Encorp Pacific

Last updated

Encorp Pacific (Canada)
Company type Non-profit organization
Founded1994;30 years ago (1994)
Headquarters Burnaby
Number of locations
162 (2023)
Area served
British Columbia
Key people
Cindy Coutts (President & CEO)
Revenue$249,080,000 (2023)
Website www.return-it.ca

Encorp Pacific (Canada) is a federally incorporated, not-for-profit, product stewardship corporation with beverage container management as its core business. Their mandate is to develop, manage and improve systems to recover used packaging and end-of-life products from consumers and ensure that they are properly recycled and not land-filled or incinerated. This model is commonly referred to as Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) or Industry Product Stewardship (IPS). [1]

Contents

Recycling depots

The Return-It™ network consists of independently owned and operated Return-It depot collection facilities that have collection agreements with Encorp, as well as corporate Return-It Express Plus™ locations and Express & GO™ unstaffed stations.

The Express system provides a level of consumer convenience by removing the need for customers to sort their containers and wait in line for their refund. Customers tag their bags, drop them off and are on their way within minutes. Express & GO locations are unstaffed solar-powered drop-off stations with extended hours and contactless service. Express Plus locations, Encorp's flagship, offer a convenient and cashless way to recycle used beverage containers and other small household items. There are a total of 162 depots, 90 in-depot Express locations [2] , 16 Express & GO stations and 2 Express Plus locations in BC. [3]

Beverage container deposits

Starting October 12, 2020, consumers are charged the unified deposit of 10¢ for all beverage containers covered by the Return-It system, and refunded 10¢ upon return. [4]

As of February 1, 2022, milk and plant-based beverage containers are also part of the Return-It deposit system. [5]

Return rates

Encorp Pacific has a government-mandated recovery rate of 75%, expressed in the Environmental Management Act. [6]

YearContainers soldContainers recoveredReturn rate
2008 [7] 1,379,887,2321,064,064,12277.1%
2009 [8] 1,353,133,3421,072,598,29879.3%
2010 [9] 1,277,506,3391,027,105,32280.4%
2011 [10] 1,237,182,406987,186,52579.8%
2012 [11] 1,237,108,765973,327,07878.7%
2013 [12] 1,214,144,300972,397,24180.1%
2014 [13] 1,224,579,061968,583,63279.1%
2015 [14] 1,266,027,839999,290,45478.9%
2016 [15] 1,282,922,4731,000,749,81178.0%
2017 [16] 1,349,149,4371,023,306,03975.8%
2018 [17] 1,350,852,4031,045,466,47177.4%
2019 [18] 1,348,921,3601,053,684,53278.1%
2020 [19] 1,362,935,0451,038,180,27176.2%
2021 [20] 1,470,642,1001,116,121,42375.9%
2022 [21] 1,661,071,5201,272,480,41676.6%
2023 [22] 1,726,702,8891,375,161,56679.6%

Related Research Articles

Product stewardship is an approach to managing the environmental impacts of different products and materials and at different stages in their production, use and disposal. It acknowledges that those involved in producing, selling, using and disposing of products have a shared responsibility to ensure that those products or materials are managed in a way that reduces their impact, throughout their lifecycle, on the environment and on human health and safety. This approach focusses on the product itself, and everyone involved in the lifespan of the product is called upon to take up responsibility to reduce its environmental, health, and safety impacts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reuse of bottles</span> Waste management

A reusable bottle is a bottle that can be reused, as in the case as by the original bottler or by end-use consumers. Reusable bottles have grown in popularity by consumers for both environmental and health safety reasons. Reusable bottles are one example of reusable packaging.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oregon Bottle Bill</span> Container-deposit legislation in Oregon

The Oregon Bottle Bill is a container-deposit legislation enacted in the U.S. state of Oregon in 1971 that went into effect in October 1972. It was the first such legislation in the United States. It was amended in 2007 and 2011. It requires applicable beverages in applicable sizes in glass, plastic or metal cans or bottles sold in Oregon to be returnable with a minimum refund value. The refund value was initially 5 cents until April 1, 2017, when it increased to 10 cents. The Oregon Legislature has given the Oregon Liquor Control Commission the authority to administer and enforce the Bottle Bill. Oregon Beverage Recycling Cooperative (OBRC), a private cooperative owned by retailers and beverage distributors, administers the collection and transportation of returned containers and keeps all the unclaimed deposits. Materials from returned containers are sold by the OBRC and proceeds are handed out to beverage distributors. In 2022, the bottle bill was expanded to include canned wine, which will become eligible for redemption on July 1, 2025.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Beer Store</span> Canadian beverage retailer

