Plastic bottle deposit system not effective

Re: Plastic bottle return would protect lakes; editorial by Peter Epp, Postmedia Thursday, Feb. 23.

Plastic water bottles are one of the most recycled packaging materials across Canada. According to Stewardship Ontario, 66 per cent of all PET bottles were recycled in 2015 and beverage-specific container recovery is estimated to be much higher. Plastic beverage containers account for less than 0.2 per cent of the total wastes disposed in Ontario, and plastic water bottles account for less than half of that.

Beverage container recovery is a top priority for the beverage industry. However, a deposit-based system is not the most effective solution for Ontario. Setting up a completely separate recycling system for such a small portion of the waste stream is a massive administrative undertaking. Further, asking consumers to each load empty beverage containers into their vehicles and drive past the blue box to a return centre is inconvenient and inefficient.

Convenience drives diversion. Recent polling of 1,500 Ontarians showed 95 per cent of respondents recycle empty water bottles where recycling is available, which is why the beverage industry has proposed a system to increase public space recycling. This type of program makes significant impact: Manitoba’s beverage container recovery rate increased by more than 20 per cent in its first four years.

Canadian Beverage Association members are an active part of creating sustainable solutions to reduce industry’s environmental footprint. Jim Goetz President, Canadian Beverage Association