The New Brunswick Beverage Containers Program was established in 1992 to reduce the amount of waste going into landfills, or ending up as litter along our roadsides and waterways.
Through this program, distributors (companies that sell ready-to-drink beverages to stores in New Brunswick) are required to package their beverages in containers that can be returned either for refilling or recycling. Refillable glass bottles are washed, sterilized, and refilled. Plastic, non-refillable glass, metal, carton, and other types of beverage containers are recycled.
When you buy a beverage at the store, you pay a deposit fee on top of the price of the item. You get a portion of this deposit back as a refund if you return the empty beverage container to a local redemption centre. The unrefunded portion of each deposit is used to recover the costs of administering the program for the recycling of containers.