Brewers Retail Inc., doing business as The Beer Store, is a privately owned chain of retail outlets selling beer and other malt beverages in the province of Ontario, Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coca-Cola Amatil</span> Defunct Australian beverage company

Coca-Cola Amatil Limited (CCAL) was an Australian bottler of non-alcoholic beverages that existed from 1904 to 2021, when it merged with Coca-Cola European Partners to form Coca-Cola Europacific Partners. It was one of the largest bottlers of non-alcoholic ready-to-drink beverages in the Asia-Pacific region and one of the world's five major Coca-Cola bottlers. CCA operated in six countries—Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Fiji and Samoa. The company also bottled beer and coffee.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Container-deposit legislation</span> Return of beverage containers for refund

Container-deposit legislation is any law that requires the collection of a monetary deposit on beverage containers at the point of sale and/or the payment of refund value to the consumers. When the container is returned to an authorized redemption center, or retailer in some jurisdictions, the deposit is partly or fully refunded to the redeemer. It is a deposit-refund system.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reverse vending machine</span> Machine for recycling bottles and cans

A reverse vending machine (RVM) is a machine that allows a person to insert a used or empty glass bottle, plastic bottle, or aluminum can in exchange for a reward. After inserting the recyclable item, it is then compacted, sorted, and analyzed according to the number of ounces, materials, and brand using the universal product code on the bottle or can. Once the item has been scanned and approved, it is then crushed and sorted into the proper storage space for the classified material. Upon processing the item, the machine rewards people with incentives, such as cash or coupons.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Glass recycling</span> Processing of turning glass waste into usable products

Glass recycling is the processing of waste glass into usable products. Glass that is crushed or imploded and ready to be remelted is called cullet. There are two types of cullet: internal and external. Internal cullet is composed of defective products detected and rejected by a quality control process during the industrial process of glass manufacturing, transition phases of product changes and production offcuts. External cullet is waste glass that has been collected or reprocessed with the purpose of recycling. External cullet is classified as waste. The word "cullet", when used in the context of end-of-waste, will always refer to external cullet.

California Redemption Value (CRV), also known as California Refund Value, is a regulatory fee paid on recyclable beverage containers in the U.S. state of California. The fee was established by the California Beverage Container Recycling and Litter Reduction Act of 1986 and further extended to additional beverage types in California State Senate Bill No. 1013, signed into law on September 28, 2022 and taking effect on January 1, 2024; since 2010 the program has been administered by the Cal/EPA California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Recycling in Canada</span>

This article outlines the position and trends of recycling in Canada. Since the 1980s, most mid to large municipalities in most provinces have recycling programs, relying on curbside collection with either bins, boxes, or bags. These systems are not standardized, and the specific process differs for each province. Certain provinces have container-deposit systems in place for bottles, cans, and other beverage containers.

There is no national law in the United States that mandates recycling. State and local governments often introduce their own recycling requirements. In 2014, the recycling/composting rate for municipal solid waste in the U.S. was 34.6%. A number of U.S. states, including California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, Oregon, and Vermont have passed laws that establish deposits or refund values on beverage containers while other jurisdictions rely on recycling goals or landfill bans of recyclable materials.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blue box recycling system</span>

The blue box recycling system (BBRS) was initially a waste management system used by Canadian municipalities to collect source separated household waste materials for the purpose of recycling. The first full-scale community wide BBRS was implemented in 1983 by the waste management contractor Ontario Total Recycling Systems Ltd. for the City of Kitchener, Ontario. The blue box recycling system was implemented as part of the city's waste management procedures. The blue box system and variations of it remain in place in hundreds of cities around the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tennessee Bottle Bill</span>

The Tennessee Bottle Bill is citizen-supported container-deposit recycling legislation, which if enacted will place a 5-cent deposit on beverage containers sold in Tennessee. The bill applies to containers made of aluminum/bimetal, glass or any plastic, containing soft drinks, beer/malt beverages, carbonated or non-carbonated waters, plain or flavored waters, energy drinks, juices, iced teas or iced coffees. Milk/dairy, nutritional drinks and wine and spirits are not included in the program.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Container deposit legislation in the United States</span> Overview of the container deposit legislation in United States of America

There are ten states in the United States of America with container deposit legislation, popularly called "bottle bills" after the Oregon Bottle Bill, the first such legislation that was passed.

