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 565,000 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 $32.8 million annually in possible revenue.

Sale and Recovery of 5¢ Deposit Containers in Quebec for the Year 2018

 Number of returnable containers sold

2 009 600 000

Number of containers returned for the deposit

1 352 500 000

Curbside Recovery of Containers Not Returned for Deposit Refund

92 200 000

Rate of Recovery of 5¢ Deposit Containers

71.9 %

71.5 % Aluminum cans
74.0 % Plastic containers
83.1 % Glass containers

Residential recovery rate

90 %

Non-residential recovery rate

50 %

Number of containers discarded/lost

564 900 000

Number of containers discarded/lost per day

1 547 671

Monetary loss in unredeemed deposits per year

32.8 million $