This report, commissioned by circular economy NGO Reloop, outlines how the introduction of a deposit return system (DRS) would increase recycling rates and reduce litter in Ontario, Canada.
The research also identifies how harmonization with Ontario’s current Blue Box program and deposit return system on alcoholic beverages would provide benefits to the system as a whole. The study examines the costs of the proposed program, as well as detailing the environmental, social and economic benefits that would be delivered.
Our modelling found that a DRS for non-alcoholic beverage containers, combined with a move to every other week curbside collections will recycle an additional 118,000 tonnes of material per year and adds 1,500 jobs to Ontario overall. The proposed DRS would capture 90% of all non-alcoholic beverage containers sold, reducing beverage container litter by up to 80% and helping to address the 10,000 tonnes of plastic waste that is estimated to leak into the Great Lakes every year. The proposed model would also be one of the most cost-efficient DRS across Canada, with a cost per container redeemed of $0.0091.
