Good news for New Brunswickers – beverage container deposits are fully refundable starting April 1, 2024!
After more than 30 years since the inception of the Beverage Containers Program, the program transitions to an extended producer responsibility model (EPR) on April 1, 2024, much like other designated materials recycling/waste management programs in the province, such as electronics, paint, etc. With this transition comes a long-awaited change to the deposit and refund system in place for beverage containers.
Prior to April 1, 2024, New-Brunswickers would only be refunded half of the 10 or 20-cent deposit they paid on their favourite drinks. Beginning April 1, 2024, those deposits are completely refundable! More money is now going back to consumers than ever before. Consumers can easily receive refunds on their deposits by returning their empty beverage containers to a redemption centre for recycling.
Deposit amounts have also been simplified. All deposit-bearing beverage containers will have a fully refundable deposit of 10 cents, EXCEPT glass containers for alcoholic beverages larger than 500 ml, which have a fully refundable deposit of 20 cents. Information about which beverage product containers are deposit-bearing can be found on our website.
In line with other EPR beverage container management programs in Canada, as well as other EPR programs for designated materials in New Brunswick, and to assist in meeting the environmental performance objectives of the Beverage Containers Program, Encorp will be charging an eco-fee – called a “container recycling fee (CRF)”, to beverage product brand owners, which goes towards recovering the cost of managing and recycling their deposit-bearing beverage containers, The CRF may or may not impact the retail price of certain beverage products.
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