I’m no expert when it comes to recyling. I recycle, but I’m no expert. However, I am an expert in making sense. Michigan’s bottle deposit system does not make sense.

Most states in the US do not have any type of bottle deposit system. If a bottle deposit system is unfamiliar, let me explain. When you purchase a bottle a deposit is paid. In Michigan this is ten cents. If you buy one bottle you pay ten cents, if you buy a six-pack you pay sixty cents, etc. When you are finished with the bottle, you bring it back and return it to get your deposit back. Simple enough.

Or is it? Truthfully, I don’t know if the bottle deposit system is really the best. Like I said, I’m not an expert. Perhaps states that just recycle these bottles with other plastics are more succesful. What I do know is that Michigan’s system is incredibly illogical. Here’s why.

The determining factor for if a bottle or can has a deposit on it is whether or not it contains a carbonated liquid. If a plastic bottle contains soda or beer, it requires a deposit and must be returned to recieve the deposit back. If a plastic bottle contained water, tea, or juice, no deposit is required. This just doesn’t make any sense. If the purpose of the bottle deposit system is to encourage recycling, why aren’t all bottles and cans treated the same?

I don’t have an answer. With the small amount of information I have I do know one thing. Bottle deposit rules need to make sense. If the system is as successful as CNN claims (95% of all bottles within the system being recycled) then the deposit should not be determined by what type of liquid is inside of a container.