Bottle trouble

Convenience stores have been on the front lines of the state’s bottle bill for 40 years (“Enviros’ can-do request,” Nov. 22).

Stores collect and pay deposits and accept empty bottles. Since the law went into effect, however, a growing number of stores have started to sell food under license from the state Department of Agriculture and Markets.

When bottles are brought in for redemption they are rarely washed out and are contained in bags that are sticky and unsanitary, which attract bacteria, insects and mice.

The situation worsens when third-party collectors fail to pick up empty bottles as frequently as the law requires, leaving back rooms full with weeks’ worth of empties, within steps of food storage and prep areas.

Any expansion of the “bottle bill” should include a redemption-requirement exemption for stores that are less than 5,000 square feet and explore an alternative to requiring all small retail stores to redeem deposit containers.

Kent Sopris, President, New York Association of Convenience Stores, Albany