The Ontario Deposit Return Program (ODRP), also simply known as Bag it Back, is a regulation of the province of Ontario, Canada. Its purpose is to divert recyclable materials from landfill or low-quality recycling uses by charging a fee for each alcoholic beverage container sold in the province, and processing the material for re-use or other recycling activities once the containers are returned for a refund of the deposit fee. Customers forfeit the deposit fee if the container is not returned.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Container deposit legislation in Australia</span>

Container deposit legislation (CDL), also known as a container deposit scheme (CDS), is a scheme that was first implemented in South Australia in 1977 and over the decades has spread to the Northern Territory in 2012, New South Wales in 2017, the Australian Capital Territory in June 2018, Queensland in November 2018, Western Australia in October 2020 and Victoria in November 2023. The scheme is due to commence in the last remaining state of Tasmania in early 2024.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deposit-refund system</span> Surcharge refunded when part of a product is returned

A deposit-refund system (DRS), also known as deposit-return system, advance deposit fee or deposit-return scheme, is a surcharge on a product when purchased and a rebate when it is returned. A well-known example is when container deposit legislation mandates that a refund is given when reusable packaging is returned. A DRS is a market-based instrument to address externalities, similar to a pigovian tax, with the key difference that a DRS refunds the fee after the product is returned. This provides an incentive to consumers to properly dispose of a product.

The Massachusetts Bottle Bill is a container-deposit legislation dealing with recycling in the United States that originally passed in the U.S. state of Massachusetts in 1982 as the Beverage Container Recovery Law. Implemented in 1983, the law requires containers of carbonated beverages to be returnable with a minimum return value of $0.05. The bottle bill does not cover containers of non-carbonated beverages like water, tea, or sports drinks. The law also establishes the handling fee paid by distributors to redemption centers, $0.0325 per unit as of July 5, 2013, and to retailers $0.0225 per unit. As the number of non-deposit beverage containers has increased to represent over one-third of beverage containers sold, the Bottle Bill has no influence on these non-deposit containers, with the result that these containers are three times more likely to be found as litter in Massachusetts communities. Additional studies indicate that beverage containers covered by the state's container deposit system are redeemed at approximately 70% and another 9% are recycled via curbside programs. Conversely, containers that are not covered, such as bottled water, juices, and sports drinks, are recycled at approximately 25%.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of bottle recycling in the United States</span>

The history of bottle recycling in the United States has been characterized by four distinct stages. In the first stage, during the late 18th century and early 19th century, most bottles were reused or returned. When bottles were mass-produced, people started throwing them out, which led to the introduction of bottle deposits. However, during the second stage, after World War II, consumption patterns changed and nonreturnable containers became popular, which littered the environment. Some states implemented "bottle bills" that instituted deposits. The beverage-container industry first implemented private recycling programs and then pushed for municipal curbside recycling as an alternative to "bottle bills". More recently, PET bottles have largely replaced other materials. The United States used to be the front-runner when it came to recycling PET, but European countries have since outpaced the US.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ken Lyotier</span> Canadian social worker (1947–2021)

Kenneth Hugh Lyotier was a Canadian social worker who led recycling and community development initiatives in the Downtown Eastside neighborhood of Vancouver. He started the Vancouver-based social venture United We Can which provided opportunities for binners to bring in containers for deposit refunds. He was also a founder of the Binners Project in 2016.

References

  1. "Who is Encorp? | Encorp Pacific (Canada)". www.return-it.ca. Retrieved 2023-05-10.
  2. "Express Locations | Encorp Pacific (Canada)". return-it.ca. Retrieved 2024-07-07.
  3. "Section 1. Executive Summary | 2023 Encorp Annual Report". ar.return-it.ca. Retrieved 2024-07-07.
  4. "Deposit Changes as of Oct. 1st, 2020 | Encorp Pacific (Canada)". www.return-it.ca. Retrieved 2023-05-10.
  5. "Milk and plant-based beverages are part of the deposit system! | Encorp Pacific (Canada)". www.return-it.ca. Retrieved 2023-05-10.
  6. "Environmental Management Act: Recycling Regulation", Government of British Columbia, 7 October 2004, archived from the original on 17 June 2017, retrieved 31 December 2017
  7. 2008 Annual Report
  8. 2009 Annual Report
  9. 2010 Annual Report
  10. 2011 Annual Report
  11. 2012 Annual Report
  12. 2013 Annual Report
  13. 2014 Annual Report
  14. 2015 Annual Report
  15. 2016 Annual Report
  16. 2017 Annual Report
  17. 2018 Annual Report
  18. "2019 Encorp Annual Report". ar.return-it.ca. Retrieved 2023-05-10.
  19. "2020 Encorp Annual Report". ar.return-it.ca. Retrieved 2023-05-10.
  20. "2021 Encorp Annual Report". ar.return-it.ca. Retrieved 2023-05-10.
  21. "2022 Encorp Annual Report". ar.return-it.ca. Retrieved 2024-06-25.
  22. "2023 Encorp Annual Report". ar.return-it.ca. Retrieved 2024-07-07.