Nearly one-third of all bottles, cans, and beverage containers thrown away in Rhode Island last year ended up in landfills.
This is despite efforts at education and promoting recycling.
A legislative commission meeting in special session heard the figures this week, and the call for a "bottle bill" was renewed.
The basics are like those in other states: consumers pay a small fee on containers at the point of sale and then get the fee back in return.
Bottle manufacturers would collect the containers and handle the recycling.
Legislators have tried to pass similar bills in the past without success.
(Photo credit NORBERT MILLAUER/DDP/AFP via Getty Images)
Photo: NORBERT MILLAUER / DDP / Getty Images