MILK (COW/GOAT) AND FLAVOURED MILK

On the label: Fat-free/skim milk (0% M.F.), partly skimmed milk (1% or 2% M.F.), or whole/homogenized milk (3.25% M.F.).

PLANT-BASED MILK PRODUCT ALTERNATIVES THAT ARE FORTIFIED AND A SOURCE OF PROTEIN

On the label: Must state beverage is “Fortified”. Must also not have any warning about the beverage being “Not a Source of Protein”. (Most often, these are soy beverages.)

UNPROCESSED APPLE CIDER

On the label: No mention of being heated, pasteurized or otherwise processed.

CONCENTRATED BEVERAGES

The product is not “ready-to-drink”. It has to be mixed in or diluted prior to drinking. (Ex.: cocktail mixes, frozen juices, syrups, condensed milk, coffee cream, cereal cream, flavour enhancers, etc.)

INFANT FORMULA

On the label: “Infant Formula”.

MEAL REPLACEMENTS & FORMULATED LIQUID DIETS

On the label: “Meal Replacement” or “Formulated Liquid Diet”.

BEVERAGES IN CONTAINERS LARGER THAN 5 L

Only beverages up to a maximum of 5 L are deposit-bearing.

BEVERAGES PURCHASED OUTSIDE NEW BRUNSWICK

On the label: Information is not bilingual (English and French), “Return for Refund” is missing, or volume is indicated in imperial (“oz”) instead of metric (“ml” / “L”).

Plastics

• Example Products: Water bottles or jugs, juice bottles, and soft drink bottles, Bottles for alcoholic spirits like vodka, rum, and gin, yogurt drink bottles, juice pouches, wine bladder/pouches, and others.
• Recycling Process:  Plastic containers made from polyethylene terephthalate (PET or PETE ♳) and high-density polyethylene (HDPE ♴) are first cleaned and then cut into tiny pieces called “pellets or flakes”, which are each about the size of a grain of rice. These small pieces are used as raw material to create new plastic bottles, car parts, straps, and fibres. Alcohol PET bottles are processed separately to create new food-grade containers that are safe for everyone to enjoy.  Plastics that are more challenging to recycle, such as low-density polyethylene (LDPE ♶), polypropylene (PP ♷), polystyrene (PS ♸), and other types of plastics (OTHER ♹) can be kept out of landfills by putting them through “waste-to-energy” processes, where they’re burned to generate energy for heat or electricity.

Glass

Non-Refillable Glass:

• Example Products: Beer, wine, spirits, and non-alcoholic beverage bottles such as iced coffee and tea.
• Recycling Process: At the recycling facility, they are crushed into small pieces called “cullet” — a sand-like material that can be used to create new glass bottles, insulate buildings with fibreglass, and can be mixed into materials for roads and drainage.

Refillable Glass (Beer):

• Example Products: Refillable glass beer bottles with twist tops.
• Recycling Process: When a refillable glass bottle is brought to a redemption center, staff ensure that these bottles are identified and returned to brewers for reuse. When it’s time to retire these bottles, they are recycled in the same way as other glass bottles.

Cartons

(Polycoat Containers & Wine Boxes)

• Example Products: Carton beverage containers come in two types: shelf-stable (aseptic) cartons (such as juice boxes) and refrigerated (gable top) cartons (used for beverages that need to be kept refrigerated like certain juices, plant-based milk product alternatives, eggnog, etc.). The cardboard box packaging for boxed wine is also included in this category.
• Recycling Process: All carton products go through a similar recycling journey. They are processed in a machine that functions like a giant blender with water to separate different materials within the cartons — like paper, plastic, and aluminum. Most of these materials turn into new paper items like tissue and cardboard, as well as construction materials like walls and ceilings.

For more about carton recycling, visit the Carton Council website.

Aluminum

• Example Products: Aluminum cans used for soda, water, energy drinks, and some alcohol.
• Recycling Process: Collected cans are shredded, melted, and reformed into new aluminum sheets. This allows us to reuse the aluminum instead of needing to mine for new resources. The whole recycling journey, from used cans to brand-new products, takes less than 60 days, and we’re able to recycle 95-99% of the aluminum’s weight.

Steel

• Example Products: Steel cans and mini-kegs used for beer, as well as cans like vegetable, tomato, and pineapple juice containers.
• Recycling Process: Steel containers are cleaned, labels and impurities removed, and then heated to extract the steel. The recovered steel is transformed into new steel products, such as cans, appliances, automobiles, and construction materials, helping reduce the need for mining new resources.