Plastics Recycling Update Magazine: Group questions costs of British Columbia deposit system

Group questions costs of British Columbia deposit system

By Jared Paben, Plastics Recycling Update

September 10, 2015

British Columbia boasts a strong overall beverage container redemption rate, but the deposit-return system costs consumers more than in neighboring Alberta, according to one recycling organization.

The Container Recycling Institute (CRI) recently released a report entitled "The Environmental and Economic Performance of Beverage Container Reuse and Recycling in British Columbia, Canada."

In 2013, Encorp Pacific, one of two stewardship organizations handling beverage containers in the province, reported a 76 percent redemption rate for plastic beverage containers. That number came in behind glass (94 percent) and aluminum (84 percent). Overall, Encorp reported an 80 percent redemption rate.

Brewers Distributor Ltd., the stewardship organization handling glass and aluminum beer and cider containers, has a roughly 92 percent redemption rate.

While the province's program results in high redemption rates, CRI expressed concern that nonrefundable container recycling fees (CRF) paid by consumers were higher than in neighboring Alberta province. British Columbia also has higher collection and transportation costs than the program in Alberta, according to the report.

In response, Scott Fraser, the president of Encorp, wrote a letter intending to put elements of the report into context.

The province's 45-year-old bottle bill places a 5-cent, 10-cent or 20-cent deposit on beverage containers. Responsibilities for the program are split between Encorp and Brewers Distributor, both of which oversee returns of materials. Encorp Pacific is the only one charging a CRF.

In 2013, Encorp's CRF averaged 4.3 cents per container sold, compared to 2 cents in Alberta, according to the report. For plastic containers up to 1 liter, the CRF was 3 cents in British Columbia, compared with 2 cents in Alberta. For plastic containers larger than 1 liter, the British Columbia fee is 4 cents, however, compared with 8 cents in Alberta.

"While some might argue that Alberta's recycling fees are kept artificially low by the province’s much higher 10-cent deposit (with unredeemed deposits covering a greater share of recycling costs), this argument overlooks a fundamental philosophical difference: namely, that the consumer in Alberta gets to choose whether or not to redeem his 10 cents. Consumers paying the CRF in B.C. have no such choice," the CRI study states.

Additionally, the British Columbia program's transportation and processing costs are 2.3 cents per container, compared to 1 cent in Alberta, according to the report.

"This issue is important for two reasons. One, there may be an opportunity to make the program more efficient and save program costs," according to CRI. "Two, if program costs are reduced, it could lead to a reduction in the container recycling fees that consumers pay."

Fraser of Encorp said British Columbia and Alberta do not make for an apples-to-apples comparison, for several reasons. Unlike Alberta, British Columbia requires retailers to serve as take-back locations, and its rugged geography, with communities separated by mountain ranges, lakes and rivers, adds to costs, he wrote.

Glass also makes up a higher percentage of containers handled by Encorp, and it can't get the same economies of scale because it handles about half the number of containers than Alberta does, Fraser wrote.

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