An antiques collector from Wayne County, 33 miles northeast of Scranton, happened on an Irving Cliff Brewery crate containing empty beer bottles from 1913. He decided to return them for their deposit. The payment from the brewer was a minor windfall. But it highlighted an evolving effort, including from a local champion, to revive bottle return incentives on a wider scale. Michael Tanenbaum collected the details in PhillyVoice.

Producing glass bottles was once an expensive proposition. To keep costs down by reusing bottles, distributors once paid consumers a small reward — 2 cents — to return their empties. After being cleaned and disinfected, the containers were refilled and redistributed.

Payment of these “bottle deposits,” especially popular during World War II, continued until the Baby Boom, when plastics took over.

But the idea is being revived by environmentalists.

One local supporter is Plumstead Township’s Wendy Ullmam, Democratic Party Pennsylvania House of Representatives member.

Rep. Ullmam proposed legislation on a five-cent incentive on returned bottles, a policy already in place in 10 states across the country. Unclaimed rebates fund the states’ Hazardous Sites Cleanup Funds.

The bill is still pending.

As for the return of those century-old beer bottles, an Irving Cliff Brewery representative posted on Facebook: “Being an ICB customer, the man brought the crate back to the Brewery for the deposit. Calculating today’s 5-cent return on each bottle — plus 108 years of interest — the man settled for $60.”

More on this story is at PhillyVoice.