Hamilton joins call for Ontario to implement deposit

Hamilton joins call for Ontario to implement deposit-return for drink containers

The province considered such a plan in 2023 but scrapped it due to cost

The City of Hamilton has joined municipalities like Ottawa, Toronto, and London in calling on the Ontario government to implement a deposit-return system for non-alcoholic beverage containers.

Ontario has the lowest recycling rates in the country for these containers, with less than half being recycled.

In a motion last month, Ward 12 councillor Craig Cassar requested the city join a call spearheaded by the Canadian Beverage Association for the province to implement a program to change that.

"I wanted Hamilton to also lend its voice to the other municipalities who have called on the government to implement such a program," Cassar told CBC Hamilton.

"In Ontario, we rely only on the residential blue box system," he said. "So, what this would do is provide an incentive for both consumer and industrial returns of non-alcoholic [beverage containers]."

Councillors unanimously passed the motion at an Aug. 31 public works committee meeting. The City Clerk's Office told CBC Hamilton Thursday it was in the process of forwarding the motion to the province.

CBC Hamilton reached out to the Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks but did not hear back.

The city and province should be aspiring to a circular economy, and this initiative would advance this goal, said Cassar, saying it could be a cost-saving measure.

"If we have these recyclable products that are just going to landfill, well, landfills fill up faster and it costs money to build new landfills," he said.

"That impacts everybody when we're talking about the taxes to run a municipal facility like a landfill site."

The Canadian Beverage Association (CBA) started advocating for the program in 2023. Since then Barrie, Waterloo, the Peel Regional Council, the Association of Municipalities of Ontario and the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative have all also joined the call, according to Krista Scaldwell, president of the CBA.

Ontario rules out charging deposit on non-alcoholic cans, bottles

Ontario considering deposit-and-return system like The Beer Store's for non-alcoholic drink containers

Ontario considered implementing a similar plan in 2023, with then minister of environment David Piccini saying in a letter, "such a system would enable consumers to receive a refund for returning used beverage containers, promoting recycling, reducing litter, and encouraging sustainable practices."

The province scrapped that plan due to cost. Scaldwell called it a "significant setback."

In 2024, non-profit group Environmental Defence estimated that 1.7 billion plastic beverage containers end up in Ontario's landfills or incinerators every year.

Since then, global trade tensions and tariff unceartainty have increased costs for beverage producers, Scaldwell said this week.

"A cost-effective deposit-return system with high recovery rates would help Ontario’s sector remain competitive," she said.

"A clear government decision would give producers the certainty to invest and give Ontarians the system they want."

Aura Carreño Rosas is a reporter at CBC Hamilton. She's originally from Venezuela. She has extensive experience in covering stories about immigrants and migrant workers as well as interesting people with diverse journeys. You can contact her at aura.carreno.rosas@cbc.ca

With files from Desmond Brown, Mike Crawley