Saskatchewan’s unique deposit return program boasts one of the highest recovery rates in North America. It’s 94 per cent, and is almost entirely operated by disabled individuals. SARCAN Recycling—a subsidiary of the Saskatchewan Association of Rehabilitation Centres (SARC)—was set up to handle the non-refillable beverage container recycling contract for the province. The association provides a […]
Beverage
Recycling Programs in “La Belle Province” (1999)
Of the six provinces this column has reviewed to date, Quebec’s approach to beverage container recovery is the most unique. Unlike other Canadian deposit-refund jurisdictions, Quebec’s system for soft drink and beer containers is exclusively return-to-retail. Other beverage containers are recycled through the curbside collection system. Beer and soft-drink containers account for 75 per cent […]
P.E.I.’s Beverage Container Program — Highest recovery rate in Canada (1999)
This eighth article in a series on Canadian beverage-container recovery programs explores Prince Edward Island’s unique refillable container policy and recovery system. As with most North American jurisdictions, nonrefillable soft drink and beer containers became available in P.E.I. in the early 1970s. Marketed as part of the “new lifestyle,” disposable bottles and can sales soon […]
A Penny for Your Cotts — Beverage Container Management in Nova Scotia (1999)
This is the fourth article in a series on provincial beverage-container recovery programs in Canada. Of the programs reviewed to date, Nova Scotia’s operates at the lowest cost; it recovers 76 per cent of beverage containers sold annually at a net system cost of less than a penny per container. All beverage containers in Nova […]
Beverage Container Recovery in New Brunswick (1998)
Low Cost for New Brunswick Beverage Container Management The August/September issue of Solid Waste & Recycling magazine explored the surprisingly low cost of beverage container recovery in Alberta’s deposit- refund system. Producer responsibility for beverage products is now practiced in Alberta, Newfoundland, British Columbia, and New Brunswick. In these provinces, manufacturers and/or distributors of beverages […]
Beverage Container Recovery in Alberta (1998)
Alberta’s Deposit-Refund System Eighty per cent container recovery at 0.8 cents per unit sold The net cost of deposit-refund systems for beverage containers is the subject of intense debate. Some suggest that deposit-refund systems operate at extremely high costs that are then passed on to the consumer. Others contend that if administered properly, deposit-refund systems […]
