Group Looks To Expand Plastic Bottle Bill To Include 'New Age' Drinks

DETROIT (WWJ) - Supporters of an updated bottle bill in Michigan will drop off petitions to support it to the bill's sponsor at the state Capitol on Tuesday.

Members of the Public Interest Research Group in Michigan or PIRGIM, want to see an expansion of Michigan's bottle bill to include non-carbonated beverages.

Spokesman for PIRGIM, Eric Mosher, spoke to WWJ about the drive for an expansion of the current bottle bill.

"We are going to be delivering petitions that we've gathered over the last two months to State Senator Rebekah Warren, who is the sponsor of a bottle bill update in the senate," said Mosher.

Mosher says expansion of the bottle bill would cover these "new age" drinks, which have become more popular.

"... bottles are thrown out and so they end up either on the sides of roads and landfills and just to give a more visual image of just how much that is ... if you laid them all cap to bottom, that's enough to circle Lake Michigan 33 times," he said.

Mosher says right now, Michigan residents throw away half a billion plastic bottles every year.