1 Executive Summary
Encorp Pacific (Canada), better known as Return-ItTM, is the not-for-profit stewardship agency appointed to fulfill the requirements of the Recycling Regulation, Schedule 1, Beverage Container Product Category (BC Reg. 449/2004). The Encorp Stewardship Plan includes all ready-to-drink beverage containers sold in British Columbia as identified under Schedule 1 of the Recycling Regulation such as aluminum cans, plastic, glass, bi-metal, drink boxes, gable tops, bag-in-a-box, drink pouches as well as non-refillable bottles on behalf of appointed producers.
2022 Recovery Rate
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2022 Awareness Level
95.0% 99.0% Public education materials and strategies
Consumer awareness levels are measured through annual benchmark studies conducted by a third-party market researcher. The methodology and sample sizes are representative of the Province and statistically accurate to a margin of +/- 5%. The studies track changes over time and provide valuable information and consumer trends. See Research and Segmentation Analysis
In addition to the benchmark study, Return-It conducts a Segmentation Analysis to better understand consumer behaviour and identify target audiences particularly around throw away the behaviour of each target group.
A multi-million dollar, year-round, province-wide, multi-pronged consumer awareness campaign with strategic action plans and activities resulted in a net consumer awareness level of 99%.
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2022 Access Level
97.0% 99.2% Depots Express & GO Express Plus 163 12 2 
2022 Awareness of Locations
90.0% 95.0% Collection system and facilities
The Return-It network consists of independently owned and operated Return-It depot collection facilities that have collection agreements with Encorp, as well as corporate Return-It Express PlusTM locations and Express & GOTM unstaffed stations, and return to retail locations.
The Express system provides a superior level of consumer convenience by removing the need for customers to sort their containers and wait in line for the refund. Customers just tag their bags, drop them off and are on their way within minutes. Express & GO are unstaffed solar-powered drop-off stations with extended hours and contactless service where consumers are still able to benefit from the ease and convenience of Express. Express Plus is Encorp’s flagship location, offering a convenient and cashless way to recycle used beverage containers and other small household items. There are a total of 94 Express locations including 12 Express & GO stations and 2 Express Plus locations in BC.
99.2% of BC’s population has access to a beverage container return facility, compared to the target in our Stewardship Plan of 97%. This target is based on an independent third-party study conducted by Licker Geospatial, and exceeds the current Stewardship Agencies of British Columbia (SABC) accessibility standard.
The awareness of locations are also to be measured using the same market research study and methodology as system awareness.
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Plan Target 2022 Result
6.0% 25.0% Product environmental impact reduction, reusability and recyclability
Encorp’s activities in 2022 contributed to the avoidance of about 123.5 thousand tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) being released into the atmosphere, compared to 110.2 thousand tonnes in 2021.
Encorp will track and report on the following: Metric weight of materials diverted from landfill; Energy savings by material type; GHG emissions and MT-CO2, equivalent avoided; End fate of each material type; GHG reduction target performance against the baseline.
Reference Section 5
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Pollution prevention hierarchy and product/component management
Containers collected by Encorp in 2022 were shipped to recyclers for further processing into new material in accordance with Section 8 of the Recycling Regulation.
See End Fate information in Section 5.2
Product sold and collected and recovery rate
The Stewardship Plan outlines the recovery rate targets for the five-year term. Each term consists of a full year of sales and recovery rate data starting January 1st. The current five-year targets were approved on September 1, 2021.
| Total Sales in units | 1,661,071,520 |
|---|---|
| Total Product Collected in units | 1,272,480,416 |
| Recovery Rate | 76.6% |
| Provincial Per Capita Recovery | 239.2 units |
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Aluminum 81.6% 79.9% -
Glass 86.8% 86.9% -
Plastic ≤ 1L 70.4% 71.7% -
Plastic > 1L 92.6% 79.9% -
Drink Boxes 55.8% 54.0% -
Bag in Box 48.8% 47.8% -
B-metal 83.8% 83.4% -
Gable Top 65.4% 59.6% -
Pouches 21.4% 23.5%
Summary of deposits, refunds, revenues and expenses
A refundable deposit and a non-refundable variable container recycling fee (CRF) is paid on every ready-to-drink beverage container sold in BC. Unclaimed deposits are used to fund the system. When the revenue from unclaimed deposits and from the sales of collected material are insufficient to cover the cost of recovering and recycling a specific container type, a non-refundable container recycling fee is added at the time of sale to make up for the shortfall.
| Deposits Collected | $166,107,152 |
|---|---|
| Refunds Issued | $127,248,042 |
| Total Revenue | $259,353,000 |
| Total Expenses | $245,903,055 |
