Consumers to pay a fee of one cent on aluminium cans under CBCRA’s proposed recycling scheme

For Ontario soda users who prefer canned to bottled pop, grocery expenses are set to increase even more, if only marginally, this spring. As per reports, starting from April 1, a group backed by some of Canada's biggest food and beverage companies" will begin charging residents of the province a new recycling fee, touted as the pop can tax or the Container Recycling Fee (CRF).

Consumers will start paying a fee of one cent on aluminium cans, two cents on small PET plastic bottles, and three cents on all other sealed, ready-to-drink non-alcoholic beverage containers in April under the CBCRA's proposed proposal. That covers everything from tetra packs to water in boxes to tomato juice in steel cans.

The Canadian Beverage Container Recycling Association (CBCRA), an industry-funded organisation with members from Coca-Cola, Tim Hortons, and bottling giant Refresco among others, on its board of directors, is the organisation behind the CRF.

"The container recycling fee (CRF) is charged to beverage producers by CBCRA. Producers have discretion over how or if it is passed along to retailers, and retailers have discretion on how or whether to pass on to consumers. If producers and retailers follow what has been done in other provinces, then the CRF will be reflected on checkout receipts beginning April 1, 2023," said CBCRA spokesperson Sheri Moerkerk.

The CBCRA also has plans to start a province-wide education and advertising effort about the new system and to install 250,000 recycling bins in municipal buildings across Ontario over the next five years.

Every time a non-alcoholic beverage is purchased, consumers across the province will be required to pay a new charge of one cent to three cents per container starting on April 1. The proposed fees come as customers struggle with record-high food costs, exorbitant loan rates, and severe inflation. They are part of a comprehensive restructuring of Ontario'sOntario's recycling system.

“It’s a complete and utter ridiculous move. And frankly, some even question whether or not it should be allowed. It’s a non-refundable fee. You can almost call it a tax,” said Clarissa Morawski, a Canadian environmental consultant.