The Quebec Beverage Container Recycling Association (QBCRA) is the Designated Management Organization (DMO) for the development, implementation, finance and management of the modernized deposit system, in line with the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) principle. Its members are the various beverage producers involved in the recovery, reuse, recycling and reclamation of beverage containers in the province of Quebec. The QBCRA is responsible for implementing the modernized deposit system.
In the summer of 2022, the Ministry of the Environment, the Fight Against Climate Change, Wildlife and Parks enacted regulations to modernize the beverage container deposit system, in order to:
Develop and implement a deposit system with convenient and easily accessible drop-off points across the province to meet government recovery and recycling targets;
Set the value of the deposit at 0.25¢ for glass containers of 500 ml or more and at 0.10¢ for all other containers;
Assign management of the deposit system to a designated organization that will have financial, operational and communications responsibility for the system;
Allocate the costs of the system to the producers with the obligation to internalize the recovery costs in the retail price of the products;
Establish minimum requirements for accessibility of drop-off points on the territory (distance, number, etc.);
Establish reporting requirements.
The goals of the QBCRA in developing the future deposit system are to:
Manage the system in an efficient manner with the goal of minimizing its financial impact and ecological footprint for society;
Manage the system in an efficient manner with the goal of minimizing its financial impact and ecological footprint for society;
Identify channels that maximize the value of recovered materials according to the markets and potential outlets for these materials;
Allow the recovery of materials in the perspective of a circular economy and according to the principles of the 3R-RD hierarchy.