Obviously it is one thing for Quebec Environment Minister Mulclair to strong-arm Coca Cola to back track on dissolving its "voluntary" deposit-refund system for non-carbonated drinks but quite another to get the provincial liquor monopoly to implement a deposit-refund system.

Good on Recyc-Québec for undertaking a study that looks at the issue...

LA PRESSE, MONTREAL, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2006

110 MILLION BOTTLES GO TO THE DUMP EVERY YEAR TIME FOR A DEPOSIT ON SAQ PRODUCTS?
FRANÇOIS CARDINAL

Although the vast majority of wine bottles sold in Quebec end up in the trash, the Société des alcohols stubbornly refuses to charge a deposit on its products. As for the Government, it has always refused to compel the State-owned corporation… simply because it pays a lot of money to Recyc-Québec, La Presse has learned.

Yet, according to a confidential report produced by Recyc-Québec last September, extending deposits to wine and liquor bottles would allow it to recover over 70% of these glass containers “at the outset”.

At present, only 25% of the products sold by the SAQ are recovered.

Since the SAQ sells nearly 147 million bottles a year, this means that about 110 million of them end up in a landfill site. With a deposit, this number would decrease to 44 million.

Why, in this case, doesn’t the Government charge a deposit on wine bottles? “Historically, the SAQ has not been subject to the deposit because it makes a large contribution to the “collecte sélective” (the equivalent of the blue box Program), Environment Minister Thomas Mulcair said in an interview.

According to our information, the SAQ has paid Recyc-Québec $2.6 million since 2002 under two different programs. Ironically, one of these two programs ended in 2004 and the second expires this June, thus putting an end to the SAQ’s contribution. Thus, the timing is ideal to impose a deposit, Recyc-Québec believes.

While Minister Mulcair is not completely closed to the idea, he is not very enthusiastic about it either. He settled for saying: “Everything is on the table. Everything will be analyzed.”

In its report submitted to the Minister last fall, Recyc-Québec is very favourable to the idea of asking SAQ customers for a deposit so that they return a large number of the bottles purchased. This having been said, the organization acknowledges that, due to logistical difficulties, this option “cannot be adopted in the short term”. Given the potential gains for recovery in Quebec, it thus suggests that the Government conduct a feasibility study.

“The recovery rate, currently estimated at 25%, would quickly increase to high levels,” the authors of the report note, “possibly exceeding 70% due to the financial incentive related to the amount of the deposit. Indeed, in some provinces, the glass container recovery rate is over 80%.”

In Canada, all provinces have imposed deposits on wine and liquor bottles, except for Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec. “Assuming a recovery rate based on the experience of Canadian provinces,” [Recyc-Québec] adds, “an additional quantity estimated at no less than 60 million wine and liquor containers would immediately shift from disposal to recycling.”

“Such a decision,” it adds, “would be likely to induce other companies marketing beverages in Quebec to participate more actively and promptly in the implementation of the “collecte sélective” (blue box Program) regulations.”

Extending the deposit to the SAQ is not a new idea. In 1992, the Environment Minister at the time had proposed to Cabinet a completely refundable deposit of 50 cents on all wine, cider and liquor containers. This initiative never materialized, particularly due to the reluctance of the main interested party.

Recyc-Québec also warns the Government of potential resistance. “Extending the deposit would arouse strong opposition from the SAQ and several government departments, especially Finance,” it points out. “The food distributors and retailers would undoubtedly object to returning these containers to their stores.”

However, Recyc-Québec maintains that this solution is possible and that a feasibility study would make it possible to determine the space requirements at the container return points, the choice of appropriate equipment and the handling to be performed by the employees.

The SAQ did not return La Presse’s call.