Northwest Territories

Name

Beverage Container Program (BCP)

Date Implemented

Enacted 2003; Implemented 2005; Last Updated 2016

Beverages Covered

All ready-to-serve drinks, including: [1]

Milk
Soft drinks
Energy drinks
Water
All other non-alcoholic beverages
Wine
Spirits
Non-refillable beer

Containers Covered

Glass bottles
Aluminum cans
Plastic bottles
Tetra packs/drink pouches
Gable top containers
Bi-metal containers

Beverages Not Covered

Infant formula
Powdered milk
Liquid milk products < 30mL
Open containers filled with a drink when sold

Amount of Deposit

Containers ≤ 1L: 10¢ CAD
Containers >1L: 25¢ CAD

Deposit amounts do not contain handling fee (also known as Container Recycling Fee). See table below on: Deposits and Handling Fees.

Reclamation System

23 locally operated depots & 6 temporary satellite depots

Handling Fee

2.2¢ - 4.5¢ CAD [2]

Other Fees

Processing fee: 2¢ - 4.5¢ CAD

Unredeemed Deposits

Retained by Department of Environment and Natural Resources

Program Success

	FY2014 [3]	FY2016 [4]	FY2019 [5]	FY2020 [6]	FY2021 [7]
Aluminum	92.7	84%	86.1%	79.6%	64.0%
Glass	81.7%	100%	100.0%	89.6%*	82.6%**
Plastic	81.0%	84%	84.6%	75.7%	60.7%
Gable Top/Tetra Pak	61.4%	62%	64.6%	55.5%	40.8%
Bi-Metal	59.1%	64%	62.3%	71.4%	45.3%
Bag-in-a-box	N/A	N/A	31.7%	27.9%	27.2%
Total:	88.2%	83%	83.9%	77.0%	61.9%

*: The Department of ENR reported a 310% return rate for glass containers larger than 1L in 2020, which they suspect is a result of bottles purchased outside of NWT being returned. This rate has been changed to reflect the actual maximum possible return of 100% for large glass containers.

**: The Department of ENR reported a 134% return rate for glass containers larger than 1L in 2021, which they suspect is a result of bottles purchased outside of NWT being returned. This rate has been changed to reflect the actual maximum possible return of 100% for large glass containers.

Details

The Beverage Container Program (BCP), enacted on November 1, 2005, is the first program created under the Waste Reduction and Recovery Act. [8] Prior to the implementation of the program, over 30 million containers ended up in NWT landfills or as litter along the streets and highways each year.

In order to sell beverages covered by the Recycling Regulations, distributors must register with the Government of the Northwest Territories (GNWT) and are required to remit to a surcharge (consisting of a refundable deposit and a handling fee established in Schedule 1). Those fees are paid into the “Environment Fund", which pays for the recycling of the materials returned. [9]

Consumers return their beverage containers to licensed depots to receive their refunds. The BCP has a network of community depots that report to three regional processing centers which are located in Yellowknife, Hay River and Inuvik. The depots are operated by businesses, schools, community governments, and individuals. Depot operators deliver the empty containers to assigned processing centers. In addition to the handling fee, which pays for the transportation of the materials, depot operators and processing centers also receive the amounts established in Schedule 2. Materials returned are then sent to either Alberta or Vancouver.

The GNWT pays the processing center operator. The payment includes the amount paid to the depot operator plus the handling fee for the processing center operator. The GNWT pays to transport all containers from depots to processing centers. The GNWT also pays to transport refillable glass beer bottles from processing centers to Edmonton. Processing center operators pay all other transport costs. They also pay the depot operator the refund and the depot’s handling fee for each beverage container.

The fees are set by Schedule 1 to the Regulations, and are as follows:

Deposit and Fee^[10]
Materials	Refundable Deposit	CRF	Total Surcharge Per Container
Glass ≤ 1 Liter	10¢	13¢	23¢
Aluminum ≤ 1 Liter	10¢	8¢	18¢
Plastics ≤ 1 Liter	10¢	8¢	18¢
TetraPak/ Pouch/ Gable ≤ 1 Liter	10¢	5¢	15¢
Bi-Metal ≤ 1 Liter	10¢	5¢	15¢

Glass > 1 Liter	25¢	13¢	38 ¢
Plastics > 1 Liter	25¢	10¢	35 ¢
TetraPak/ Pouch/ Gable > 1 Liter	25¢	10¢	35 ¢
Bi-Metal > 1 Liter	25¢	10¢	35 ¢
Bag in Box > 1 Liter	25¢	10¢	35 ¢