06 Deposits, Refunds and Recovery Rates

6.1 Recycling by the Numbers

In 2024, Encorp prevented 1.367 billion containers from going to landfills. By doing so, Encorp ensured that these containers were sent to be recycled into useful new materials and products, which positively impacts British Columbia’s environment.

1.367 Billion

Containers Collected

78.3 %

Recovery Rate

$ 136,729,692

Deposits Refunded

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Container Type	Containers Sold		Containers Recovered		% Recovery Rate
	2024	2023	2024	2023	2024	2023
Aluminum	671,317,334	635,187,798	552,345,694	534,060,041	82.3%	84.1%
Plastic ≤ 1L	538,000,647	557,924,167	418,448,837	438,673,973	77.8%	78.6%
Plastic > 1L	140,485,888	135,524,092	121,454,603	106,164,738	86.5%	78.3%
Plastic Total	678,486,535	693,448,259	539,903,440	544,838,711	79.6%	78.6%
Glass	190,004,599	195,642,219	166,422,568	175,891,915	87.6%	89.9%
Drink Boxes	120,518,770	115,150,241	58,265,864	67,651,998	48.3%	58.8%
Gable Top Cartons	71,817,821	72,966,559	43,520,605	45,756,471	60.6%	62.7%
Bi-Metal	3,576,470	2,990,711	2,839,389	2,351,812	79.4%	78.6%
Bag-In-A-Box	3,990,919	4,134,591	2,230,834	2,241,884	55.9%	54.2%
Pouches	7,476,877	7,182,510	1,768,531	2,368,736	23.7%	33.0%
Totals	1,747,189,325	1,726,702,889	1,367,296,925	1,375,161,566	78.3%	79.6%

Note: Calculations may show slight variances due to rounding.

Recovery by Weight

83.6%

2024 Recovery Rate by Weight

85.0%

2023 Recovery Rate by Weight

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Type	Estimated Weight of Containers Sold (Mt)	Estimated Weight of Containers Recovered (Mt)	Recovery by Weight %
Aluminum	8,660	7,125	82.3%
Plastic	22,509	18,325	81.4%
Glass	66,291	58,063	87.6%
Polycoat	5,936	3,187	53.7%
Pouches	42	10	23.7%
Bag-In-Box	933	522	55.9%
Bi-Metal	260	206	79.4%
Totals	104,631	87,438	83.6%

Note: Calculations may show slight variances due to rounding.

Encorp

6.2 Regional Per Capita Returns

Provincial Totals:
Units Returned	1,367,296,925
Weight Collected (Metric Tonnes)	87,438
Per Capita Units Returned	239.9
Per Capita Weight Collected (Kilograms)	15.3

Regional Breakdown:

