Ontario grocery retailers and the Beer Store have come to a preliminary agreement regarding the recycling of alcohol containers. This arrangement will allow the retailers to sidestep the task of collecting empty containers at their establishments and will involve a renewed collaboration with the brewers. The agreement has prevented a potential crisis for the Ontario Deposit Return Program, as some grocers had signaled their intention to refuse empty container returns starting January 1, the same day the Beer Store would gain the freedom to close an unrestricted number of locations.
While specific details are still being finalized, the main points of the agreement include consumers continuing to return empty containers for deposits at Beer Store locations, with the costs to be covered by grocers. Brewers have committed to ensuring that a recycling point is available within a 10-kilometre radius for the majority of the population.
Beer Store’s President and CEO, Roy Benin, expressed optimism about the agreement, highlighting its benefits for consumers and the environment. The negotiations between brewers and grocers, facilitated by the government, have been ongoing for months, spurred by a prior deal with the Beer Store to facilitate Premier Doug Ford’s plan to expand alcohol sales to more grocery stores and convenience stores.
The agreement requires grocery stores located more than five kilometers from a Beer Store to accept empty returns, with this obligation extended to all grocers selling alcohol as of January 1. Failure to comply had led many grocers to threaten to cease alcohol sales, jeopardizing the government’s alcohol expansion plans.
The new agreement secures the Beer Store’s role in alcohol container recycling, potentially averting mass closures from January 1 onwards. Grocery stores had raised concerns about sanitation and space constraints within the program, but now express relief at the resolution.
The total cost to grocers remains uncertain, and it is unclear whether these costs will be passed on to consumers. Gary Sands, from the Canadian Federation of Independent Grocers, emphasized the additional costs that independent and small grocers would have faced to set up collection systems for empty containers. The resolution is seen as a way to uphold the original objective of providing more choice and convenience for consumers.
Convenience stores are not subject to the recycling requirements.