Ever get the feeling you’re being penalized for somebody else’s inaction?

For example, getting stuck longer than necessary in traffic because some numbnuts decide they can ignore the sign warning drivers to merge left (or right) for a lane closure. These folks insist on speeding past those of us who have bothered to merge. Then they hit the resulting bottleneck, slowing everyone down as they push to get in line.

I get that feeling from bottle deposits, too. Deposits are now 10 cents and required on more items.

I am not claiming that I have never, for convenience’s sake, tossed a container into a trash can that could have been recycled. But almost all the time I dutifully recycle. I don’t need the incentive of recovering a deposit to get me to do the right thing with an empty can or bottle.

Many people, however, do need an incentive. It is why Connecticut first approved a bottle bill in 1978. Starting in 1980, it placed a 5-cent deposit on soft drink and beer bottles and containers. Consumers were incentivized to bring the containers back to get their nickels, rather than just tossing them in the garbage or out the car window. And other folks, as it turned out, were incentivized to collect those containers that were tossed so that they could get the nickels.

Ten states use deposits to encourage good empty-container behavior. The others are California, Hawaii, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, Oregon and Vermont.

As the popularity and convenience of recycling grew, it seemed to me that the necessity of a deposit should have ended. We were all supposed to be placing our glass, paper, cans, cardboard and plastics in recycling bins anyway. So why the need to keep hitting us with 5-cent deposits to return specific items — the beverage bottles — back to the stores?

Because many did not buy into the recycling culture. But they would return cans and bottles to get their money back.

Beginning Jan. 1, changes approved by the state legislature doubled the deposit to 10 cents and expanded the items that are subject to it. Ten-cent deposits are now collected on juice, tea, coffee, sports and energy drinks. And also on kombucha, which I have learned is a fermented, lightly effervescent, sweetened black tea drink. Carbonated drinks under 3 liters and non-carbonated beverages under 2.5 liters are subject to the deposit. The deposit does not apply to dairy products, wine and liquor, or any paper cartons. But please recycle all those items.

For those of us who were already placing this stuff in a recycling container to be hauled away, it means we must instead bring it back to the store to get our dimes.

Recently I brought an orange juice container back to Aldi with my other traditional deposit beverages. The machine spit the empty OJ container back at me with the display stating, “the store does not accept this item.” I took it to the cashier to get my 10 cents.

At Walmart the plastic container refund machine was not working at all. I brought the containers, 29 of them piled in paper bags, to the customer service desk. “Did you buy them all here?” the clerk asked. “We don’t have to take them back if we don’t sell them.”

“Well,” I offered, “I think you sell all these products.” Not having kept a log, I could not say with certainty that they were all bought at Walmart. She gave me my $2.90. I don’t know what happened to the paper bags. I fear they were not recycled.

Evidence suggests that as inconvenient as this process may be, it should work. Like those drivers who won’t merge until they must, some won’t return containers unless financially coerced.

According to the National Bureau of Economic Research, in states without either stringent recycling rules or bottle deposit laws, consumers recycled only 4.4 beverage containers out of 10. In states with stringent recycling, consumers recycled 6.1 out of 10. In states with deposit laws and stringent recycling requirements, such as Connecticut, respondents recycled 8.3 out of 10.

Increasing the deposit and expanding its product application will persuade more folks to return containers for recycling. Yet, it comes at a bad time. Inflation has spiked at the grocery store. Doubling the deposit cost and adding it to more items only makes the hit at the register harder.

The program has long been a money maker for the state because it keeps the unclaimed deposits. But to make the change more palatable for business, 35% of unclaimed deposits are being kept by distributors this year. That will increase to more than 50% in a couple of years.

For all the effort, recycling remains a drop in the plastic bucket. Of all plastic produced, 72% ends up in landfills or the environment, according to a 2022 report from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. Only 9% of the plastic ever produced has been recycled, and 19% has been incinerated.

According to many environmentalists, what really needs to be done is to dramatically reduce the use of plastics in the food and beverage industries. But plastic is versatile and relatively cheap. Strong industrial and fossil fuel lobbies will fight any attempts to curtail it.

In the meantime, faithful recyclers should keep recycling. Perhaps more will find the faith — if only to get their deposits back.

Paul Choiniere is the former editorial page editor of The Day, now retired. He can be reached at p.choiniere@yahoo.com.