02 Jul Eco Fees Explained

Let’s talk about eco fees attached to beverage containers. You’ve probably noticed when you look at your grocery bill, both a recycling fee as well as a deposit amount are charged to you, on top of the price of your beverage. These fees are in place to help ensure that your beverage container will be recycled properly.

Here’s the breakdown:

1. Deposits are charged when you purchase a beverage, and returned in full when you bring back the empty container for recycling. The deposit helps to ensure as many people as possible recycle these containers. Minimum deposit levels are set through BC government regulation, and currently 10 cents per item.
2. Container Recycling Fee (CRF). When purchasing beverage containers, these charges cover the net cost of recycling that container and are not refunded. This fee varies for each kind of container, as each type requires different levels of processing to recycle it (ContainerRecyclingFeesPDF). This fee has been around in BC for 18 plus years now, and guarantees that these containers are recycled according to the specific needs of that item. 

Note: The Return-It collection network (including our 4 depots) is not funded by the government, nor paid for by our tax dollars, but rather by consumers, retailers, beverage manufacturers and Encorp Pacific. Encorp is a not-for-profit, product stewardship agency, who reviews these fees annually to reflect current economic conditions and improved efficiencies to the recycling process. These deposits and fees also apply to electronics, small appliances, batteries (to name a few) and are in place so that the product’s end of life is handled responsibly and as many components as possible are recovered for reuse.

Tips for returning beverage containers to the depot:

1. Make sure remaining liquids are emptied out. Leave the lid on your containers so they can be recycled as well. 
2. Drink boxes, please push your straws inside.
3. If you want to use the automated machine at our Duncan depot, don’t crush your aluminum cans or milk/plant based beverage containers. This is so the sorting machine can read your containers ID code.
4. Please leave your labels on your beverage containers in order to receive your refund.
5. Separate your alcoholic from non-alcoholic aluminum containers (U brew, Growlers and American containers are NOT accepted for a refund)

Thanks to this system in place, recycling ready-to-drink beverage containers is surpassing the 78% average recovery rate, at an impressive 83% in BC, and makes sure valuable resources are kept out of the land fill. A great example of the efficiency of this well established system, is aluminum cans. The turn around time for an aluminum can from drop off at the depot to being back on the shelves in stores, is as little as 90 days! 

Thank you for recycling. At Island Return It, we look forward to seeing you at one of our 4 locations soon. Have a great summer.

The Island Return It Team