Money Headed To Ellington And Somers Through Nip Bottle Surcharge

ELLINGTON-SOMERS, CT — More than 200,000 "nip" liquor bottles were sold in Ellington and more than 78,000 in Somers since a new law imposing a surcharge on them took effect — and that means money is coming the towns' way for environmental programs.

The law took effect Oct. 1 and requires liquor wholesalers to assess a 5-cent surcharge on miniature alcohol bottles to retailers—and in turn, consumers, under a program supervised by the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, the state Department of Revenue Services and the state Department of Consumer Protection. The charges were then to be filed in a separate account and sent back to the municipalities in which the transactions occurred.

Unlike some other drink containers like bottled water or beer, the surcharge on miniature alcohol bottles, commonly known as "nips," does not return directly back to the consumer in the form of a bottle deposit, officials said. Instead, towns across the state will "utilize the funds generated by this surcharge to enact environmental measures intended to reduce the generation of solid waste in their municipality or reduce the impact of litter caused by such solid waste," according to the law.

For the period from Oct. 1, 2021 to March 31, 2022, 204,854 nip bottles were sold in Ellington and 78,200 in Somers, according to statistics provided to Patch by the state Department of Consumer Protection. That translates to $10,242,70 designated to go to Ellington for environmental programs, and $3,910 for Somers.

The numbers are related to a consortium of eight wholesalers.

Said state officials when the surcharge was enacted, "Municipalities will receive a check in accordance with the number of nips sold in their town which can be used to address an environmental concern. Whether they choose to use the monies towards clean-ups, drain covers, street sweepers or another conservation-minded initiative, the towns, their residents and our environment will be the better for it."

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