Mini liquor bottle bans in Connecticut?

Connecticut has a lot of folks fired up about litter from mini liquor bottles, known as nips, that you find all over our state.

They’re in urban settings, parks, homeless encampments – and even way out in the country in Winsted, where Rob Asselin lives.

He said he picks up a bag full of them every night when he goes out walking.

“You can't even walk your dog out in the country, you have to pick up other people's garbage,” Asselin said.

Larry Cafero with The Wine and Spirits Wholesalers of Connecticut explained his industry administers what he calls the “nickel for nip” program.

He said for two and a half years, stores have been collecting a five-cent surcharge for every mini liquor bottle sold, with $11.4 million given back so far for municipal “environmental cleanup” efforts.

“The statute says it has to be used for a certain purpose and environmental purpose at very least, but with a suggestion that it be used to eradicate litter, specifically, litter caused by these mini bottles,” Cafero said.

It’s money that has been hard to refuse - some communities have received hundreds of thousands of dollars.

A grassroots group has a different solution.

“CT towns nixing the nip” got legislators to sponsor a bill allowing towns to ban their sale.

They pointed to Chelsea, Massachusetts, which has had a ban in effect since the middle of 2018.  Other towns nearby have similar bans.

NBC CT Investigates visited Chelsea twice looking for these mini liquor bottles, going about 20 blocks each time for several hours. During our first visit, we found three mini liquor bottles and on the second visit, we found just one.

The former city councilor that proposed the ban said while Chelsea’s downtown look has improved, the ban was about preventing alcohol abuse, noting city data shows alcohol-related emergency calls have dropped by more than half.

“It worked for Chelsea; I think it would work in other communities similar to Chelsea. And I just would say, let the local governments decide for themselves, what's best for them,” Roy Avellaneda said.

Package store owner Harry Patel said Chelsea’s ban hurt him. 

“After the ban, we saw a drastic decrease in business, about 20 to 30%. It got to a point where we ended up sort of selling both of the business at a very significant loss,” Patel said.

He believes his store in a neighboring town gained a lot of the mini liquor bottle business, suggesting the problem may not have gone away.

Cafero said unlike Massachusetts, Connecticut regulates liquor on a statewide basis. He said that to keep mini liquor bottles off Connecticut streets, legislators need to tighten guidelines on the surcharge.

He noted some municipalities have not spent the funds or deployed them for cleanups that do not include mini liquor bottles and urged the public to give it a little more time.

Advocates of local mini liquor bottle bans said even though it appears the bill has died in committee; they’ll be back next year.

“We're not settling, there's no incremental here,” Tom Metzner of Glastonbury told NBC CT Investigates.

The bill may not go anywhere next year either.

Legislative leaders recently suggested the solution may be a redemption program like Connecticut has for cans and other bottles.

What some towns are doing with mini liquor bottle money

Here is a breakdown of what some cities and towns in the state say they're doing with money collected from mini liquor bottle deposits.

Hartford: Proceeds from the nips deposit have been funding the Neighborhood Ambassadors program providing beautification services including waste removal from sidewalks, alleys and street gutters in neighborhood commercial corridors in the city.

New Haven: The funds are being used for increasing recycling education and a part-time recycling educator as well as enhancing street sweeping and litter removal operations, with a particular focus on high-traffic areas that often include discarded nips.

Waterbury: With the alcohol nip surcharge funding that has been received, the city has purchased sweeper brooms and has a Madvac (litter vacuum) on order. The city plans to continue to use this funding for equipment and supplies related to litter control.

Manchester: The town of Manchester hired a full-time recycling and community services coordinator using the funds. They're to be responsible for coordinating strategic litter and illegal dumping clean-up efforts for the town. Some funding is also used to make sure proper PPE and clean-up supplies are stocked for all clean-up events and efforts. The town says other litter minimizing materials will be purchased with this funding.

Litchfield: The town of Litchfield allocates the revenue towards Earth Day clean up events and their Municipal Food Waste Composting Program. The Save Money and Reduce Trash (SMART) committee also has sent out updated recycling flyers to all residents.

West Hartford: The town has wrapped up a studying plan on in-ground trash cans in parks and trail systems. They're now going into more places as the Department of Public Works gets more familiar with them. The in-ground trash cans go five feet down and are three feet tall. With the new trash cans, garbage doesn't get as hot since it's below ground and the trash cans are water tight. So far, there are 40 cans.