May 13, 2011
Deposit-return system won’t be scrapped: Arcand
Quebec’s environment minister says rumours that the province is poised to abolish the deposit-return system on beverage containers are false.
In fact, Pierre Arcand says he is considering increasing deposit amounts and expanding the program to include wine bottles.
Arcand made the comments at a news conference Friday where an environmental group was launching a new, province-wide coalition called Pro-Consigne Québec that will work to improve and expand the deposit-return program.
Last November, Arcand announced the government would be reviewing the deposit system on beverage containers, such as soft drink cans. This alarmed environment groups, who feared the minister was listening to soft drink retailers and other industry players who don’t like the deposit-return system because it costs them money.
But Arcand says he is examining which system, curbside recycling or deposit-return, would result in more drink containers being recuperated and he will make his decision based on which proves to be most effective at keeping recyclables and reusables out of the waste stream.
He said he has not made the decision yet, but he attended yesterday’s news conference to clarify that he was not against deposit-return systems.
“I simply wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to say very clearly that we do not intend to eliminate the deposit-return system at all and if I had to give you my personal opinion, I think the two systems will be used in parallel for a long time.”
But according to Karel Ménard of the Front commun québecois pour une gestion écologique des déchets, deposit-return systems for all beverage containers is clearly the best environmental choice and the minister only needs to improve and expand the existing system to get better results.
The deposit price has been 5 cents on soft drink containers and beer bottles since the system was introduced in 1984. Ménard said it is obvious that price should be at least doubled to encourage consumers to return the containers for a refund.
He noted that Quebecers buy about a billion plastic bottles of water each year and about half of those end up as litter or in landfill sites. Meanwhile, from 68 per cent to 93 per cent of drink containers with a deposit on them are recuperated.
The Pro-Consigne Québec Coalition includes environmental groups, unions, municipalities (Montreal and Laval), as well as industry groups such as the Aluminum Association of Canada, and the Quebec Brewers Association.
The city of Montreal’s Alan DeSousa says expanding the deposit-return system to include plastic water bottles and wine bottles is a “no brainer”.
“For me, it’s a no-brainer that if other communities and other provinces have put in place a take-it-back system for wine bottles, well, we can also have our SAQ do the same,” DeSousa, Montreal’s executive committee member responsible for sustainable development issues, said at the launch.
DeSousa noted that wine bottles in recycling bins are a problem. Broken glass contaminates paper and other materials in the bin, reducing the quality of the products that recycling centres can sell to offset the cost of the recycling programs.
“It’s very simple, if the retailers pocket the profits then they should also be responsible for dealing with the costs of the containers they put into the system and not saddle the broader community with the (cost) of disposing of their waste.”
Arcand also acknowledged the problem of broken glass.
“There is a lot of broken glass now in the bins, and it is not normal that companies like Cascade, for example, buy their recycled paper in the U.S. because the quality of the paper is not acceptable in Quebec.”
http://www.montrealgazette.com/life/Deposit+return+system+scrapped+Arcand/4781937/story.html#ixzz1MvJySJXA
