Michigan's four surrounding states do not have bottle deposit laws. Michiganders pay an extra dime for beverage bottles and cans which is then refunded upon the return of the empty containers. Smugglers are taking advantage of the system.
Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin border the state of Michigan. Many of these other state's residents are bringing in their empty cans and bottles to take advantage of the bottle return refunds that only Michigan residents are supposed to be receiving for their returns. This fraudulent bottle return from outsiders who do not pay the deposit in the first place is costing the state of Michigan millions of dollars.
These smugglers are bringing in about 100 million bottles and cans from other states to get the 10-cent deposit refunds. Border-area party stores have signs warning customers that the redemption of bottles and cans from outside Michigan is illegal, but it is hard to prevent people from continuing to smuggle these in.
Michigan Democratic Representative Steve Bieda has just introduced legislation on Thursday that will finally crackdown on these out-of-staters who are raping Michigan of $10 million a year.
The bill would alter container labels or upgrade bottle collection machines so that those who buy beverages across the border, where no deposit is required, could no longer redeem the containers in Michigan.
There have been seen a great many automobiles with Ohio and Indiana license plates that cross over the border into Michigan where they unload huge amounts of cans and bottles into the supermarket's bottle collection machines. These smugglers target supermarkets with the collection machines or "reverse vending machines" because they can more easily get away with this crime than going to the little "mom & pop" places where the owner or employee might object to what they are trying to pull.
"It's like free money to them," Bieda said. "This is costing the state environmental fund $10 million a year. It's causing a loss of jobs along our border. It's been a problem for about 12 years now."
A Michigan fund that finances environmental cleanup projects collects about $9 million a year in unclaimed bottle deposits. Bieda said the smuggling robs that fund of an additional $10 million, based on a 2000 study that estimated 100 million bottles and cans come across the border annually.
The Michigan Beer and Wine Wholesalers Association said 22 Michigan stores bordering Indiana closed in 2003, and in 2005 sales in that area dropped 17.5 percent. Michiganders are going across the border to buy the cheaper beverages and then redeeming the bottles and cans in local stores.
Bieda's legislation has the endorsement of some big environmental groups - Sierra Club, Clean Water Action and Michigan Environmental Council, along with the MI. Beer and Wine Wholesalers Assoc. Over 70 other legislators are co-sponsoring the proposed bill.
The legislation would offer two changes that would put the impetus on the industry to fix the problem. It would require a separate bar code on the label of each bottle and can sold in Michigan, identifying the container as returnable in this state. As an alternative, the legislation would force manufacturers to revise their collection machines so that they recognize containers sold outside Michigan.
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