POLICY REPORT

INFORMATION

Date: January 13, 1998

Author/Local: D.Duckworth/7239

CC File No. 1257

TO:	Vancouver City Council
FROM:	General Manager of Engineering Services
SUBJECT:	New Provincial Beverage Container Deposit/Refund Legislation

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INFORMATION

The General Manager of Engineering Services submits this report for Council’s INFORMATION.

COUNCIL POLICY

On May 3, 1994, Council agreed to support the Greater Vancouver Regional District Solid Waste Management Plan, which included the implementation of an expanded provincial deposit-refund system for used beverage containers.

PURPOSE

This report has been written to complement the presentation to Council by Councillor Kennedy and Pamela Nel of the GVRD regarding the recently approved provincial Beverage Container Stewardship Program Regulation. Specifically, this report highlights Council’s past support of an expanded deposit-refund system, provides a brief overview of the new regulation, and discusses the new regulation’s expected impact on the City of Vancouver.

BACKGROUND

Council has a long standing position of supporting the continuation and further expansion of B.C.’s beverage container deposit-refund system, as per the following past Council actions.

March, 1989

The Coalition for Recycling and Litter Control, a coalition made up of major B.C. food retailers, the B.C. Soft Drink Association, and Canadian beverage packaging manufacturers, lobbied the provincial government and B.C. municipalities to consider replacing B.C.’s beverage container deposit system with multi-material, municipal curbside recycling programs. The coalition argued that a curbside recycling programs are the most convenient and efficient way to recycle used beverage containers. The coalition indicated that some financial assistance would be provided to each municipality to fund their respective curbside recycling programs.

Recognizing the effectiveness of the deposit system at that time, Council wrote to the Minister of the Environment to express Council’s opposition to the removal of the deposit-refund system as lobbied by the Coalition for Recycling and Litter Control.

October, 1991

The provincial government conducted an evaluation of alternative beverage container recovery programs and developed a strategy to increase recovery of beverage containers. The provincial evaluation of alternative recovery programs suggested two methods of recovery:

(1)expanded deposit-refund legislation; and,

(2)limited deposit-refund legislation, whereby blue box recycling programs would be used to recover all used beverage containers except refillables, which would be recovered by a deposit system.

Upon reviewing each recovery method, City Council resolved to support the expanded deposit-refund recovery method. As a result, Council wrote to the Minister of the Environment to express Council’s support for the expansion of deposits to the widest range of beverage containers possible and to emphasize the use of refillable containers.

May, 1994

Upon considering a staff report on the details of the Greater Vancouver Regional District Solid Waste Management Plan, Council resolved to support the Plan.

The Solid Waste Management Plan contains a number of obligations that were required of both municipal and provincial governments, which are necessary for the success of the Plan. The implementation of an expanded provincial deposit-refund system for used beverage containers is a key provincial obligation.

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NEW DEPOSIT-REFUND REGULATION

British Columbia’s current deposit-refund system, which applies only to beer, cider, coolers, and some soft drink containers, operates primarily as a return-to-retail collection system, though a few private or industry sponsored beverage container depots currently operate. Under the new deposit-refund regulation, the return-to-retail collection system is expected to shift to a province-wide depot collection system.

The expanded deposit-refund system includes the following highlights:

·In addition to the 900 million beer, cider, cooler, and soft drink containers sold each year in B.C., which are currently subject to deposits and refunds, an extra 260 million new beverage containers sold each year in B.C. will be subject to deposits and refunds (roughly a 30% increase).

·All ready-to-serve beverages will be affected by this regulation, including but not limited to bottled water, all carbonated and non-carbonated drinks, ice teas, wine, spirits, thirst quenchers, fruit, and vegetable juices. Beverages that are excluded from this regulation include milk, milk substitutes, soya milk, flavoured milk, infant formulas, meal replacements, and dietary supplements.

·Beverage companies that distribute their products in B.C. will be responsible for recovering at least 85 percent of all refundable beverage containers.

·All beverage containers must be refillable or recyclable, and none of the containers recovered by the system can be landfilled or incinerated.

·Deposits and refunds will be applied to new beverage containers starting October 1, 1998. Deposits shall range from 5 cents for containers up to 460 ml; 10 cents for containers ranging from 460 ml to 1 litre; and 30 cents for containers over 1 litre.

·Upon achieving a 75 percent diversion of containers from retail return to depot return (on region by region basis), retailers will no longer be required to provide return-to-retail service.

·A multi-stakeholder Beverage Container Management Board will provide advice to the provincial government on establishing an efficient and convenient collection system and recommendations regarding approval of stewardship plans.

·Beverage brand-owners who fail to comply with the regulation could face a $200,000/day penalty and be prohibited from selling their products in B.C. until all regulation requirements are achieved.

DISCUSSION

The key to the success and effectiveness of the expanded deposit-refund system will be largely dependent on the number of "convenient" depots (i.e., within close proximity to residential areas; having extended operating hours and adequate parking facilities) located throughout each municipality. This is expected to be particularly challenging in the City of Vancouver for the following reasons:

(1)high land and rent values may make locating some depots economically infeasible; and,

(2)finding suitably zoned "convenient" locations is expected to be difficult, particularly within reasonable proximity to residential areas (recycling depots are currently allowed in most commercial and all industrial zones).

While the potential impacts are difficult to identify in advance of seeing the details of the industry stewardship plans, the expanded deposit-refund regulation is expected to have the following general impacts on the City’s solid waste management programs:

Recycling Collection

The number of used beverage containers is expected to decrease, which should result in a minor reduction in associated collection costs. In addition, the City’s recycling costs (i.e., processing and marketing costs) should also decrease, since these materials are costly to process and market.

Garbage Collection

The number of used beverage containers that currently are discarded in the garbage stream are expected to decrease, which should result in a minor reduction in associated disposal costs.

Scavenging Activities

Although the expanded deposit-refund system is supposed to recover at least 85% of refundable containers, the remaining 15% will be either recycled or thrown in the garbage. Consequently, "scavenging" activities are expected to increase.

Although most scavenging activities have negligible impact on the City’s solid waste management programs, they are sometimes pursued by organized individuals who can pilfer large quantities of valuable materials (e.g., newspapers, deposit containers) from recycling programs, thus depriving the City of that revenue. As a result, staff will soon be seeking Council’s approval of an anti-scavenging bylaw that would provide a discretionary mechanism to discourage, or minimize, large-scale scavenging activities.

CONCLUSION

On December 5, 1997, the provincial government approved a regulation that requires the beverage industry to expand the beverage container deposit-refund system in B.C. to include all ready-to-drink containers, except those used for milk, milk substitutes, and meal replacements. This regulation is expected to reduce the amount of used beverage containers that currently end up in municipal solid waste management programs, thereby shifting the waste management cost of beverage containers from local governments (i.e., taxpayers) to beverage producers and consumers.

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(c) 1997 City of Vancouver