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With 91% of Canadian beer sales in refillable bottles, reuse is
alive and well in Canada's most populous province. A typical beer
bottle in Ontario is refilled 15 to 20 times and then it is made
into a new container. The Beer Store, which is the retail outlet
for beer in Ontario, boasts an overall recovery rate of 97.6% on
its packaging materials.
Ontario's brewers have not publicly adopted a zero waste policy. But,
according to Jan Westcott, former Executive Director of the Brewers of
Ontario, "we have come darn close to reaching zero waste and achieving
our goal of 100% recycling/reuse. And, we are profitable."
In their booklet "Refillables: Saving our Environment" The
Beer Store talks about their commitment to minimizing the impact of their
products and services on the environment.
"The absence of environmental costs in packaging," Westcott told CRI, "amounts
to a subsidy, and subsidies distort the marketplace. We think instead that market
forces should provide financial incentives for environmentally superior products
or services. The deposit we charge on our bottles serves as an effective financial
incentive to return the empty container for refilling."
Some facts about The Beer Store:
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In 1996 The Beer Store recovered almost twice as much consumer
packaging
by weight than did Ontario's Blue Box system.
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One hundred percent of all recovered materials are reused or
recycled.
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In 1927 the deposit per case was $0.72; today it is $2.40.
For more information, contact the Brewers of Ontario:
Jeff Newton, Executive Director
The Brewers of Ontario
1 West Pearce Street, Suite #203
Richmond Hill, Ontario CANADA L4B 3K3
Ph:(905)709-1811
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