America’s beverage companies are proud to support efforts to boost recycling across the nation. The commonwealth of Massachusetts has the opportunity to bring its recycling infrastructure into the 21st century by retiring its antiquated forced-deposit law and replacing it with a comprehensive recycling program.

In a letter to the editor published in the Gloucester Times, Massachusetts Beverage Association Executive Director Stephen A. Boksanski explains that the people Massachusetts have made clear their desire for a modernized recycling system.

“In 2014, an overwhelming 73 percent of voters told us at the ballot box that they prefer comprehensive recycling approaches like single stream and curbside pickup, rather than going further down the road of an inefficient forced-deposit system,” wrote Boksanski.

Lawmakers in Massachusetts can make modernized recycling in Massachusetts a reality with a proposal that would update recycling infrastructure for the first time since the 1980s. Under this new framework, “beverage distributors would pay in large part for communities to make needed recycling upgrades and place more recycling receptacles on sidewalks and in public parks,” says Boksanski.

The proposal is modeled after a highly successful Delaware law. After the law was implemented the state saw its recycling rate quickly go from 33 percent to a record 42 percent, and the volume of trash it deposited into landfills annually decreased from 1.2 million tons to 720,000 tons,” according to Boksanski.

We hope that Massachusetts lawmakers do away with the current expensive, out-of-date forced-deposit law in favor of a comprehensive, convenient recycling system that will benefit the citizens of Massachusetts and the planet.

To learn more about the proposal to improve recycling rates in the commonwealth, click here.