Connecticut
Now worth a dime, bottles and cans pile up at Connecticut redemption centers
WATERTOWN — The line outside Fran’s Cans and Bart’s Bottles had already grown to roughly a dozen customers by the time doors to the business opened at 10 a.m. Friday, each waiting patiently with garbage bags filled to the brim with an assortment of water bottles, juice containers, and the ubiquitous beer and soda cans.
Inside the warehouse, the morning rush produced a flurry of activity as workers began counting and sorting the haul — more than 11,000 bottles and cans in just the first half hour of business.
“It’s been like this all week,” said owner Francis Bartolomeo, before rattling off sums that he said were double his winter average. “Tuesday was 55,000, Wednesday 44,000, (Thursday) was 38,000.”
Beginning on Jan. 1, the reward for turning in eligible bottles and cans doubled from 5 cents to 10 cents, as part of the final phase of a three-year overhaul of the state’s “Bottle Bill.”
The revisions, which were the result of legislation passed in 2021, are part of an effort to bolster Connecticut’s stagnant rate of returns on eligible bottles and cans, while also updating the decades-old program to include more modern products like kombucha, iced teas, sports drinks and certain hard seltzers.
To do so, lawmakers crafted a series of amendments to the Byzantine system for collecting deposits from wholesalers, paying retailers and redemption centers to collect the empties and finally returning unclaimed deposits — or escheats — to the wholesalers and the state’s general fund. The process proved so complicated that lawmakers twice had to come back to agree on fixes to the law, while an entire website was created to help residents understand the changes.
For many, however, the payoff came this month in the form of the one-time chance to profit off of bottles and cans that had been purchased last year with the lower, 5-cent deposit.
“I figure we’re paying for the bottles, they might as well give us some type of tip,” said Joann Mattocks of Waterbury, as she dropped off a bag filled with some 500 bottles that had piled up at her home for the last several months, in anticipation of the switch.
For that many bottles, the value of waiting was worth as much as $25. Mattocks said she has several more similar-sized bags stored at home, but that she can only carry one or two at a time.
At the Central Connecticut Redemption Center in New Britain, owner Shahil Kantesaria said there appeared to be “quite a bit of hoarding” by customers during the final months of 2023. The resulting tide of post-New Year’s returns, he said, brought his business between 200,000 to 300,000 containers in just a few days — two to three times his weekly average.
“We’ll see if this holds,” said Kantesaria. “We’re wondering if this is the new normal.”
In order to prepare for the switch, lawmakers increased the handling fee for businesses to accept returns, while the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection invested $1.6 million in improvements at redemption centers to help meet the expected demand.
The result, according to Bartolomeo and Kantesaria, has been a relatively smooth — albeit busy — transition to the new 10-cent return. For grocers and retailers, which represent the other segment of the collection network, the atmosphere at the start of the New Year has been “busy, but not overrun,” said Wayne Pesce, the president of the Connecticut Food Association, and trade association.
Most larger retail chains in Connecticut — such as Wal-Mart and Stop & Shop — are now required to have at least two reverse vending machines for customers to return empty containers sold at their stores. Those businesses were also allowed to begin limiting returns to no more than 240 bottles and cans at a time starting on Jan. 1, which Pesce said he has advised most stores to do.
“This isn’t what they want to do for a living, they’re not in the recycling business,” Pesce said.
Kantesaria, who has been in the business for 21 years, said the sudden influx in returns this week was still not enough to top the piles of cans that redemption centers handled during the pandemic — a boom period for returns that he attributed to increased consumption driven by stimulus checks.
Connecticut is now one of three states, along with Michigan and Oregon, that offers a 10-cent redemption value for bottles and cans. The seven other states that have passed bottle bills each offer a 5-cent return. (Some states offer higher returns on larger-sized liquor and wine bottles, which are not covered under Connecticut’s Bottle Bill).
Still, Bartolomeo said that he does not anticipate many customers driving in from other states such as New York and Massachusetts to take advantage of the additional windfall.
“If you came down with a box truck, maybe,” it would be worth the trip, he said. “It’s too far of a drive.”
Over time, Bartolomeo said the biggest beneficiaries of the increased deposit will be individual “pickers” and charitable groups that collect the containers that others have paid the deposit on, turning them in for a profit.
One such group, the Morris Cares food bank, collects several thousand bottles and cans a month, cashing them in for funds to purchase bread, canned food and other staples to distribute to those in need, said Vincent Aiello, a volunteer for the group.
“It helps us quite a bit … it doubles our money really,” Aiello said of the recent change.
On Friday morning, Aiello arrived at Fran’s Cans and Bart’s Bottles with several bags filled with 600 bottles, enough for a $60 redemption. As he left, Aiello arranged to come by later and drop off another batch of 1,500 containers over the weekend.
A pile of such size would be no problem, Bartolomeo said. He was already expecting a local Boy Scout troop to come by with an even bigger haul — 30,000 bottles and cans — that they had been collecting and saving up for months.
