Now it’s up to the Legislature to decide on a veto override vote, which could lead LePage to simply ban the sale of the small liquor bottles in Maine. by Kevin Miller, staff writer Portland Press Herald news story AUGUSTA — Gov. Paul LePage followed through on his pledge to veto a bill to impose Read More
Maine Bottle Bill
Maine’s Returnable Beverage Container Law, commonly referred to as “the Bottle Bill,” is the most successful waste and litter reduction law in our state’s history. With the help of NRCM in 1976, Maine became the third US state to enact a beverage container deposit program—after Oregon and Vermont. This smart policy went into effect in 1978 and successfully eliminated problematic roadside beverage container litter and resulted in Maine residents recycling an estimated 90 percent of the bottles and cans sold in the state.
LePage Vetoes Deposit Bill for Nips
By Steve Collins, Sun Journal AUGUSTA, Maine — Gov. Paul LePage vetoed a measure to require a deposit for the tiny liquor bottles known as nips. In his veto message, the governor complained about the cost of the proposal but also offered an alternative way to address the littering problem created by the increasingly popular Read More
In Gov. LePage’s View, No One Has Right Answers but Him
His resistance to a legislative deal on ‘nips’ deposits is just the latest in a long list of policy stances shaped by his gripes and prejudices. Portland Press Herald editorial It should have been a story about how government and industry came together to quietly solve a problem through compromise. Instead, it became another example Read More
Lewiston Liquor Bottler Warns Ending “Nips” Sales Would Have “Drastic Impact” on Company
A letter from the Sazerac Co. CEO suggests Gov. LePage’s threat to end sales of 50-milliliter bottles – not a proposed 5-cent bottle deposit – would harm his company and the state. by Kevin Miller, staff writer Portland Press Herald news story AUGUSTA – The head of a Lewiston liquor bottler withdrew his support for Read More
LePage Threatens to Veto Deposit on “Nips,” Remove Them from Maine Stores
The governor responds to a bill, likely headed for his desk, that would add the miniature liquor bottles to the state’s bottle deposit bill to reduce littering. by Kevin Miller, staff writer Portland Press Herald news story AUGUSTA — Gov. Paul LePage vowed Tuesday to veto a bipartisan bill that would impose a 5-cent deposit Read More
Maine House Strongly Supports Putting Deposit on Miniature Liquor Bottles
By Mal Leary Maine Public news story For decades Maine has had a bottle redemption system for soda, beer and liquor bottles to encourage recycling and prevent littering of those containers. Now the Maine House has voted to expand the deposit law to include small liquor bottles called nips. Rep. Richard Campbell, a Republican from Read More
Bill to Add Bottle Deposit to “Nips” Advances
The legislation to charge a refundable 5-cent deposit on miniature liquor bottles is aimed at reducing roadside litter. By Kevin Miller, Staff Writer Portland Press Herald news story AUGUSTA — A bill that would impose a 5-cent deposit on the miniature liquor bottles known as “nips” advanced in the Legislature on Tuesday. Touted as a Read More
The Nuisance of “Nips”
by Edgar Allen Beem The Forecaster column When I drove into the drug store parking lot the other day I found myself parked in a litter of little plastic liquor bottles. I mentioned this to an employee who told me they had someone who picked up the empty “nips” once or twice a day, but Read More
Downsizing Maine’s Bottle Redemption Program Would Be a Recycling Disaster
By The BDN Editorial Board Bangor Daily News editorial Two years ago, Maine lawmakers were asked to scale back the state’s nearly four-decade-old beverage bottle redemption program. Wisely, they chose not to. This year in the Maine Legislature, lawmakers face the same choice. LD 683 proposes to remove containers 46 ounces and larger from the Read More
