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6. Deposits, Refunds and Recovery Rates

6 Deposits, Refunds and Recovery Rates

  • Detailed statistics on the weight and number of containers recovered.
  • Summary of overall units recycled, and the per capita statistics.

6.1 Recycling By the Numbers

In 2022, we prevented over 1.2 billion containers from going to landfills. By doing so, we ensured that these containers were recycled into useful new materials and products, which is a huge positive for British Columbia’s environment.

1.2 Billion
Containers Collected
76.6 %
Recovery Rate
$ 127,248,042
Deposits Refunded
Slide the table left and right. (Scroll bar is below table.)
Container Type Containers Sold Containers Recovered % Recovery Rate
2022 2021 2022 2021 2022 2021
Aluminum 611,795,652 580,706,319 499,295,633 464,151,730 81.6% 79.9%
Plastic ≤ 1L 540,870,220 495,970,092 380,988,608 355,561,437 70.4% 71.7%
Plastic > 1L 118,634,905 69,542,066 109,900,695 55,530,802 92.6% 79.9%
Plastic Total 659,505,125 565,512,158 490,889,304 411,092,239 74.4% 72.7%
Glass 204,283,192 205,949,685 177,235,306 178,982,013 86.8% 86.9%
Drink Box 111,304,721 92,993,558 62,093,090 50,217,534 55.8% 54.0%
Gable Top 54,692,906 8,168,827 35,795,624 4,867,070 65.4% 59.6%
Bi-Metal 2,865,070 2,666,635 2,401,134 2,225,211 83.8% 83.4%
Bag-In-A-Box 4,415,226 4,700,707 2,153,248 2,245,101 48.8% 47.8%
Pouches 12,209,629 9,944,211 2,617,078 2,340,525 21.4% 23.5%
Totals 1,661,071,520 1,470,642,100 1,272,480,416 1,116,121,423 76.6% 75.9%

Note: Calculations may show slight variances due to rounding.

Recovery by Weight

In 2022, Encorp Pacific recovered 90,257 metric tonnes (Mt) of containers.

82.5%
2022 Recovery Rate by Weight
83.4%
2021 Recovery Rate by Weight
Slide the table left and right. (Scroll bar is below table.)
Type Estimated Weight of
Containers Sold
(Mt)
Estimated Weight of
Containers Recovered
(Mt)
Recovery
by Weight
%
Aluminum 8,448 6,895 81.6%
Plastic 22,988 17,962 78.1%
Glass 71,583 61,704 86.2%
Polycoat 5,030 3,004 59.7%
Pouches 68 15 21.4%
Bag-In-Box 1,033 504 48.8%
Bi-Metal 208 174 83.8%
Totals 109,357 90,257 82.5%

Note: Calculations may show slight variances due to rounding.

Encorp

6.2 Regional Per Capita Returns

Provincial Totals:
Units Returned 1,272,480,416
Weight Collected (Metric Tonnes) 90,257
Per Capita Units Returned 239.2
Per Capita Weight Collected (Kilograms) 17.0

Regional Breakdown:

