Environmental and financial harm
Environmental and financial harm
Annually, more than 2 billion containers with a deposit of $0.05 are marketed in Quebec, and 1.435 billion containers are recovered.
This means that 652 million soft drink containers are not recovered and will never be recycled. Where do these containers go? They needlessly fill our household garbage and end up in landfills. Otherwise, they are just thrown away and pollute the public areas of our cities, our forests, our lakes and our rivers.
And, by not claiming the deposit from lost or discarded containers, Quebecers lose $32.6 million annually in possible revenue.
Sale and Recovery of 5¢ Deposit Containers in Quebec for the Year 2021
Number of returnable containers sold
2 282 692 494
Number of containers returned for the deposit
1 478 640 947
Curbside Recovery of Containers Not Returned for Deposit Refund
151 235 342
Rate of Recovery of 5¢ Deposit Containers
71.4 %
71.9 % Aluminum cans
65.6 % Plastic containers
86.1 % Glass containers
Approximate residential recovery rate
90 %
Approximate non-residential recovery rate
50 %
Number of containers discarded/lost
652 816 205
Number of containers discarded/lost per day
1 788 538
Monetary loss in unredeemed deposits per year
