Tomorrow is the deadline for a host of bills to clear a House or Senate committee and a bill that would have expanded Iowa’s “Bottle Bill” to cover water bottles has failed to survive the deadline.

Environmentalists and other supporters argue Iowans would have been able to return half a billion more empty containers for water and sports drinks and claim a deposit fee if the bill had become law. Grocers, beverage bottlers and beer distributors opposed the expansion.

Lobbyist Bill Wimmer represents Hy-Vee, the Iowa Beverage Association and Iowa Wholesaler Distributors. “Frankly, what we would like to look at is going to a different system altogether,” Wimmer says.

Grocers complain of the filth that comes into their stores with the empties and have long sought to get rid of the “Bottle Bill” in favor of curbside recycling for empty bottles and cans.