Slide the table left and right. (Scroll bar is below table.)
Region Name   Aluminum Plastic Glass Polycoat Other Total Jan-Dec
2022
Per Capita
Jan-Dec
2021
Per Capita
Change to
Per Capita
Container Returns
Bulkley / Nechako Units
(000)
5,147 5,986 1,023 802 63 13,020 323.9 288.1 35.8 inc.
  Tonnes 71 208 357 24 5 665 16.53 kg 14.8 kg  
Cariboo Units
(000)
8,383 8,949 1,986 1,211 122 20,652 313.6 292.7 20.9 inc.
  Tonnes 116 324 698 36 11 1,185 17.99 kg 16.8 kg  
Central Coast Units
(000)
297 209 68 40 3 617 167.3 159.1 8.2 inc.
  Tonnes 4 8 24 1 0 37 10.11 kg 8.7 kg  
Fraser - Fort George Units
(000)
14,854 15,337 3,079 2,266 191 35,727 344.0 318.7 25.2 inc.
  Tonnes 205 563 1,076 67 14 1,926 18.54 kg 17.2 kg  
Kitimat - Stikine Units
(000)
5,767 6,208 966 933 66 13,939 341.0 291.0 49.9 inc.
  Tonnes 80 211 344 27 5 667 16.32 kg 14.6 kg  
Skeena - Queen Charlotte Units
(000)
2,699 2,786 587 331 43 6,446 329.3 306.5 22.8 inc.
  Tonnes 37 92 207 10 3 349 17.82 kg 17.0 kg  
Northern Rockies Units
(000)
551 865 89 73 4 1,582 323.6 305.5 18.1 inc.
  Tonnes 8 32 31 2 0 73 14.94 kg 12.8 kg  
Peace River Units
(000)
7,786 9,929 1,527 1,361 113 20,716 307.9 291.1 16.9 inc.
  Tonnes 108 359 536 41 6 1,049 15.59 kg 14.3 kg  
Capital Regional District Units
(000)
45,948 34,406 17,040 8,580 495 106,468 242.0 214.6 27.4 inc.
  Tonnes 634 1,286 5,924 271 63 8,178 18.59 kg 19.5 kg  
Cowichan Valley Units
(000)
12,865 10,110 4,045 1,687 178 28,885 311.4 282.9 28.5 inc.
  Tonnes 178 366 1,416 52 22 2,033 21.91 kg 22.6 kg  
Alberni / Clayoquot Units
(000)
5,674 4,747 1,658 737 70 12,885 369.5 343.8 25.7 inc.
  Tonnes 78 169 578 23 7 854 24.50 kg 24.6 kg  
Comox Units
(000)
8,574 6,421 3,123 1,430 118 19,665 260.5 246.0 14.5 inc.
  Tonnes 118 237 1,094 44 18 1,512 20.03 kg 21.4 kg  
Mount Waddington Units
(000)
2,140 1,823 434 256 20 4,673 392.7 364.4 28.4 inc.
  Tonnes 30 67 152 8 3 259 21.78 kg 20.0 kg  
Nanaimo Units
(000)
18,915 15,295 6,710 2,730 260 43,908 248.9 231.2 17.7 inc..
  Tonnes 261 540 2,356 84 37 3,279 18.59 kg 19.6 kg  
Strathcona Units
(000)
6,100 4,701 1,746 775 75 13,397 263.7 237.6 26.1 inc.
  Tonnes 84 175 609 24 10 902 17.75 kg 17.4 kg  
Greater Vancouver Units
(000)
209,597 225,305 83,738 51,526 3,452 573,618 201.8 176.5 25.3 inc.
  Tonnes 2,894 8,346 29,001 1,588 273 42,102 14.81 kg 14.9 kg  
Fraser Valley Units
(000)
35,306 37,315 9,380 6,287 514 88,802 257.0 226.9 30.1 inc.
  Tonnes 488 1,354 3,312 189 43 5,386 15.58 kg 14.9 kg  
Powell River Units
(000)
2,736 2,022 900 414 42 6,114 282.4 257.0 25.4 inc.
  Tonnes 38 74 320 13 7 451 20.84 kg 21.6 kg  
Squamish - Lillooet Units
(000)
5,563 4,329 3,010 913 59 13,873 278.9 260.1 18.8 inc.
  Tonnes 77 160 1,041 28 6 1,311 26.35 kg 29.7 kg  
Sunshine Coast Units
(000)
3,459 2,222 1,943 632 56 8,311 247.5 232.1 15.4 inc.
  Tonnes 48 83 675 20 9 835 24.87 kg 28.3 kg  
Central Okanagan Units
(000)
25,880 25,146 10,547 4,282 287 66,141 280.9 249.0 31.9 inc.
  Tonnes 357 926 3,674 131 38 5,127 21.77 kg 22.1 kg  
North Okanagan Units
(000)
12,231 12,043 4,151 1,990 158 30,572 322.1 301.6 20.5 inc.
  Tonnes 169 426 1,453 61 20 2,129 22.43 kg 23.2 kg
Okanagan - Similkameen Units
(000)
11,854 11,933 5,184 1,773 179 30,921 337.0 315.9 21.1 inc.
  Tonnes 164 437 1,806 54 25 2,486 27.09 kg 29.6 kg  
Columbia Shuswap Units
(000)
7,598 6,795 2,778 1,163 99 18,434 313.1 293.0 20.1 inc.
  Tonnes 105 246 975 35 13 1,374 23.33 kg 23.8 kg  
Thompson - Nicola Units
(000)
20,181 20,716 5,654 2,965 286 49,802 331.2 296.5 34.7 inc.
  Tonnes 279 718 1,989 89 27 3,101 20.63 kg 19.3 kg  
Central Kootenay Units
(000)
7,242 5,087 2,437 1,093 87 15,946 246.2 220.5 25.7 inc.
  Tonnes 100 188 853 33 11 1,185 18.30 kg 18.6 kg  
East Kootenay Units
(000)
8,120 7,103 2,401 1,049 82 18,756 278.1 267.9 10.1 inc.
  Tonnes 112 249 846 32 9 1,249 18.51 kg 19.6 kg  
Kootenay Boundary Units
(000)
3,829 3,103 1,034 592 52 8,610 252.6 242.3 10.4 inc.
  Tonnes 53 116 361 18 7 554 16.26 kg 16.8 kg  
Total Units Units
(000)
499,296 490,890 177,235 97,889 7,172 1,272,481 239.2 214.0 25.2 inc.
Total Weight Tonnes 6,894 17,962 61,704 3,004 692 90,257 17.0 kg 17.1 kg  

Note: Calculations may show slight variances due to rounding.