Times they are a-changing, said Bob Dylan, and this year will be a biggy!
The changes in effect since April 1, 2023, and the upcoming migration of the New Brunswick Beverage Containers Program (BCP) to a full Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) model under the Clean Environment Act represent a milestone of sorts in the over thirty-one-year history of the BCP. It also represents a rare opportunity to go beyond our current level of service and performance.
Today’s consumer is considerably different than the one in 1992. Expectations have changed, and the tools for communication and outreach have evolved significantly. As if that wasn’t enough, a global pandemic brought on a heightened awareness of health and safety issues, which impacts all business operators that deal with customers on a daily basis.
2023 is a transition year for Encorp Atlantic as an agent for beverage product distributors. Migrating to a not-for-profit status and becoming the single agent for both alcohol and non-alcohol product distributors in New Brunswick on April 1, 2023, represents a significant change. This new cooperation will bring greater program efficiencies and synergies for all stakeholders. We do ask for some patience though, as this transition period is challenging for all of us involved.
The next challenge is in bringing a much-improved consumer experience to redeeming and recycling deposit-bearing containers at redemption centres (RCs). This will require new options for consumers, as well as operating standards and best practices for all RC operators. Nobody likes change, but change is necessary if we wish to increase our beverage container recovery volumes. Encorp, as a new not-for-profit producer responsibility organization aligned with EPR principles, will be highly focused on environmental performance. Our slogan to consumers will be that we want every single deposit-bearing beverage container back… All of them, truly.
