The upcoming privatization of Ontario’s recycling programs shifts responsibility for recycling programs back to the manufacturers who create the waste. As I think about this, there’s a question I’ve been asking more and more. Why aren’t all bottles and containers refundable? Let’s explore that a little further.
This post was originally published in May 2020 as “Why aren’t all bottles refundable?” and updated in March 2023.
Taking pop bottles back to the store
When I was a kid, we bought pop in 750 ml (26 oz) refillable glass bottles. There was a ten-cent deposit on each bottle. It was always so exciting to gather up the bottles and return them to the store to get the money back.
Over the years, the glass bottles were replaced by non-refundable plastic bottles, likely because plastic is lighter and less costly to ship.
In a recent post, I shared how surprised I was to learn that, from a waste reduction point of view, Plastic containers are better than glass because there is no market for recycled glass in many areas. Perhaps that will change with the changes to our recycling program.
The success of the Ontario Deposit Return Program
These days, the only glass bottles that are refundable are beer and wine bottles. Here in Ontario, we pay a ten or twenty-cent deposit on all alcohol containers. According to The Beer Store’s Stewardship Report, customers returned 98% of refillable beer bottles sold in Ontario’s Beer Stores in 2021. Each bottle is used an average of 15 times before being recycled into new bottles.
The recovery rate for other alcohol packaging is lower. We return just 72% of wine, spirit and cooler containers. That’s up from 69% in 2021, but lower than pre-pandemic recovery rates.
Under the current program, beer bottles are the only bottles that are refilled. Other refundable containers returned to The Beer Store are recycled.
The Beer Store estimates the emissions avoided through the Ontario Deposit Return Program are equivalent to taking 46,586 cars off of Ontario’s roads. That’s pretty impressive.
Why not extend this to other containers?
The success of this program makes me wonder why we don’t have similar programs in place for other containers. The government is taking steps to ban some single-use plastics, but there’s no mention of any legislation to address the huge waste problem of plastic bottles and containers.
Just how big a problem are plastic bottles? The latest statistics I found show that Canadians consume two billion water bottles every year—that’s 4.3 million water bottles a day! And, despite the broad availability of recycling programs, we recycle very few of those bottles. Where does that waste go? About 22 million pounds of plastic waste makes its way into our beautiful Great Lakes every year. (Source: Reader’s Digest)
We must do better! Could putting a deposit on these containers reduce those numbers and force consumers to change their behaviour? It worked with plastic shopping bags.
Let’s keep in touch! Join my mailing list and I’ll email you when I add a new post.
If we can’t get consumers to recycle, we need to put the responsibility back on the manufacturers who produce the waste in the first place. Ontario’s new recycling program aims to do just that, although I admit to some skepticism about how successful it will be. This type of program works for alcohol containers. Why not other containers?
How would you feel about paying a deposit on all plastic, glass or other packaging? Tell us below.
An excellent question! The sad truth is that the recycling markets are shrinking. There is just too much to recycle! China, who used to process most of the world’s plastic and other recyclables, has stopped accepting any more. This has had a negative impact on the USA and other countries. WasteDive reported on how recycling has changed in all 50 states in the USA:
https://www.wastedive.com/news/what-chinese-import-policies-mean-for-all-50-states/510751/
I also wrote about how ubiquitous disposable plastic and other containers have become – we don’t even realize how much trash we are generating! My family went on a 40-day plastic-free challenge, and I have to admit, it was really hard to avoid plastic! The post is on my friend’s blog. You might like to do your own plastic-free or reusable challenge!
https://treadlightlyretireearly.com/2019/11/18/plastic-free-december-challenge/
Thanks for your comments Kathy. I personally was shocked to learn that, in our region, there is no market for recycled glass. They instead crush it and use it with crushed up toilets to build roads in the landfill. Pretty ingenious way to reuse but it opened my eyes that glass isn’t always better than plastic unless it can be reused.
I have been trying to go plastic-free for over a year and, you’re right, it is very difficult! Thanks for the links. Plastic free for Lent. What a great idea! Every year, I’m not sure what to do for Lent. I’ll have to keep that in mind for next year. I suspect it might be more difficult than the chocolate I gave up this year!
Great question! I have no idea why other bottles aren’t refundable. I wonder if that’s going to change though as they’ll be getting rid of single use plastic at some point soon and that could mean a lot more glass bottles in general. Hopefully change will come. (I personally NEVER buy pastic bottles and wish the government would put a hefty tax on them – but hopefully they’ll be gone at some point).
I know! We see from the success of beer bottle returns that the system can work. It doesn’t make sense to me that we haven’t expanded this. Like you, I avoid plastic bottles as much as possible and wish they would just go away!
Such a good point! Clearly the refund program with alcohol returns works, so why not extend that outside of the realm of alcohol? There is so much positivity to gain by promoting recycling like that!
Right! I expected the return rate to be high but was surprised it was so high. We need more programs like this.
I would support any fee to have containers recycled. I remember the soda bottles too and how much fun it was to get money back! It was cash in a bottle! Cher xo
Me too. Our beer bottle return program has been so successful, I can’t figure out why we wouldn’t expand it to other products. Ha ha. You’re right about cash in a bottle.
Yes, it should be expanded, shouldn’t it? LOL I must have been thinking ‘message in a bottle’ and translated it to money! xo
Or maybe time in a bottle. 😂 Time is money after all.
LOL Excellent!! 🙂 🙂 🙂
That’s so interesting to see how much has changed over time! You would think it would become the new norm today to try to do everything we can to reuse!
You would think so Anna but the “need” for convenience made all this disposable stuff so popular. I think my parents and grandparents reused a lot of things. Unfortunately my generation got off track. It’s no wonder boomers have a bad reputation on environmental issues. Sadly, I think COVID-19 has set us back a bit and we’re creating a lot more waste right now. Hopefully we’ll get back on track.