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Region Name		Aluminum	Plastic	Glass	Polycoat	Other	Total	Jan-Dec 2024 Per Capita	Jan-Dec 2023 Per Capita	Change to Per Capita Container Returns
Bulkley / Nechako	Units(000)	5,545	5,667	922	783	47	12,964	328.9	369.5	(40.6) dec.
	Tonnes	72	194	322	24	5	617	15.64 kg	17.0 kg
Cariboo	Units(000)	9,053	9,950	2,016	1,206	102	22,326	334.2	325.8	8.5 inc.
	Tonnes	117	344	703	37	12	1,213	18.16 kg	18.1 kg
Central Coast	Units(000)	512	459	75	59	3	1,107	275.3	218.6	56.7 inc.
	Tonnes	7	15	26	2	0	50	12.42 kg	10.5 kg
Fraser - Fort George	Units(000)	15,811	15,655	2,865	2,213	156	36,700	345.4	360.2	(14.8) dec.
	Tonnes	204	541	1,000	67	15	1,827	17.20 kg	18.0 kg
Kitimat - Stikine	Units(000)	6,116	5,945	919	807	53	13,840	334.0	348.9	(14.9) dec.
	Tonnes	79	199	321	25	5	628	15.17 kg	15.6 kg
Skeena - Queen Charlotte	Units(000)	2,768	2,726	507	321	32	6,354	333.1	330.7	2.4 inc.
	Tonnes	36	87	177	10	3	312	16.37 kg	16.5 kg
Northern Rockies	Units(000)	667	1,149	97	88	5	2,006	432.2	392.1	40.1 inc.
	Tonnes	9	40	34	3	0	85	18.35 kg	16.7 kg
Peace River	Units(000)	8,200	10,423	1,430	1,302	81	21,436	318.2	315.7	2.5 inc.
	Tonnes	106	360	499	40	6	1,011	15.01 kg	15.0 kg
Capital Regional District	Units(000)	50,987	38,705	15,557	9,355	514	115,117	250.1	255.9	(5.9) dec.
	Tonnes	658	1,352	5,428	298	65	7,800	16.95 kg	18.0 kg
Cowichan Valley	Units(000)	14,050	10,788	3,560	1,858	154	30,410	319.2	315.4	3.8 inc.
	Tonnes	181	362	1,242	58	22	1,865	19.58 kg	19.8 kg
Alberni / Clayoquot	Units(000)	6,038	4,832	1,524	734	53	13,181	363.9	351.1	12.8 inc.
	Tonnes	78	164	532	23	7	804	22.19 kg	21.2 kg
Comox	Units(000)	9,465	6,881	2,923	1,565	129	20,963	264.4	270.0	(5.6) dec.
	Tonnes	122	240	1,020	49	19	1,450	18.29 kg	18.9 kg
Mount Waddington	Units(000)	2,183	1,828	409	253	17	4,690	411.0	400.8	10.1 inc.
	Tonnes	28	63	143	8	3	244	21.40 kg	20.5 kg
Nanaimo	Units(000)	20,798	16,334	6,260	2,963	235	46,591	250.3	253.0	(2.6) dec.
	Tonnes	268	544	2,184	93	37	3,126	16.80 kg	17.6 kg
Strathcona	Units(000)	6,470	4,960	1,575	792	70	13,867	269.4	265.0	4.4 inc.
	Tonnes	83	172	550	25	11	841	16.34 kg	16.3 kg
Greater Vancouver	Units(000)	233,870	254,513	79,328	53,331	3,412	624,453	200.9	204.3	(3.5) dec.
	Tonnes	3,017	8,483	27,677	1,670	302	41,149	13.24 kg	14.3 kg
Fraser Valley	Units(000)	38,191	40,806	8,832	6,347	455	94,630	261.0	268.0	(7.0) dec.
	Tonnes	493	1,416	3,081	196	48	5,234	14.43 kg	14.8 kg
Powell River	Units(000)	2,953	2,117	794	441	36	6,341	275.0	287.3	(12.3) dec.
	Tonnes	38	73	277	14	6	408	17.70 kg	19.5 kg
Squamish - Lillooet	Units(000)	6,749	5,293	2,894	1,089	58	16,083	285.0	278.8	6.2 inc.
	Tonnes	87	188	1,010	35	6	1,326	23.50 kg	23.6 kg
Sunshine Coast	Units(000)	3,844	2,436	1,777	536	55	8,647	247.3	250.5	(3.1) dec.
	Tonnes	50	85	620	17	9	781	22.33 kg	23.1 kg
Central Okanagan	Units(000)	30,051	27,935	10,217	4,717	312	73,231	290.9	385.6	(94.7) dec.
	Tonnes	388	977	3,565	148	44	5,120	20.34 kg	23.7 kg
North Okanagan	Units(000)	13,329	12,351	3,694	1,983	128	31,485	315.5	327.8	(12.3) dec.
	Tonnes	172	426	1,289	62	18	1,967	19.71 kg	21.2 kg
Okanagan - Similkameen	Units(000)	12,621	12,182	4,714	1,803	155	31,474	335.1	335.9	(0.7) dec.
	Tonnes	163	422	1,645	57	24	2,310	24.60 kg	25.2 kg
Columbia Shuswap	Units(000)	8,094	6,986	2,587	1,085	78	18,830	301.8	312.1	(10.3) dec.
	Tonnes	104	238	903	34	12	1,291	20.69 kg	21.6 kg
Thompson - Nicola	Units(000)	22,363	21,708	5,345	3,166	268	52,850	332.7	339.4	(6.8) dec.
	Tonnes	288	750	1,865	98	27	3,029	19.06 kg	19.7 kg
Central Kootenay	Units(000)	8,021	5,715	2,265	1,158	89	17,249	251.0	258.6	(7.6) dec.
	Tonnes	103	197	790	36	12	1,139	16.58 kg	17.6 kg
East Kootenay	Units(000)	9,360	8,132	2,364	1,246	93	21,195	292.2	294.7	(2.5) dec.
	Tonnes	121	272	825	39	13	1,269	17.50 kg	18.5 kg
Kootenay Boundary	Units(000)	4,240	3,429	973	585	51	9,278	262.4	265.1	(2.7) dec.
	Tonnes	55	119	340	19	7	539	15.25 kg	15.6 kg
Total Units	Units(000)	552,346	539,904	166,422	101,787	6,839	1,367,297	239.9	249.2	(9.2) dec.
Total Weight	Tonnes	7,125	18,325	58,063	3,187	738	87,438	15.3 kg	16.4 kg

Note: Calculations may show slight variances due to rounding.