06 Deposits, Refunds and Recovery Rates

6.1 Recycling by the Numbers

In 2025, Encorp prevented 1.392 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.

1.392 Billion

Containers Collected

78.5 %

Recovery Rate

$ 139,236,749

Deposits Refunded

Slide the table left and right. (Scroll bar is below table.)

Container Type	Containers Sold		Containers Recovered		% Recovery Rate
	2025	2024	2025	2024	2025	2024
Aluminum	721,677,565	671,317,334	588,127,674	552,345,694	81.5%	82.3%
Plastic ≤ 1L	539,329,040	538,000,647	407,962,471	418,448,837	75.6%	77.8%
Plastic > 1L	135,096,667	140,485,888	126,952,304	121,454,603	94.0%	86.5%
Plastic Total	674,425,707	678,486,535	534,914,775	539,903,440	79.3%	79.6%
Glass	178,924,240	190,004,599	159,640,710	166,422,568	89.2%	87.6%
Ceramics	14,245	—	5,796	—	40.7%	—
Drink Boxes	117,813,681	120,518,770	59,864,069	58,265,864	50.8%	48.3%
Gable Top Cartons	68,479,312	71,817,821	43,868,051	43,520,605	64.1%	60.6%
Bi-Metal	2,835,861	3,576,470	2,499,034	2,839,389	88.1%	79.4%
Bag-In-A-Box	3,795,488	3,990,919	2,141,200	2,230,834	56.4%	55.9%
Pouches	6,230,065	7,476,877	1,300,384	1,768,531	20.9%	23.7%
Totals	1,774,196,165	1,747,189,325	1,392,361,693	1,367,296,925	78.5%	78.3%

Note: Calculations may show slight variances due to rounding.

Recovery by Weight

84.7%

2025 Recovery Rate by Weight

83.6%

2024 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	9,837	8,016	81.5%
Plastic	20,920	17,399	83.2%
Glass	61,142	54,542	89.2%
Polycoat	6,885	4,001	58.1%
Pouches	42	9	20.8%
Bag-In-A-Box	869	490	56.4%
Bi-Metal	141	124	88.1%
Ceramics	23	9	40.8%
Totals	99,857	84,590	84.7%

Note: Calculations may show slight variances due to rounding.

Encorp

6.2 Regional Per Capita Returns

Provincial Totals:
Units Returned	1,392,361,693
Weight Collected (Metric Tonnes)	84,590
Per Capita Units Returned	244.4
Per Capita Weight Collected (Kilograms)	14.8

Regional Breakdown:

Slide the table left and right. (Scroll bar is below table.)

