May 28, 2009
Alberta's milk container-refund system starts June 1
EDMONTON — The price of a four-litlre jug of milk will increase 27 cents June 1 as the province attempts to boost the percentage of milk containers returned for recycling.
The hit may look significant at the grocery store till but under this new system, 25 cents can be recouped when the jug is dropped off at a bottle depot.
The remaining four cents are part of a non-refundable container recycling fee. Half of that was already collected under the voluntary recycling system run by the Alberta Dairy Council. Now, the money will be used to cover the cost of collecting milk containers for recycling. Other sizes of containers will have non-refundable fees ranging from one to three cents.
For containers one litre and under, the refundable deposit will be 10 cents. The deposit for containers over one litre will be 25 cents.
Alberta is the first province to include milk containers in the deposit-refund system.
Alberta Environment decided to make the switch as part of a larger effort to keep more waste out of landfills, said Trevor Gemmell, a ministry spokesman.
More than two billion beverage containers are sold each year in the province. About 500 million of those are not recycled.
The current recycling rate for plastic milk jugs is 60 per cent and 22.5 per cent for milk cartons. The province's goal is an overall beverage container recycling rate of 85 per cent.
It should be clear by the fall whether or not recycling has increased, said John Bachinski, managing director of the Beverage Container Management Board.
Anyone who has hoarded containers in expectation of a pay day when they take them to bottle depots will be disappointed. Only marked containers identified by "AB DEPOSIT" will be eligible for refunds.
Unmarked milk and liquid cream containers bought before June 1 are not eligible for a refund but should be recycled as quickly as possible through local municipal recycling programs.
The dairy council did not want the province to change the current system.
"The regulated system is adding tremendous cost to our product, ie. two cents to a jug of milk," council president Brian Miller said. "We're hopeful this will not lead to a reduction in consumption of our products."
At the bottle depots, there is an expectation that there will be a need for consumer education.
The milk containers will need a good rinse before they are returned, said Rob Macintosh, co-owner of the Millwoods Bottle Depot.
"Customers have to realize depots can't handle unsanitary containers," he said.
Alberta Environment warns that bottle depots are allowed to reject any containers with a strong odour or with residual milk or cream.
Macintosh said some changes have been made at his depot. More space was created at the back for the 12 to 18 per cent increase he expects. Extra shipments with the Alberta Beverage Container Recycling Corporation have also been arranged.
Macintosh expects he'll have to hire more staff, a positive ripple effect he thinks will be felt throughout the industry, as trucking and processing also increase.
http://www.edmontonjournal.com/Technology/Alberta+milk+container+refund+system+starts+June/1639775/story.html
