This “Bottle Bill” Is Just Another Tax, And Maryland Families Will Pay for It

Maryland lawmakers are once again pushing a so-called “plastic refund program,” more commonly known as a bottle bill. Supporters frame it as an environmental solution   a harmless deposit that consumers supposedly get back. But anyone who looks past the talking points can see the truth: this is another statewide tax masquerading as recycling policy, and Maryland taxpayers will bear the burden.

The proposal would require consumers to pay an additional 10 to 15 cents per plastic beverage container, refundable only upon return of the bottle. In theory, this sounds reasonable. In practice, it functions exactly like a regressive tax, one that disproportionately hits working families, seniors, renters, and anyone without the time or ability to participate in a cumbersome return system.

A “Deposit” That Behaves Like a Tax

The fatal flaw in bottle bill logic is participation. These programs only work if people consistently return containers. Most do not.

Parents juggling work and childcare are not stockpiling sticky bottles in their kitchens. Seniors are not hauling bags of empties back to the store. Renters in apartments don’t have storage space for recycling depots in their living rooms. As a result, large percentages of deposits go unclaimed, and when that happens, the state keeps the money.

That’s not recycling. That’s revenue generation.

In states with long-standing bottle bills, unredeemed deposits quietly funnel millions of dollars into government coffers each year. Consumers pay more at the register, and the state benefits from noncompliance.

Look at the States That Already Tried This

Advocates love to cite states like Oregon or Michigan, but they conveniently ignore places like New York, which has had a bottle deposit law for more than forty years.

Despite decades of enforcement:

• Redemption rates have declined over time
• Plastic containers still end up in landfills
• Small retailers struggle with compliance costs
• The state now relies on unclaimed deposits as a revenue source

If bottle bills were the environmental silver bullet their supporters claim, litter would already be solved in those states. It isn’t.

What these programs create is an expensive, outdated system that shifts responsibility from individuals to bureaucracy while driving up consumer costs.

Most Plastic Will Still End Up in the Trash

Here’s the uncomfortable truth environmental activists won’t admit: most plastic bottles will never be returned.

People don’t want to rinse, store, transport, and wait in line for nickels and dimes. So, the bottles go in the trash, the deposit is lost, and the system accomplishes little beyond raising prices.

The environmental benefit is marginal. The financial burden is not.

Small Businesses Take the Hit

This proposal doesn’t just impact consumers. It puts significant strain on small businesses, especially neighborhood convenience stores and independent grocers.

Retailers would be forced to:

• Front deposit money
• Store returned containers
• Handle sanitation issues
• Devote labor and space to compliance

Big box chains can absorb these costs. Small family-owned stores cannot. And like every other mandate out of Annapolis, these costs will eventually be passed down to consumers.

A Smarter Conservative Alternative

Republicans are not anti-environment; we are anti-wasteful government schemes that punish taxpayers.

If lawmakers are serious about reducing litter, there are better solutions:

• Enforce existing littering and dumping laws
• Increase penalties for repeat offenders
• Fund local cleanup efforts directly
• Expand voluntary recycling education
• Target bad actors instead of taxing everyone

You don’t need a statewide deposit tax to clean up Maryland’s roadsides. You need accountability and common sense.

Bottom Line

This bottle bill isn’t about recycling.
It’s about creating a new revenue stream under the guise of environmental virtue.

If it walks like a tax, acts like a tax, and hits families like a tax.  
it’s a tax.

Maryland taxpayers deserve better than another Annapolis experiment that sounds good in a press release and fails in the real world.

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Endnotes

1. Maryland General Assembly, Fiscal Note: Beverage Container Recycling Refund and Litter Reduction Program, 2024–2025 Session.
2. New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, Bottle Bill Redemption Data and Deposit Fund Reports, annual summaries, accessed 2024.
3. New York State Division of the Budget, Environmental Protection Fund Receipts, detailing revenue from unclaimed bottle deposits.
4. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Advancing Sustainable Materials Management: Facts and Figures, latest available edition.
5. Reason Foundation, Bottle Bills and the Economics of Recycling, policy analysis report.
6. Reloop Platform, Deposit Return Systems: Global Overview and Performance, referenced by Sierra Club advocacy materials.
7. National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), State Bottle Bills and Deposit Laws, updated policy database.

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Jeremy Gordon is a contributor for Direct Line News and can be reached at Jeremy.Gordon@mcgopclub.com

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