Industry/Stewardship Agencies: Non-alcoholic
beverage containers: Encorp (http://www.encorpinc.com/)
generates revenue for its stewardship program through unredeemed deposits,
recycling fees paid by brand owners, and revenues from the sale of recovered
materials. It charges brand owners a fee for service for each container
sold. The fee includes both a deposit and a recycling fee. Brand owners
pass these fees onto retailers (as part of the wholesale cost) who in
turn pass them onto consumers. Encorp calculates the recycling fees to
cover its costs for material management on a commodity-by-commodity basis,
taking into account unredeemed deposits and revenues from the sale of
recyclables.(11)
Encorp’s costs include handling fees paid to retailers and depots, deposit refunds paid to consumers, container transport and processing, and marketing and administration. Encorp is a non-profit organization, whose annual revenues must match its annual expenditures.
In 1998 British Columbia (B.C.) brand owners received Can$42.3 million
in revenue from container deposits and paid Encorp Can$44.5 million in
fees, for a net cost to brand owners of Can$2.2 million.(12)
Alcoholic beverage containers: The Liquor Distribution Branch
(LDB) generates revenue for its container recovery programs through unredeemed
deposits on the containers under its jurisdiction, small price increases
on products based on container type, handling fees paid by Brewers Distributor,
Ltd. (BDL) for BDL containers returned in the LDB system, service and
handling fees paid by brand owners for all alcoholic beverage containers
sold in the province, and revenue from sales of recovered materials.(13)
LDB reports these revenues do not cover the program costs. Remaining costs
are reflected in reduced profits of the LDB retail system.(14)
As of July 2000, LDB was conducting a study of the true costs of handling
each container stream in the expanded container deposit program. Once
this study is completed, LDB plans to incorporate the total costs of the
system in the retail prices of products sold in its stores.(15)
Brand owners pay the LDB approximately Can$4.1 million per year in fees.(16)
Provincial Government: B.C. has not performed
a detailed analysis of provincial government costs for oversight and enforcement
of its Beverage Container Stewardship Program (BCSP). All of the provincial
stewardship programs are under the jurisdiction of British Columbia’s
Ministry of Environment, Land and Parks (MELP, http://www.gov.bc.ca/elp/)
Pollution Prevention and Remediation Branch, Stewardship Unit. Dave Douglas,
the unit head, reports costs to be minimal. The unit employs four full-time
staff members to oversee B.C.’s BCSP and household hazardous waste
(HHW) Stewardship Programs.(17)
Local Governments: Local governments in
B.C. do not incur costs for the BCSP. In 1995 a study estimated costs
of an expanded deposit-return system. The study indicated B.C. communities
could reap Can$7 million in savings from avoided disposal costs.(18,19)
