BOSTON (AP) — The Massachusetts Senate has put aside an effort to expand the bottle deposit law to include plastic water bottles and other types of non-carbonated beverage containers.

Senators instead voted during budget debate on Wednesday to study the issue further.

Weymouth Republican Robert Hedlund sponsored the amendment to expand the current redemption law. Backers said it would improve the environment by reducing the number of discarded containers littering roadsides and clogging landfills.

Senators also rejected a separate amendment from Newton Democrat Cynthia Creem calling for a ban on the sale of plastic water bottles unless they were made subject to the deposit law.

Critics said expanding the list of beverages subject to deposit would amount to a consumer tax that would hurt smaller businesses that would have to handle increased returns.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.