Islanders who may still have refillable glass soft drink bottles at home are being advised to bring them into a Beverage Container Depot before the rates of return decline.
Under the system that existed prior to May 3, glass soft drink bottles carried larger deposits and, depending on size, were eligible for returns as high as 70 cents per unit. But under the simplified Beverage Container Management System implemented in May, refillable soft drink bottles will be eligible for a return of 10 cents.
Don Jardine, director of Environmental Protection for the Department of Environment, Energy and Forestry, said government and soft drink distributors have cooperated to extend the deadline for several weeks.
“We wanted to make sure that everybody who paid one of the larger deposits prior to May 3 would still have a chance to get back the proper return for that deposit. But that “grace period” for late returns is scheduled to end July 31,” he said.
The department estimates that there are still more than 200,000 refillable glass bottles that were sold and that have not been returned for refund.
“These bottles could be sitting empty in people’s garages or sheds. They could still be sitting full in the inventory of stores or distributors. If anyone has some of these bottles on hand, I’d advise them to pack them off to the nearest Container Recycling Depot before the deadline passes. The bottles will be worth a lot less after this return period is over,” said Jardine.
Information on bottle returns and on the locations of beverage return depots is available at www.beveragecontainers.pe.ca.