MONTPELIER - The Vermont Public Interest Research Group (VPIRG) is fighting to get Vermont to expand its bottle deposit law to include water, tea and non-carbonated beverages, the Associated Press reports.

VPIRG's health advocate Charity Carbine claims that Vermonters not only embrace the state's 40-year-old redemption law, but they want to see it updated to reflect contemporary values. As such, there are bills in the Vermont House and Senate that would further the group's "Bigger, Better, Bottle Bill Campaign."

The Beverage Association of Vermont opposes expanding the bottle law to non-carbonated beverages and prefers a bill introduced last week that would require producers of packaging, including beverage containers, to assume responsibility for the waste associated with their products.