Off the news: Bill would double beverage container fee

State lawmakers are contemplating a boost to the beverage container fee that supports the state’s recycling program, and that surely gets consumers’ attention. The question is: Will doubling the deposit to 10 cents per container be incentive enough to get more consumers to reclaim that fee at a recycling redemption center — or consume fewer single-use containers?

Left unsolved by this is the need to close the recycling loop, by having more ways of remanufacturing the materials into new products. That’s a heavier lift, but it would be great.