILDE, Senators BEYER, BURDICK, DEMBROW, FINDLEY, FREDERICK, GORSEK, JOHNSON, KENNEMER, KNOPP, LIEBER, PATTERSON, PROZANSKI, TAYLOR, WAGNER Whereas Oregon was the first state in the nation to enact a beverage container redemption bill, placing a five-cent redemption value on soda and beer cans and bottles; and Whereas Oregon’s “Bottle Bill” in 1971 was a creative solution to widespread littering of single-use bottles and cans along trails, roadways and beaches, and in Oregon’s iconic lakes and rivers; and Whereas Governor Tom McCall very early saw the potential national impact of the Bottle Bill, aspiring to “put a price on the head of every beer can and pop bottle in the United States”; and Whereas Oregon’s Bottle Bill established responsibility with the producers of single-use beverage containers to ensure that they are properly recycled and do not end up in landfills or litter the landscape; and Whereas private-sector responsibility and administration of Oregon’s Bottle Bill ensures that consistently more than 80 percent of redeemable bottles and cans in Oregon are successfully re- turned and recycled; and Whereas Oregon’s Bottle Bill has expanded and modernized over time to include additional single-use beverage containers and has increased redemption options and methods for consumers to return their beverage containers; and Whereas more than two billion single-use containers and refillable bottles are redeemed each year in Oregon, demonstrating the scope and effectiveness of Oregon’s approach; and Whereas while the environmental and litter-mitigating benefits of bottle bills are widely her- alded, these programs offer additional public benefits as well, with peer-reviewed academic research finding that cities in states with bottle redemption laws, on average, see an 11.3 percent reduction in low-level property crimes compared to cities in states without bottle bills; and Whereas while innovations over time have made container redemption easier than ever for res- idents of Oregon, consumers are also increasingly using the program for charitable purposes and to save for college; and Whereas approximately 2,500 nonprofit entities in Oregon have received more than $11 million in container redemption donations in the past decade alone; and Whereas families saved a combined $141,000 for college by directing their redemptions to their Oregon 529 Savings Network higher education accounts in just the first year the program allowed these contributions; and Whereas other states and countries around the world continue to look to Oregon as the global leader in deposit return systems and product stewardship; and Whereas Oregon’s container redemption system operates without any state subsidy; and Whereas Oregon’s trailblazing Bottle Bill continues to grow, evolve and innovate, and it remains one of the state’s most creative and successful solutions to a vexing public policy issue; and Whereas 2021 marks the 50th anniversary of Oregon’s historic Bottle Bill; now, therefore, Enrolled House Concurrent Resolution 24 (HCR 24-INTRO) Page 1 Be It Resolved by the Legislative Assembly of the State of Oregon: That we, the members of the Eighty-first Legislative Assembly, celebrate the 50th anniversary of Oregon’s Bottle Bill, and we renew our commitment to this creative, effective and iconic public policy; and be it further Resolved, That we encourage all Oregonians to continue caring for their beloved open spaces and demonstrating robust stewardship by redeeming their cans and bottles for decades to come. Adopted by House April 19, 2021 Timothy G. Sekerak, Chief Clerk of House Tina Kotek, Speaker of House Adopted by Senate June 7, 2021 Peter Courtney, President of Senate Enrolled House Concurrent Resolution 24 (HCR 24-INTRO) Page 2