Deposit on beverage containers | Fewer return locations and new delays

(Montreal) Less than half of the modern return locations dedicated to returnable containers that were promised for the 1^er March by beverage manufacturers will finally be ready on time, which is raising fears among retailers and the Quebec government.

“We will not have 200 places to return to 1^er March,” declared Wednesday the president and CEO of the Quebec Association for the Recovery of Beverage Containers (AQRCB), Normand Bisson.

This is the first time that this organization created by stakeholders in the beverage industry to manage the expansion of the instructions adopted by the Legault government has recognized that it would not achieve the objective it had set itself. -even fixed.

The AQRCB planned to open 200 Consignaction and Consignaction+ branches, establishments dedicated exclusively to the return of returnable containers, in time for the extension of the deposit to glass containers, such as wine bottles, to multi-layer containers, used for milk, as well as all plastic containers that are not yet returnable, such as water bottles, which will come into force on 1^er March 2025.

Ultimately, only 95 branches could be ready by this date, indicated Normand Bisson, who presented to the media a branch recently opened in the borough of LaSalle, in Montreal, where the Minister of the Environment Benoit Charette had carried out a surprise visit in August.

Insufficient, says the minister

The AQRCB, which was entrusted in October 2022 with the management of the new deposit system, says it is currently working “in parallel” on the opening of 80 branches, which will be added to the existing 15, seven of which have opened their doors. in September.

“We are moving extremely quickly,” said Mr. Bisson, attributing the start-up delays to factors beyond his organization’s control, such as negotiating leases, obtaining permits for development work and carrying out these projects. works.

“Clearly, the pace of deployment is not fast enough,” reiterated Minister Charette.

“We are getting closer to 1^er March, we are at 15 places currently open, it is completely unacceptable,” he declared during a press scrum at the National Assembly, not ruling out returning the regulations to which the AQRCB is subject “more restrictive if necessary”.

In the longer term, the AQRCB still considers itself able to achieve its objective of 400 branches by the end of 2026; a senior manager of the organization recently stated in a publication on social networks that they were looking for premises “available very quickly” in the greater Montreal region and in Gatineau.

Fewer retailers

The number of return locations at retailers, which will be called the “Consignaction Zone”, will also be reduced.

The Legault government published on Wednesday a draft regulatory amendment which will notably increase the minimum total number of return locations for returnable containers from 1,500 to 1,200 from 1^er March 2025.

The number of 1,500 had been established based on a system based mainly on retailers, indicates Normand Bisson, who explains that it is ultimately the Consignaction and Consignaction+ branches which will absorb “the majority of the volume of returnable containers”.

Mr. Bisson assures that there is no contradiction in reducing the number of retailers who will take back returnable containers while his organization itself reduces the rate of opening of its specialized branches.

Difficult negotiations

The implementation of “Consignaction Zones” among retailers is also facing difficulties, five months before the deadline of 1^er March.

Discussions between the AQRCB and retailers are laborious, he told The Press a person who witnessed it, but was not authorized to speak about it publicly.

“Everyone is pulling in the boat,” this person illustrated, believing that it would be time to start “plugging the holes”.

“We still have to sort out the details of certain things, but we work really well with the retailer representatives,” assures the CEO of the AQRCB, an opinion that is not shared by his counterparts.

The information arrives “in dribs and drabs,” laments Samuel Bouchard-Villeneuve, director of public affairs for the Association of Food Retailers of Quebec (ADAQ).

No member of the ADAQ has yet been able to apply for a permit to carry out the work required for the development of its facilities, due to lack of information, he illustrates.

The AQRCB also did not want to say on Wednesday when it would make public its plan for deploying the network of places of return, as requested by Minister Charette.

“Our deployment plan is known,” Normand Bisson simply replied. He predicts that we will open as many return locations as possible for the 1^er March. »

With the collaboration of Charles Lecavalier, The Press