Since April 1, 2020, many beverage containers which used to be excluded from the Beverage Containers Program (BCP) are now deposit-bearing and must be accepted for a refund at redemption centres.
- Milk shakes, milk protein shakes, drinkable yogurt, drinkable kefir, egg nog, iced coffee/tea drinks and other beverages made with dairy now have a deposit. Real milk (cow/goat) – even if flavoured – look for ultra-filtered, skim, partly skimmed 1% / 2% or whole/homogenized 3.25% on the label – continues to be excluded – no deposit charged for consumers.
- Plant-based beverages – most of these now have a deposit. Plant-based beverages that ARE NOT labelled as “fortified” automatically have a deposit. Plant-based beverages that ARE labelled as “fortified” have a deposit ONLY IF the warning “not a source of protein” is also on the label. Plant-based beverages that are labelled as “fortified” and considered a source of protein continue to be excluded – no deposit charged for consumers.
- Sports drinks like protein drinks and electrolyte beverages now have a deposit. Other popular diet type drinks, specifically meal replacements and formulated liquid diets (check the label) continue to be excluded – no deposit charged for consumers.
To help redemption centres – as well as their customers – understand these new changes, we have prepared handy visuals in the form of a poster and customer brochure. We will be delivering these to redemption centres within a few weeks after their reopening and encourage you to have them readily available in your redemption centre once you receive your package. We have also prepared a reference tool containing examples of beverage products affected by these changes which can be used to look up various products by name (using the search function in any PDF viewer/reader). Redemption centres can access this tool as well as further information via the Container Lists page of our website (look under the RC Operators menu).
We understand that it will take time to get used to these new changes, and that differentiation between products may be confusing. When in doubt, we recommend simply giving a refund on the container instead of turning away the customer. At Encorp, we strongly believe that all beverage containers should be recycled – regardless of the nutritional value of the beverage they contain. While these changes are a step in the right direction towards the inclusion of more beverage products in the BCP, we will continue to work with stakeholders to push towards a level playing field for all distributors.
