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Rep. Vivian Flowers(D-Pine Bluff) today introduced HB 1771 to require a five-cent deposit on beverage bottles, refundable when the bottles are returned for recycling.

Such legislation has been attempted before in Arkansas and quashed by the powerful soft drink and alcoholic beverage lobbies.

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The Arkansas Democratic Party, in announcing a news conference about the bill today, emphasized recycling and anti-litter as aims of various citizens groups backing the legislation. The bill is called the Arkansas Litter Reduction and Deposit Beverage Container Recycling Act. It would create a state agency to oversee the process and administer revenue collected by the deposit fee.

According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, 10 states currently have bottle bills.

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