BOSTON – An amendment co-sponsored by Senator Brian A. Joyce to expand the bottle redemption law to cover more beverages, including water and energy drinks, was successfully added to the Senate’s Fiscal Year 14 budget.

The Senate budget amendment broadens the deposit law to include new noncarbonated soft drinks, mineral water, flavored and unflavored water, spring water, fruit drinks that contain less than 10 percent juice, sports drinks, and coffee and coffee-based drinks. The law will continue to exempt dairy products, juices, infant formula and medicines from the expansion.

“In the last thirty years the bottle deposit law has been fantastic at encouraging recycling and combatting litter,” said Joyce. “Also, in the last thirty years the beverage market has changed dramatically and it’s time to change the law to reflect that change consumer tastes.”

Since becoming law in 1983, the original bottle bill has contributed to the recycling of 35 billion containers. Currently, an estimated 3.3 billion beverages are consumed in the Commonwealth each year with over one-third of those beverages falling outside of the scope of the original bottle bill.