Owners of New York bottle and can redemption centers say they'll be forced to close their doors in the coming months amid years of rising costs and legislative inaction as lawmakers review proposed changes to the state's container deposit laws next session.

Lawmakers want to make updating the state's container deposit laws a priority next session, and held a joint legislative hearing in Albany on Monday about the proposed bottle bill to expand what can be recycled in the state and increase the deposit received for doing it.

The legislation would raise the deposit from 5 to 10 cents, increasing state revenue. It would also expand recycling to include things like glass, liquor and wine bottles and juice containers that didn't exist when the law was first enacted.

"What's held it up is the need to get it right," Senate Environmental Conservation Committee chair Pete Harckham said Monday. "I know the sponsors are listening to stakeholders. It's really up to both of the sponsors to get a joint bill that they can move. We've got this year to work on that, and not every bill gets done in one year."

But redemption centers owners struggling to stay open say there's no time to waste, and blasted lawmakers for not updating the law since 2009. 

"I beg the question to you all: Would you survive on your 2009 pay while paying 2023 expenses? ...Because that is exactly what is expected of us," Jade Eddy, owner of MT Returnables redemption center in Queensbury, said during testimony.

She's pleading with the Legislature to increase the handling fee, or portion of the deposit centers get. Redemption centers currently get 3.5 cents of the 5-cent rate — the bottle bill would increase their take to 6 cents. 

"There are also a lot of jobs at that redemption centers in rural areas and most far-flung areas of the state that are facing closure because they can't pay their workers," sponsor Sen. Rachel May said.

Eddy told lawmakers they need to hold an emergency legislative session to immediately increase the handling fee or centers will be closing their doors within months, adding 100 centers have closed in the last year alone.

"We are being crippled because the state has left us so far behind," she said. "Our industry is like no other. We are 100% state legislative. We do not have the power to adjust pricing to accommodate rising expenses like restaurants or retailers. We must rely on legislators to maintain the bottle bill, and you have not."

May, a Syracuse Democrat, introduced additional legislation to use unclaimed bottle deposit money for state Department of Environmental Conservation grants to build redemption centers and improve their infrastructure. The DEC's grant program for redemption centers was created in 2013, but officials say it was never funded.

The state had $139 million in unclaimed beverage container deposits in 2021, according to the legislation. A percentage goes into the state's Environmental Protection Fund with the majority returned to the budget's general fund.

If the container deposit amount increases and redemption centers expand in the state's metropolitan areas, lawmakers must also prepare for higher bottle redemption fraud. Environmental police officers Monday testified at least $100 million in related fraud affects the state each year.

Smaller beverage centers and wine stores are also worried their storefronts will not have the capacity for the extra bottles and returns if the law is expanded as proposed.

May and Assembly sponsor Deborah Glick want to increase the number of reverse vending, or bottle deposit, machines to relieve the burden on small liquor stores.

Gov. Kathy Hochul has not included the bottle bill in past budget proposals, and wouldn't specify Monday if the measure will make the cut.

"I understand the interest in it," she told reporters at an unrelated event in Albany. "There's many policy initiatives we're still pressure testing during this time it's required before it's required to be announced."

Lawmakers plan to prioritize including the bottle bill in the next state budget, or passing the measure separately as part of ongoing efforts to reduce statewide emissions. They said the bottle bill will reduce methane in landfills and types of waste burned in incinerators.

Hochul says the issue is on her radar as she begins work to draft her executive budget to be released in January. Lawmakers are hopeful the conversations will push her to include the bottle bill when she sets New York's 2024-25 budget.

"We always look forward to working with the governor in a productive fashion," Harckham said.