Region Name		Aluminum	Plastic	Glass	Polycoat	Other	Total	Jan-Dec 2025 Per Capita	Jan-Dec 2024 Per Capita	Change to Per Capita Container Returns
Bulkley/Nechako	Units(000)	5,664	5,389	877	778	47	12,754	323.1	328.9	(5.8) dec.
	Tonnes	77	170	299	28	5	579	14.67	15.6 kg
Cariboo	Units(000)	9,694	9,948	1,765	1,181	90	22,678	338.5	334.2	4.2 inc.
	Tonnes	132	313	603	45	11	1,105	16.49	18.2 kg
Central Coast	Units(000)	510	389	76	53	3	1,030	260.1	275.3	(15.2) dec.
	Tonnes	7	12	26	2	0	48	12.01	12.4 kg
Fraser – Fort George	Units(000)	16,061	15,025	2,619	2,179	126	36,011	334.6	345.4	(10.9) dec.
	Tonnes	219	474	895	78	13	1,678	15.59	17.2 kg
Kitimat – Stikine	Units(000)	6,382	5,853	863	772	46	13,916	328.0	334.0	(6.0) dec.
	Tonnes	87	185	295	28	5	599	14.12	15.2 kg
Skeena – Queen Charlotte	Units(000)	3,160	2,882	488	349	27	6,905	360.9	333.1	27.8 inc.
	Tonnes	43	91	167	12	2	315	16.47	16.4 kg
Northern Rockies	Units(000)	649	857	97	68	4	1,675	356.5	432.2	(75.7) dec.
	Tonnes	9	27	33	3	0	72	15.34	18.3 kg
Peace River	Units(000)	8,757	10,241	1,394	1,278	70	21,740	320.4	318.2	2.2 inc.
	Tonnes	119	323	476	48	5	971	14.31	15.0 kg
Capital Regional District	Units(000)	54,255	38,227	15,099	9,211	444	117,236	252.6	250.1	2.5 inc.
	Tonnes	739	1,219	5,159	374	55	7,547	16.26	16.9 kg
Cowichan Valley	Units(000)	15,453	11,164	3,433	1,874	147	32,071	334.7	319.2	15.5 inc.
	Tonnes	211	350	1,173	72	20	1,826	19.06	19.6 kg
Alberni/Clayoquot	Units(000)	6,342	4,854	1,445	727	44	13,412	369.4	363.9	5.5 inc.
	Tonnes	86	151	494	28	6	766	21.09	22.2 kg
Comox	Units(000)	10,326	7,007	2,823	1,593	98	21,847	272.7	264.4	8.3 inc.
	Tonnes	141	223	965	63	15	1,407	17.56	18.3 kg
Mount Waddington	Units(000)	2,251	1,836	384	253	15	4,738	417.5	411.0	6.5 inc.
	Tonnes	31	58	131	10	2	231	20.39	21.4 kg
Nanaimo	Units(000)	22,182	16,353	6,047	3,035	210	47,827	254.9	250.3	4.5 inc.
	Tonnes	302	521	2,066	118	32	3,040	16.20	16.8 kg
Strathcona	Units(000)	6,794	4,971	1,527	820	61	14,172	273.3	269.4	3.9 inc.
	Tonnes	93	158	522	32	9	813	15.69	16.3 kg
Greater Vancouver	Units(000)	249,803	254,152	75,324	55,503	3,008	637,790	206.6	200.9	5.7 inc.
	Tonnes	3,405	8,513	25,737	2,142	245	40,042	12.97	13.2 kg
Fraser Valley	Units(000)	40,547	40,297	8,457	6,456	380	96,138	260.4	261.0	(0.6) dec.
	Tonnes	553	1,277	2,890	240	41	5,000	13.54	14.4 kg
Powell River	Units(000)	3,168	2,094	746	429	35	6,472	280.9	275.0	5.9 inc.
	Tonnes	43	67	255	17	6	388	16.83	17.7 kg
Squamish - Lillooet	Units(000)	7,217	5,143	3,300	913	54	16,627	293.8	285.0	8.8 inc.
	Tonnes	98	164	1,128	37	5	1,431	25.30	23.5 kg
Sunshine Coast	Units(000)	4,106	2,379	1,777	564	52	8,808	249.0	247.3	1.6 inc.
	Tonnes	56	76	583	24	8	747	21.12	22.3 kg
Central Okanagan	Units(000)	31,839	27,001	9,894	4,673	258	73,664	289.3	290.9	(1.6) dec.
	Tonnes	434	856	3,381	179	37	4,886	19.19	20.3 kg
North Okanagan	Units(000)	14,313	12,266	3,624	2,012	116	32,330	322.8	315.5	7.4 inc.
	Tonnes	195	388	1,238	77	17	1,916	19.13	19.7 kg
Okanagan - Similkameen	Units(000)	13,498	11,961	4,527	1,845	144	31,975	339.0	335.1	3.8 inc.
	Tonnes	184	378	1,547	72	22	2,203	23.36	24.6 kg
Columbia Shuswap	Units(000)	8,723	6,936	2,517	1,137	76	19,389	308.8	301.8	7.0 inc.
	Tonnes	119	220	860	44	11	1,254	19.97	20.7 kg
Thompson - Nicola	Units(000)	23,634	21,013	5,105	3,110	195	53,057	335.7	332.7	3.0 inc.
	Tonnes	322	663	1,744	114	24	2,867	18.14	19.1 kg
Central Kootenay	Units(000)	8,601	5,479	2,169	1,162	80	17,491	255.0	251.0	4.0 inc.
	Tonnes	117	174	741	45	10	1,088	15.86	16.6 kg
East Kootenay	Units(000)	9,742	7,931	2,386	1,156	68	21,284	292.0	292.2	(0.2) dec.
	Tonnes	133	246	815	46	9	1,249	17.13	17.5 kg
Kootenay Boundary	Units(000)	4,458	3,267	960	602	46	9,332	262.8	262.4	0.4 inc.
	Tonnes	61	104	328	23	6	522	14.70	15.3 kg
Total Units	Units(000)	588,128	534,915	159,653	103,732	5,941	1,392,368	244.4	239.9	4.4 inc.
Total Weight	Tonnes	8,016	17,399	54,552	4,001	623	84,590	14.8 kg	15.3

Note: Calculations may show slight variances due to rounding.

6.3 Refillable Milk Annual Reporting 2025

Select dairy producers using refillable glass bottles for milk have appointed Encorp Pacific (Canada) to fulfill some annual reporting requirements in compliance with the British Columbia Recycling Regulation. Encorp has not been appointed as their agent to fulfill all regulatory requirements of the BC Recycling Regulation.

Dairy producers that sell milk in refillable glass bottles establish their own deposit values to encourage the return and reuse of bottles. Deposit amounts typically range from $1.50 to $2.75, depending on the producer and bottle size.

These refillable glass bottles are not part of the Return-It deposit system. Instead, they operate through independent collection and refill programs managed by the dairies.

2025 Performance Summary

Slide the table left and right. (Scroll bar is below table.)

DAIRY PRODUCER GROUP	RECOVERY RATE	RECOVERY TOTAL SALES (UNITS)	TOTAL COLLECTED (UNITS)	DEPOSITS COLLECTED	REFUNDS ISSUED
All Producers	83.6%	3,191,599	2,666,659	$5,721,751.25	$4,785,519.50

Note: Data is reported based on information submitted by the dairies listed below. Encorp has not independently audited or third-party verified the reported data.

Bottle Return Process

After consumption, cleaned bottles can be returned to the original store of purchase or any retailer that carries the same brand for sale. Consumers receive a refund of the deposit upon return of undamaged bottles.

Return Locations

For a list of participating retailers and to receive deposit refunds, visit:

Avalon Dairy: https://avalondairy.com/where/
Cowichan Milk Company: https://www.cowichanmilk.ca/retail-locations
D Dutchman Dairy: https://dutchmendairy.ca/retail-locations/

Reuse and Recycling

Returned bottles are transported back to the dairies, where they are cleaned, sterilized and refilled with fresh milk. Bottles that are damaged and unsuitable for reuse are sent to local glass recyclers for processing.