A bill currently before the Legislature would raise taxes on Maine beverage consumers by $10 million every year. The proposal ignores serious problems with our recycling system. It’s also contrary to Gov. Janet Mills’ goal not to raise taxes and fees in her first budget.

Maine beverage consumers already pay $36.5 million annually in handling taxes. That tax is added to the cost of each beer, wine, soda, juice, and water container. The money is paid to redemption centers for containers collected through the bottle bill.

Maine’s handling tax of 3.5 to 4 cents per container is the highest of the remaining states that have bottle bills. Connecticut’s tax is 2 cents; Massachusetts’ is 3.25 cents – both states with a higher cost of living.

The Maine legislation, LD 248, would raise the tax to 5 cents. But it doesn’t do anything to address the massive and unnecessary infrastructure driving up the cost of beverages in Maine.

There are about 370 redemption centers in the state. This is way out of proportion for our population. Vermont has half as many people and only 80 redemption centers. Massachusetts has five times more people, and only 50 redemption centers.

If redemption centers are struggling, it’s not because of the minimum wage and it’s not because the handling tax is too low. It’s because Maine has too many redemption centers.

That’s why many of them offer, and even advertise, a 1 -cent kickback – they give the customer 6 cents, instead of 5. They need more volume, not a higher handling tax.

This bill won’t do anything to improve recycling in Maine, either.

A $10 million increase in taxes is going to prop up the same, antiquated system that we’ve had for 40 years: bottles individually counted and sorted by hand at tremendous expense, just like in 1978, when the bottle bill was implemented.

The technology of recycling has changed since then. Nearly everyone in Maine has access to recycling through programs that accept household products made of many different materials. Unlike the mixed paper recycling that has been disrupted by China, every one of the beverage containers we sell can be recycled through a municipal system – for much less than what it costs to put them through a bottle bill.

But at many redemption centers, the process of collecting beverage containers hasn’t changed in 40 years.

The last two times the handling tax was increased, local beverage distributors did not oppose the final bill. In both instances the legislation included additional provisions aimed at reducing bottle bill fraud and reducing costs in the overall system.

Maine working families, who ultimately pay the cost of both the handling tax and local recycling programs, probably want to see this same thoughtful approach – one that improves recycling and reduces costs.

But the current bill doesn’t do that. It just kicks the can down the road and throws more of your money at an outdated model in dire need of reform.

David Dumont of South Portland is president of the Maine Beverage Association, the trade association for Maine’s local distributors of soda, bottled water, juices, sports drinks, and other non-alcoholic beverages.