An Abbotsford recycling depot is among those across the province taking part in a six-month pilot program through which people can take in alcohol and non-alcohol beverage cans without having to separate them from one another.
Moe’s Bottle Depot at 2625 Gladys Ave. is among the Return-It depots participating in the program.
Aluminum alcohol cans are the responsibility of and covered under the Brewers Recycled Container Collection Council (BRCCC) and Brewers Distributor Limited (BDL) recycling system.
Only some Return-It depots have a BRCCC/BDL license to manage alcohol containers.
Currently, when consumers visit a Return-It depot and recycle their aluminum beverage containers for a cash refund, they need to separate their alcohol and non-alcohol aluminum cans because this material is managed by two different stewardship agencies.
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Only about half of depots have a BRCCC/BDL licence and can provide consumers with a full 10 cent deposit refund per can.
However, since consumers still bring and expect to return their aluminum alcohol and non-alcohol cans at the same Return-It depot for recycling, these small business owners still accept the aluminum alcohol cans but do not have the same financial resources to provide the consumer with a full deposit refund.
As a result, consumers may receive a partial deposit refund to cover the depot’s costs for the handling of these containers. (This is also the case for the Return-It Express system, in which customers can drop off bags of unsorted beverage containers and have their refund deposited into an account.)
Now, customers at participating depots in the pilot project no longer have to separate those cans and will receive the full 10 cent refund per can.
Visit return-it.ca/nosortingcans for a list of the initial participating locations. The list will continually be updated over the coming weeks.
Starting this fall, Return-It plans to implement a 10-cent unified deposit for all beverage containers, regardless of size.
The not-for-profit organization will also be partnering with the Salvation Army to expand Return-It’s textiles collection program to safely drop off used clothing for recycling.
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