2024 Annual Report - Celebrating 30 Years of Environmental Stewardship

2024 marks 30 years since the not-for-profit stewardship agency Encorp Pacific, better known as Return-It, was founded to recover used beverage containers from consumers.

During that time, the organization has diverted more than 25 billion beverage containers from landfills and waterways.

We are pleased to share the results of our 2024 Annual Report.

Recovery Rate

Our recovery rate was 78.3%. We collected and recycled 1.36 billion containers in 2024. Though this exceeds the 75% minimum for recovery rates, we are always aiming to continually maximize recovery in the most effective and efficient way possible, environmentally and fiscally.

Collection System, Facilities & Consumer Access

With a collection network of 163 Return-It Depots, 18 Express & GO stations and 2 Express locations, 99.2% of B.C.’s population has access to a beverage container return facility. However, we aim to expand to even more locations, especially in dense metro areas where proximity to a location is the main driver of recycling behaviour.

Return-It is committed to addressing barriers to recycling such as inconvenient access, line-ups and uninviting locations. We have been working closely with municipalities in Metro Vancouver to bring more free access to beverage container recycling through the Express bag drop program. With no sorting required and a streamlined, cashless interface, the quick and easy service is now available at more than 110 locations across BC.

Consumer Awareness

Return-It implemented a year-round, province-wide, marketing campaign with a focus on targeting less-engaged demographics, container types with low recovery rates and high-consumption times such as summer and holidays. The strategic campaign resulted in a consumer awareness level of 99% among British Columbia residents, according to research by a third-party research company.

Environmental Impact Reduction

Return-It’s activities in 2024 diverted 87,438 metric tonnes of material from landfill and contributed to the reduction of about 125.9 thousand tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) from being released into the atmosphere.

Greenhouse gas emissions from Encorp’s operations have also been reduced by 50% compared to 2019.

Read the full report at https://ar.return-it.ca/ar2024/