A new bill in the Michigan House of Representatives is looking to expand Michigan's 42-year-old bottle deposit law.
Sponsored by Democratic Rep. Jon Hoadley from southwest Michigan, House Bill 5486 would amend the bottle law to now include water and juice bottles.
State Rep. Abdullah Hammoud said, "We are a state that recycles about 15% below the national average."
He is trying to get more people to recycle. That's why Hammoud is supporting the bill introduced in the state house last week.
"Michigan is known to have a recycling rate below that of the national average and we know water is the most consumed beverage and purchased beverage from local stores and we thought we'd create an incentive for recycling."
He explained, "We really need to address this problem for the sake of our environment and we really believe this market incentive to encourage people to do the right thing will work."
Currently, the law includes carbonated natural or mineral water, beer, wine, wine coolers, pop and more.
The new bill would exclude unflavored rice milk, soy milk, milk or any dairy-derived product.
