The recent closure of multiple Beer Store locations in Ottawa is creating a ripple effect, forcing residents to abandon the traditional deposit return system and toss their empty alcohol containers into blue recycling bins instead. This shift is raising significant questions about the future of Ontario's long-standing bottle return program and the environmental efficiency of recycling these materials.
Resident Frustration Highlights Systemic Issue
Sandy Hill resident Benjamin Dennie embodies the growing frustration. As a student with a part-time job, he finds it increasingly impractical to return his empties for a deposit refund. "It's become so difficult," Dennie stated. "I don't always have the time to go across the city just to go and return my empties." His solution—disposing of bottles and cans in the blue bin—is becoming more common, but it's not an ideal one for the recycling stream.
This trend comes after five Beer Store locations shuttered in Ottawa this year alone. The closures followed the provincial government's decision last year to expand beer and alcohol sales to grocery stores, corner stores, and gas stations, which altered the retail landscape.
New Agreements and Grocery Store Roles
In response to the changing landscape, a new agreement is taking shape. Ontario grocery stores have recently agreed in principle for the Beer Store to collect empty alcohol containers on their behalf and refund customer deposits. This arrangement means grocery stores with alcohol licenses would no longer be required to accept returns themselves.
Initially, these grocers were supposed to start accepting empties in January, with stores located more than five kilometres from a Beer Store already mandated to take returns. Under the new plan, grocers can opt to pay the Beer Store to manage the deposit return system for them, potentially reducing the incentive to set up in-store return counters.
Beer Store communications manager Bradley Hammond confirmed the agreement is being finalized, noting that "some grocery retailers may choose to offer deposit return services directly."
Future Accessibility and Provincial Commitments
A key concern is maintaining reasonable access to return points. Progressive Conservative MPP Bill Rosenberg stated the agreement includes a commitment from the Beer Store to ensure a deposit return point within 10 kilometres of the "vast majority" of Ontarians.
However, the future of the store network remains uncertain. Under the province's 2024 agreement with the Beer Store, the vendor must keep at least 300 locations open until the end of 2025. A significant change comes after that date: beginning in 2026, the Beer Store can close stores at its "sole and absolute discretion."
The Beer Store has operated a deposit return program for its own products since 1927 and for all packaged alcohol since 2007. The system is designed so returned containers can be either refilled or recycled, a process generally considered more effective than single-stream blue bin recycling for these materials.
The current situation leaves residents like Dennie caught in the middle, facing a choice between forfeiting their deposit or contributing to a potentially less effective recycling process, all while the system designed to handle these containers undergoes a fundamental transformation.
