Expanding the deposit-refund system to include more beverage containers will enhance recovery and facilitate reclamation. Basing the bottle deposit system on containers—not contents—will also reduce consumer confusion. Moreover, the deposit-refund system is an effective incentive that increases the container recovery rate for beverages consumed in both the home and public settings. The container recovery rate for returnable containers has stagnated for more than 10 years. Deposit amounts are insufficient to encourage individuals to return the containers, especially for ready-to-drink beverages consumed outside the home, the proportion of which is rising steadily. Increasing the deposit amount will spur the return of these containers and avoid having them end up in landfills or in the wild.
The reform will establish the preconditions for rethinking deposit-refund and selective collection in a logic of circularity. Modernization will enable conditions to be put in place to rethink the deposit-refund and selective collection systems in a logic of circularity. It will also help to transform the container value chain so that recovery and reclamation can be handled locally. At-source sorting of redeemable containers promotes the quality of residual materials, which in turn facilitates recycling and circularity, especially of glass. It then becomes easier to produce bottles and other products from used bottles. This measure will fight climate change by limiting shipping these types of residual materials and reducing the extraction of raw materials, thereby making recycled materials available for conversion in a closed, local loop.
The
Regulation respecting the development, implementation and financial support of a deposit refund system for certain containers assigns responsibility for developing, implementing, and funding a modernized deposit-refund system to producers that sell, market or otherwise distribute all 100 ml to 2 l ready-to-drink beverage containers, in accordance with the extended producer responsibility (EPR) approach. Management of the system is assigned to an organization designated by RECYC-QUÉBEC to represent the producers.
Rollout of deposit-refund to 100 ml –2 l ready-to-drink beverage containers (PDF, 70 KB)
All 100 ml to 2 l ready-to-drink beverage containers used for wine, spirits and cider, juice and milk containers, and water bottles, will be added to the list of currently covered beer and soft drink redeemable containers. This will more than double the number of deposit-refund containers.
Other significant changes:
The expanded deposit-refund system will cover all single-use and reusable containers made of plastic, glass, metal, or fibre (multilayer), or a mixture of these materials, as well as any other material or mixture of materials used for 100 ml to 2 l ready-to-drink beverages. The application of a deposit to multilayer containers targeted by the deposit-refund system will become effective on November 1, 2025, two years later than the effective date for the other types of containers.
On October 24, 2022, RECYC-QUÉBEC
(French) selected the Association québécoise de récupération des contenants de boissons (AQRCB) as the Designated Management Body (DMB) for the next five years, with a mandate to represent the target producers in respect of their obligation to develop, implement and financially support a modernized system of selective collection. The DMB must comply with specific deadlines for meeting various regulatory requirements, in particular for signing agreements and other contracts with actors of the new system prior to its full rollout on November 1, 2023.
By November 1, 2023, the DMB must have implemented a network of drop-off sites comprising at least 1,500 locations in southern Québec, as well as additional drop-off sites in isolated or remote areas (agreement depending on needs). The number of drop-off sites shall not include bulk drop-off points. The network can be rounded out by a private recovery network for reusable containers such as beer bottles.
The network of drop-off points must also comply with criteria regarding the number of locations by population bracket and Regional County Municipality (RCM) or equivalent territory recovery capacity. Retailers that sell products in redeemable containers and whose stores have an area reserved for sales of more than 375 m2 (4,036 sq. ft.) must participate in the network, independently or in cooperation with other retailers, and comply with specific criteria. The drop-off sites can be located inside their stores or in a separate structure. In addition to retailer drop-off sites, others will be added to the network and reserved for this purpose whether or not they are retailer-managed. To facilitate consumer return of redeemable containers, all types of containers (including reusables) will be accepted at all drop-off sites in a way that enables reuse.
The Designated Management Body (DMB) must offer a redeemable container collection service to on-site consumption establishments such as restaurants, bars, and hotels, and to institutional food services. The service’s operational procedures must be discussed beforehand and formally agreed between the DMB and representatives of the on-site consumption establishments. The various types of establishments must also participate in the redeemable container collection service.
The DMB and representatives of isolated or remote territories shall also determine the operational procedures and financial arrangements covering the agreement to service the territories, bearing in mind each territory’s distinctive characteristics. The isolated or remote territories at issue are the MRC de Minganie, the MRC de Caniapiscau et du Golfe-du-Saint-Laurent, the James Bay region as described in the Schedule of the James Bay Region Development Act, and the territory of the Kativik Regional Government.
The Designated Management Body (DMB) must achieve performance level outcomes that are subject to annual audit. If the DMB does not achieve the prescribed outcomes in any given year, it will be obliged to submit a remediation plan to the government and invest funds in an amount set by regulation to implement the measures stipulated in the plan in order to achieve the prescribed outcome rates.
The traceability of residual materials must be ensured up to their final destination so that they are considered in the calculation of the achieved performance rates, which will encourage the growth of local and neighbouring market solutions. Landfilled residual materials, residual materials subject to utilization for energy purposes or that undergo biological treatment cannot be calculated in the performance rate except if treatment occurs in remote or isolated territories. For the purposes of calculating the local reclamation rate, a maximum of 30% of the total weight of residual materials sent to for local reclamation can be reclaimed elsewhere in Québec but deemed local. Reclamation is deemed local if occurring in Québec, Ontario, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Labrador, and in the states of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania.
Prescribed Rates – Deposit-Refund System
Types of containers | Recovery | Reclamation1 | Local reclamation2 | Recycling3 | ||||||
2026 | 2028 | 2030 | 2032 | 2026 | 2028 | 2030 | 2032 | |||
Metal | 75% | 80% | 85% | + 5% every two years up to 90% |
75% | 80% | 85% | + 5% every two years up to 90% |
80% in 2026 | 50% in 2026 |
Plastic | 70% | 75% | 80% | 68% | 73% | 78% | 80% in 2026 | 50% in 2026 | ||
Glass | 65% | 75% | 80% | 63% | 73% | 78% | 90% in 2026 | 50% in 2026 | ||
Multilayer (fibres) | - | 65% | 70% | - | 60% | 65% | 80% in 2028 | 50% in 2028 | ||
Bio-sourced | 70% | 75% | 80% | 68% | 73% | 78% | 80% in 2028 | 50% in 2026 | ||
Reusable glass containers | 85% | 90% | 90% | 90% | 90% | 90% | 90% in 2026 | 50% in 2026 | ||
Reusable containers made of other materials | 70% | 75% | 80% | 80% | 85% | 90% | 80% in 2026 | 50% in 2026 | ||
Overall | 70% | 80% | 85% | 65% | 75% | 80% |
1 For reusable containers, the rate corresponds to the reclamation of spent containers previously reused at least 10 times, on average.
2 A maximum of 30% of the total weight of residual materials sent to a local reclamation site can be deemed reclaimed locally but in fact, processed elsewhere than in Québec for the purposes of achieving the overall local reclamation rate.
3 Recycling is defined as the reclamation of residual materials for the manufacture of new containers, packaging, or printed matter in order to promote closed-loop circularity.
A Webcast and PowerPoint presentations popularizing the Regulation:
Other targeted information sessions may be offered based on need.