Should Missouri Have a Bottle Deposit Law?

Last night at the Cardinals game, a friend of mine and I discussed the bottle deposit law. It came up because we discussed how they have gotten rid of beer cans entirely at Busch this year. You can only buy your $27 dollar beers on tap or in plastic bottles. This is regrettable, because aluminum is so easy to recycle, although plastic can obviously be recycled, too. Also, I had just returned from a trip to Michigan, with its famous 10-cent deposit.

So, should Missouri institute a deposit law of either a nickel or dime? I think it should. It would be one way to encourage positive social behavior (recycling bottles) through incentives rather than directives. You don’t have to recycle if you don’t want to, it will just cost you $1.20 extra per case of beer. This is not a tax you have to pay, it is one you choose to pay, and the behavior encouraged is so simple to do it can hardly be considered onerous or burdensome. So, I say bring on a 5- or 10-cent deposit law in Missouri. Let me know what you think in the comments.