The City of Frederick is asking its residents for input to help shape legislative priorities for the upcoming 2025 Maryland General Assembly Legislative Session. Please indicate your preference for environmental initiatives. You can respond here . While there are specific requests, there are also opportunities to suggest other priorities. Please use this opportunity to voice your support for a statewide Beverage Container Deposit Bill.

We are grateful to Mayor O'Connor who gave his support to this legislation last year, but unfortunately it did not pass. It will be introduced again and this is the year to make it happen! Let the City know it’s important to you. Act now; the deadline is July 31. Below are some facts about the bottle bill legislation:

The Problem

• About 5.2 billion beverage containers are sold in Maryland annually. Despite widespread availability of curbside collection of recyclables and public recycling receptacles, only about a quarter of the containers (23%) are captured for recycling. Four billion containers a year, 2.6 billion of which are plastic, are left in the environment–in landfills, on road-sides, in waterways–or incinerated. The number littered is significant: Beverage containers are about half of the trash by volume in the Anacostia watershed’s trash traps.

The Solution

• Beverage container deposit programs, also known as “bottle bills,” are a proven, highly effective policy for recovering used beverage containers and reducing litter. Ten states, covering about 90 million people, have longstanding, successful programs. They add a small deposit to the purchase price of beverage containers that is refunded to customers when the containers are returned for recycling. When empty beverage containers can be redeemed for cash, fewer are littered or likely to remain littered.

We participated in Frederick Pride last month, held on what must have been the hottest day of the summer. Turnout was incredible at this fantastic event, with thousands of folks strolling along both sides of the creek. Sierra Club Catoctin Group was there, educating folks about the relationship of single use plastic with litter, microplastics, and providing ice cold water.

There was a huge response to our sign that Maryland needs a bottle deposit bill. We will be active this fall publicizing this legislation and educating the public and our representatives on its merits.

Marylanders deserve this!

We are planning a joint picnic with the Washington County Sierra Club on August 17. More details to follow but please mark your calendar for this fun get-together!

Enjoy your summer!