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Home > Beverage > Recycling Information > Beverage Products

Deposits, Fees, & Container Types

Want to find out which containers can be returned? Want to know more about deposits, refunds and recycling fees? This is the place to look!

Deposit Values

Deposits are charged when products are purchased. They are returned in full when you bring back the empty container for recycling. These deposits are set through government legislation. Click here for the B.C. Government's page on Beverage Container Regulation.

Container Recycling Fee (CRF)

Return-It is not paid for by tax dollars, nor is it funded by government. It's paid for by all of us - consumers, retailers, beverage manufacturers and Encorp.

The Container Recycling Fee (CRF) is the fee Encorp charges to cover the net cost of recycling a beverage container type after any unredeemed deposits and commodity revenues for that container type have been used. The CRF varies for each beverage container category. As a not-for-profit, product stewardship agency, Encorp Pacific only charges the net cost for recovering and recycling beverage containers. The CRF reflects the current economic conditions of the drop in commodity prices and beverage volumes.

Beverage Container Recycling
Container Example Container Type Size Deposit Value Container Recycling Fee How to Recycle Them Description What they are Recycled Into
Aluminum 0 – 1L 5.0 ¢ 1.0 ¢ Leave tabs on The most commonly used individual serving container. Please leave the pull tabs on. More than 80% of the cans sold in BC are returned for recycling. These cans are baled, melted and back on the shelf again as cans within 6 weeks. This saves a lot of raw material, plus it takes 95% less energy to manufacture a new can from recycled aluminum than it does to make it from brand new material.
PET 1 0 – 500ml 5.0 ¢ 3.0 ¢ Caps off, labels on The familiar plastic soft drink and water bottles, including coolers and some spirits. Containers ma Over 75% of the plastic bottles sold are returned. The bottles are power-washed, then shredded, then power-washed again. From there, the shredded material is sold to companies who pull, stretch and meld the shreds into fibre for new bottles and buckets. Recycling plastics uses about 1/3 less energy than manufacturing new plastic.
PET 1 501ml – 1L 5.0 ¢ 3.0 ¢
PET 1 > 1L 20.0 ¢ 6.0 ¢
HDPE 2 0 – 500ml 5.0 ¢ 3.0 ¢
HDPE 2 501ml – 1L 5.0 ¢ 3.0 ¢
HDPE 2 > 1L 20.0 ¢ 6.0 ¢
PVC 3 0 – 500ml 5.0 ¢ 3.0 ¢ Caps off, labels on Clear or tinted, opaque plastic, and vinyl containers. Same as above plastic.
PVC 3 501ml – 1L 5.0 ¢ 3.0 ¢
PVC 3 > 1L 20.0 ¢ 6.0 ¢
PS 6 0 – 500ml 5.0 ¢ 3.0 ¢ Polystyrene Cup
Glass 0 – 500ml 5.0 ¢ 12.0 ¢ Caps off, labels on The everyday glass juice and beverage bottles, as well as wine, spirits, imported beer and coolers. Of all the glass bottles sold in BC, 93% are returned. These bottles are ground down into small pieces called "cullet" and used in the manufacturing of a variety of things such as fibreglass insulation, sandblasting material and even sand for golf-course sandtraps. Ground glass can also be added to asphalt in the making of new roads.
Glass 501ml – 1L 5.0 ¢ 12.0 ¢
Glass > 1L 20.0 ¢ 25.0 ¢
Bi-Metal 0 – 500ml 5.0 ¢ 6.0 ¢ Leave labels on Any metal container other than aluminum ranging from small single serve tins to large tomato and app Beverage container metal tins and cans are baled and then melted down to be turned into scrap metal, which can then be used as construction re-bar.
Bi-Metal 501ml – 1L 5.0 ¢ 6.0 ¢
Bi-Metal > 1L 20.0 ¢ No Recycling Fee
Drink Box 0 – 500ml 5.0 ¢ 2.0 ¢ Caps off, straws out Aseptic "drink boxes" Around 60% of these polycoated containers are returned for recycling. Once returned, they're hydra-pulped to separate the paper, plastic and foil. The paper is turned into pulp and put to use again in paper products and as cardboard boxes. Thousands of tonnes of paper pulp are recovered in this process. For every ton of paper pulp recycled, approximately 17 trees are saved.
Drink Box 501ml – 1L 5.0 ¢ 7.0 ¢
Gable Top 0 – 500ml 5.0 ¢ No Recycling Fee Caps off Coated "gable top" drink cartons Same as drink box
Gable Top 501ml – 1L 5.0 ¢ No Recycling Fee
Gable Top > 1L 20.0 ¢ 6.0 ¢
Drink Pouch Pouch 0 – 1L 5.0 ¢ No Recycling Fee Leave Bag in Box Large "bags" of wine in a cardboard carton, usually with a spigot for in-fridge use. Both the bag an The plastic in these containers is separated out and can be mixed with other types of plastic to make park benches, bins and other sturdy products
Bag-in-a-Box All 20.0 ¢ No Recycling Fee

Click here for a list of registered brands >

For other inquiries regarding products not managed by Encorp Pacific, please visit rcbc.bc.ca/recyclepedia or Download our BC Recyclepedia Smart Phone App for IPhone and Android