Quebec’s Minister of Sustainable Development, Environment and Parks, Pierre Arcand, announced on Sunday (June 10) his intention to “modernize” the current deposit return program which currently covers beer and soft drinks.
By the end of 2012, the deposit will increase from 5 cents to 10 cents for cans of beer and soft drinks, including carbonated energy drinks and PET plastic containers and glass soft drinks. This increase will generate funds to better compensate retailers for their efforts in collecting and refunding deposits.
“With a view to achieving the best environmental performance possible, an update of the deposit system was needed to enable us to improve the recovery rate of containers. Countries and progressive states like Sweden, Germany and Australia, California and New York have already moved in this direction.” added Mr. Arcand.
In addition, Mr. Arcand also announced that his government will consider expansion of the current system to include other beverage containers currently not covered in the program.
The announcement received support from organizations all over the world, including: Deutsche Umwelthilfe, Germany; Recycling Netwerk, Holland; Retourna, Spain; Boomerang Allaince, Australia; Envision, New Zealand; Vermont Public Interest Research Group (VPIRG), Vermont, Michigan Environmental Council, Michigan; Container Recycling Institute (CRI), California; and the Product Policy Institute (PPI), Georgia.
