TORONTO — Ontario’s long-standing beverage container deposit-return program, praised for its environmental success and public support, is facing significant challenges as retailers increasingly avoid their legal obligations to accept empty containers.
For decades, Ontarians have reliably returned empty alcoholic beverage containers to The Beer Store, supporting one of the most effective recycling systems in the province. Return rates for glass bottles and aluminum cans included in the program reach nearly 80%, with refillable beer bottles seeing near-universal return. These materials are either reused by breweries or sold to recyclers, creating a closed-loop recycling system that significantly outperforms Ontario’s curbside Blue Box program, which recycles less than half of non-alcoholic beverage containers.
Despite widespread public support for expanding the deposit-return system to include all beverage containers, the existing alcohol-focused system is now at risk. As Premier Doug Ford pushes to expand alcohol sales into grocery and convenience stores, large retailers are increasingly exempted from their responsibilities to collect returned empties.
Recent closures of nearly 30 Beer Store locations have left many communities, including Westport, Chapleau, and Stratford, without convenient return points. This growing gap threatens the integrity of the deposit-return system, which relies on easy consumer access to function effectively.
Under current provincial regulations, large grocery stores that sell alcohol and are located more than five kilometres from a Beer Store — as of October 2024 — are required to accept empties. By January 2026, all such retailers must do so. Yet enforcement has been minimal. To date, only one compliant grocery store has been identified: a Great Canadian Superstore in Wasaga Beach.
Critics argue that the Ford government’s failure to enforce these rules is allowing retailers to shirk responsibility. Major grocery chains, many of which have resisted deposit-return expansion, have largely failed to offer return options, further eroding the program’s reach and impact.
Environmental advocates point to successful international models, such as in Denmark and Quebec, where retailers routinely collect empties as part of daily operations. Denmark’s system, notably overseen by Per Bank — now CEO of Loblaw Companies Limited — offers a proven example of grocery-led deposit returns.
Advocates warn that without stronger enforcement from the provincial government, Ontario risks backsliding on its environmental commitments. They are urging Minister of Finance Peter Bethlenfalvy, who oversees the Ontario Deposit Return Program, to compel retailers to comply with return regulations and protect public access to deposit-redemption services.
With continued store closures and minimal oversight, the future of Ontario’s deposit-return system — and its potential expansion to all beverage containers — hangs in the balance.
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