You’d be surprised but we get this question fairly often and we’re glad people are asking!
We’re here to help you understand exactly what can be recycled at a Bottle Depot. Everyone generally knows that pop cans, beer cans and water bottles can be recycled and thats mainly because they comprise of about 75% of all material that is recycled. But there are some criteria that is not well known for what can be returned at a Bottle Depot.
The first is that only containers that you pay a $0.10 or $0.25 deposit on are eligilble to be returned at a Bottle Depot. The reason for charging a deposit rate is because it is an incentive for you to return the container and get your deposit back when you bring it to a Bottle Depot. So when you bring back containers to a Bottle Depot, try and remember if you paid a deposit. Some grocery stores even list on the price tag the amount of deposit that you are paying.
The second is that only eligible beverage containers that are sold in Alberta can be returned for a refund. Any beverage containers that are puchased outside the province cannot be returned to a Bottle Depot in Alberta. This is not well known and can sometimes be hard to enforce by Bottle Depot’s.
The third is that there are some containers that people may not realize they have paid a deposit on and instead throw away the container instead of returning it to a Bottle Depot. Below is a short list of not so well known containers that have a deposit value. For the full list of what is eligible for return, see the BCMB’s portal.
- whipped cream gable top container
- foil pack juice
- bag in a box wine
- bi-metal tomato juice
- juice cups
- soy and other non diary milk in tetra packs
- drinkable yogurts
- 50ml sample alcoholic beverages
- water dispensing jugs (the soft plastic ones not the hard ones)
We hope that this information helps you determine exactly what can be returned at a Bottle Depot. We’re here to help and if you have any quesitons, feel free to contact us. Happy recycling!
