Ohio bottle-deposit effort cleared as single issue

By Marc Kovac | October 18, 2014 at 12:02a.m.

COLUMBUS

A Cleveland group that wants to amend the state constitution to require deposits on bottles and other containers has been given the green light to begin circulating petitions.

The state Ballot Board, headed by Republican Secretary of State Jon Husted, agreed Friday that the proposed Bottle Bill for Ohio was a single issue. That decision, along with an earlier certification from Republican Attorney General Mike DeWine, were required for backers to begin collecting signatures.

The proposal calls for refundable deposits of 5 to 10 cents for closed glass, metal and plastic containers. Deposit information would have to be clearly marked, and containers would be returned to designated recycling centers for refunds.

The amendment also calls for refunds paid to the state “to be used to lower health insurance and car insurance costs.”

Backers of the amendment will need to collect more than 385,000 signatures from registered votes to qualify for the ballot.

Ohio voters overwhelmingly defeated a proposed constitutional amendment requiring deposits on bottles and cans in 1979, with 2 million of 2.9 million ballots cast opposing the move.

Opponents of the latest effort already are voicing their concerns, including the Ohio Council of Retail Merchants, the Ohio Grocers Association and the Ohio Restaurant Association.

“It’s a new tax on every product sold in a closed glass, metal or plastic container in Ohio — everything from milk and medicine to motor oil,” Gordon Gough, head of the Ohio Council of Retail Merchants, said in a statement. “To simply call it a ‘bottle bill’ is false and misleading as it covers thousands of other items sold in Ohio retail stores.”