The New Brunswick Beverage Containers Act requires distributors to life-cycle manage their regulated beverage containers. Most distributors find it uneconomical and inefficient to manage their own containers. Encorp was formed to offer a more feasible solution and service for distributors – managing the transportation, processing and recycling of deposit-bearing beverage containers post-consumer on their behalf.
Important Links & Forms for Distributors – Beverage Containers Program
Department of Environment and Local Government:
- New Brunswick’s Beverage Containers Program
- Beverage Containers Act
- 99-66 General Regulation – Beverage Containers Act
- Distributor Registration and Contact Information Form
- Beverage Container Labelling Requirements
- Beverage Container Registration Form
Encorp Atlantic:
Contact Information:
Beverage Containers Program
New Brunswick Department of Environment and Local Government
Program Coordinator: Mark Miller
Tel: 506.453.7945
Email: mark.miller@gnb.ca
Registration Process for Distributors of Non-Alcoholic Beverage Products
Distributors who wish to sell beverage products in New Brunswick must first register with the New Brunswick Department of Environment and Local Government.
- Department of Environment and Local Government – Beverage Containers Program Distributor Registration and Contact Information Form
(Note: If you wish for Encorp to manage your beverage containers post-consumer on your behalf, you must indicate “Yes” for this question. Otherwise, you must submit a management plan to the Department indicating how you will be managing your own containers or find an alternative agent.)
The Department will review your registration, send an approval letter, then notify Encorp.
Encorp will contact you to enter into an agreement to become your agent.
You will then also need to register your deposit-bearing beverage products and their containers with the Department. Links to the labelling requirements for deposit-bearing beverage containers and a Beverage Container Registration Form are provided below.
- Department of Environment and Local Government – Beverage Containers Program- Beverage Container Labelling Requirements
- Department of Environment and Local Government – Beverage Containers Program – Beverage Container Registration Form
You can begin beverage products in New Brunswick once you have registered as a distributor in the province of New Brunswick, signed an agreement with Encorp for the management of your deposit-bearing beverage containers post-consumer, and received approval for your registered beverage products.
Payments to Encorp Atlantic
Once you begin selling beverage products in New Brunswick, you will be required to report the sale of all deposit-bearing non-alcoholic beverage products and submit the deposit fees paid by your customers for the purchase of these products to Encorp. The deposit fees help cover the costs for recycling the beverage containers postconsumer.
Which Beverage Products Are Deposit-Bearing?
Information on which beverage products are deposit-bearing is available on our webpage for consumers – Accepted Beverage Containers. Distributors can review this webpage to learn more about the types of beverage products/containers included in the New Brunswick Beverage Containers Program.
Distributors should take note, however, that as of April 1, 2020, changes to the Beverage Containers Programs Exclusion Policy have come into effect. Many beverage products that used to be excluded from the Beverage Containers Program are now deposit-bearing.
All new deposit-bearing beverage products and their containers must be registered via the New Brunswick Department of Environment and Local Government.
Official information communicated by the Department of Environment to distributors regarding these changes can be viewed below.
- Letter from the Department of Environment and Local Government – Changes to the New Brunswick Beverage Containers Program’s Beverage Containers Exclusion Policy
- Beverage Containers Exclusion Policy – Department of Environment and Local Government – New Brunswick Beverage Containers Program
Tools & information developed by Encorp to help beverage product distributors understand these changes:
- Encorp Poster – New Deposit-Bearing Beverage Products
(Intended for consumers and redemption centres – the poster explains the categories of beverage products affected by recent changes to the Beverage Containers Program. Is also a handy visual reference tool for distributors.) - Encorp Searchable Reference Tool – Beverage Products Affected
(Showcases numerous examples. List is non-exhaustive. A green check mark means the beverage product has a deposit. Red “X” means it does not. We update the tool regularly as new products come to our attention. You can activate the “Search” function to look up and find items.)
HST Information
Under the provincially legislated “half-back” system in New Brunswick, a tax-inclusive deposit of 10¢ is imposed on containers for non-alcoholic beverages but only half this amount, or 5¢, is given back to a consumer on the return of the container.
Only the refundable 5¢ portion of the deposit is excluded from the tax base while the other 5¢ that is not refunded to the consumer is subject to tax on the same basis as the beverage.
To avoid the complexity of all retailers having to determine the amount of tax for the non-refundable portion of the deposit to calculate their input tax credits and remittances, special rules apply having the effect of requiring only the first supplier in the distribution chain who imposes the deposit to account for and remit tax on the taxable non-refundable portion of the deposit.
- Beverages GST/HST Infosheet
(Infosheet by the Canada Revenue Agency which describes how the GST/HST applies to beverages.)