Connecticut
Florida High School State Bronze Medalist Dajah German Verbals To Connecticut For Fall 2027
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Florida high school state bronze medalist Dajah German has announced her verbal commitment to swim and study at the University of Connecticut beginning in the fall of 2027. She publicized the news on SwimCloud, writing:
I am so excited to announce my verbal commitment to continue my academic and athletic career at the University of Connecticut! I’m incredibly grateful for everyone who has supported me throughout this journey, my family, coaches, teammates, and friends who have pushed me to be my best throughout the years. And a very special thank you to Coach Chris and Coach Nicole for believing in me and giving me this opportunity. I’m so excited for what’s ahead. GO HUSKIES!
A rising senior at Fort Lauderdale High School in Florida, German trains year-round with Swim Fort Lauderdale and primarily specializes in the sprint and middle-distance freestyle events.
German has improved each year of her high school career, most recently dropping from 23.78, 51.39, and 1:50.56 in the 50/100/200 free to 23.54, 51.35, and 1:49.69 during the 2025-26 short course season.
German’s top meet of the season was the Florida Senior Championships in March, where she recorded her current PBs in both the 50 and 200 free. She finished second in the 500 free (4:55.94) and 1650 free (17:02.78), third in both the 50 free and 200 free, and fifth in the 100 free (51.43). She set her current 100 free PB at a smaller holiday meet in December. In the 500 free, she clocked a season-best 4:55.21 at the Speedo Cup in January, with her lifetime best of 4:53.19 coming at the 2025 Florida Senior Championships.
German has qualified for the FHSAA (Florida High School Athletic Association) State Championships for the past three years, with her top performance coming at the 2025 iteration in November. She placed third in the 50 free (23.96), fifth in the 500 free (5:01.12), and helped Fort Lauderdale to fourth place in both the 200 free relay (24.64 leadoff) and 400 free relay (53.08 anchor).
Top SCY Times:
- 50 Freestyle: 23.54
- 100 Freestyle: 51.35
- 200 Freestyle: 1:49.69
- 500 Freestyle: 4:53.19
A Division I Mid-Major program, Connecticut competes in the Big East, with the women’s team placing second out of seven teams at this past season’s conference championships. German’s current lifetime bests would have placed third in the 200 free, fourth in the 500 free, eighth in the 50 free, and ninth in the 100 free, setting her up as an immediate contributor with two full seasons of training still ahead before her first conference meet.
German joins Anna Mumford, Lyla Devlin, Lena Brown, and Louisa Holda in committing to the Huskies’ class of 2031 so far.
If you have a commitment to report, please send an email with a photo (landscape, or horizontal, looks best) and a quote to [email protected].
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Here are the forecast details for northern Connecticut via the National Weather Service:
Today: Sunny, with a high near 80. Light west wind increasing to 6 to 11 mph in the morning.
Tonight: Partly cloudy, with a low around 56. Northwest wind around 6 mph becoming calm in the evening.
Monday: A chance of showers before 2pm, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms between 2pm and 4pm, then showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm after 4pm. Increasing clouds, with a high near 76. Calm wind becoming southeast around 6 mph in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.
Monday Night: Showers and possibly a thunderstorm. Some of the storms could produce heavy rainfall. Low around 59. Southeast wind around 8 mph becoming southwest after midnight. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New precipitation amounts between three quarters and one inch possible.
WASHINGTON (7News) — A Park Police chase ends with a moped rider getting hit and killed on the Taft Bridge in Northwest D.C.
7News’ Washington, D.C. reporter, Phylicia Ashley, went to the scene moments after it happened Saturday evening and spoke to multiple witnesses.
Ximen DeFillippes was riding her bike near Woodley Road when she saw the chase.
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“The Park Police passed me. We were on Woodley Road. And then I saw the car they were pursuing,” said DeFillippes. “It was going very fast on the sidewalk. It drove up on the sidewalk up Woodley Road.”
DeFilippes was on one side of the Taft Bridge.
“I’d never seen anything that crazy,” said DeFillippes. “It was, it was like really like homicidal. It was just insane. I’ve never seen anything like that.”
7News also saw the aftermath of the chase and found Lamont Penry on the other side of the bridge. He also saw the chase. It ended on the steps of the Chinese Embassy staff housing.
“The car crashed into the diplomatic car,” Penry said. “A young man jumps out, takes off running down the street. The other three guys came out kind of dizzy. They apprehended one who was on the bench. One was at the rear. Tire of the vehicle, looked to be a Camry, and the other was on the other side of the diplomatic car.”
In the middle of the bridge, 7News saw the victim’s body covered by a white sheet. Witnesses said that when the chase reached the Taft Bridge, one of the vehicles involved struck someone riding a scooter.
“Once the gentleman on the bridge was hit. We realized that no one stopped,” said Penry. “Police continued the pursuit until here, and then they turned around.”
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Penry said all the alleged suspects involved looked young. While on scene, 7News saw one person get arrested and placed in an ambulance.
DeFilippes was riding her bike when she said two cars blocked her from getting caught in the midst of the chase.
“I’m feeling lucky that for those few seconds of my path being kind of blocked,” said DeFillippes. “I’m just so glad that happened. Or else I would have been right there. I’m not at all surprised that someone was hurt. Just. Just from the way everything was unfolding, I could just tell it was going to be bad.
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