The province of Ontario will be adding wine and liquor bottles to the list of containers that will require a deposit. The addition of these two types of containers will start this coming February.
Ontario’s Premier Dalton McGuinty, said, "Ontarians have shown a tremendous dedication to the Blue Box program. This new container return program is an important step forward in our commitment to work with Ontarians and our partners in government and industry to build clean, healthy, vibrant communities across the province."
According to press reports while it has yet to be determined how much of a charge will be placed on the wine and liquor bottles, McGuinty said it would be comparable to other provinces - between 10 and 40 cents a container, depending on the size.
It is hoped that the program will divert an additional 25,000-30,000 tons of glass from landfills.
The Recycling Council of Ontario applauded the move. Joanne St. Godard, executive director of the RCO, said, "Deposit-return systems have proven their worth when it comes to maximizing the reuse and recycling of bottles. The Recycling Council of Ontario believes the proposed deposit-return system is a good step towards extended producer responsibility in this province."
The Association of Municipalities of Ontario welcomed the decision. "LCBO deposit return makes good sense environmentally and economically," Doug Reycraft, president of AMI. "This initiative will enhance environmental protection in Ontario and improve the efficiency of the blue box program."
In 2003, the Liquor Control Board of Ontario sold more than 110,000 metric tons of glass bottles and other containers to Ontario consumers. Up to 90 per cent of the bottles made their way to municipal blue boxes. However, in the absence of a system to sort glass by color, only a small percentage could be recycled to manufacture new glass bottles. The remainder was sold at a loss to manufacture products such as asphalt and concrete - or sent to municipal landfill as crushed glass.
This past June, AMO, in partnership with the Association of Municipal Recycling Coordinators , submitted proposals to improve the efficiency of Ontario's Blue Box program to the Ontario Government. The proposals include a deposit-refund system for all alcohol beverage containers sold by the LCBO.
However, several Canadian groups expressed dismay on the new program. CSR, an Canadian company that works to develop stewardship programs with its members, said that the new program is jeopardizing a major municipal-industry joint venture that was set to create a new glass processing capacity for up to 80,000 metric tons of glass collected in municipal recycling programs.
In the joint venture, Unical of Montreal was about to sign a contract to secure land in the GTA to build the glass processing facility when the government made its announcement. When fully operational next year, it was expected to take more than 50,000 metric tons of glass from municipal blue box programs in southern Ontario to create high value construction products and to provide much needed competition in the glass recycling market.
However, with the announcement, Unical has been advised not to proceed with its investment because of the potential negative impact of the government's plan on blue box glass.
The municipal partners involved in this arrangement-Toronto, Durham, York, Peel as well as Hamilton and Guelph-all had agreements from their councils to proceed and to commit glass recovered through their blue box programs.
A second venture with a company called Poraver of Barrie is creating a new, high value, annual market for an additional 30,000 metric tons of blue box glass from Ontario municipalities. It is building a facility to manufacture light weight, industrial ceiling tiles with glass from the blue box system.
Damian Bassett, CSR’s president and CEO, noted that securing additional stable, higher value markets for municipalities for their blue box glass would lead to reduced municipal program costs. These investments are now in question.