Ontario is one of only two provinces in Canada without a Deposit Return System (DRS) for non-alcoholic beverage containers. As a result, its beverage recovery rate is estimated as 50% compared to 77% in British Columbia and 84% in Alberta in 2022. The Government has set 2030 recovery targets, as outlined in Ontario Regulation 391/21 under the Resource Recovery and Circular Economy Act, 2016. These targets include an 80% recovery target for non-alcoholic beverage containers.
In 2023, the Government of Ontario convened a cross-sectoral DRS working group. To facilitate discussions within the working group, the Canadian Beverage Association (CBA) commissioned Eunomia Research & Consulting to conduct comparative research on DRS programs and prepare six DRS scenarios to guide the development of an optimized DRS for Ontario. The study leveraged insights and best practices from global DRS programs and apply them to the Ontario context, ensuring an approach that aligns with industry interests and regulatory expectations. Eunomia’s research evaluated and compared DRS programs from Lithuania, Norway, Germany, Denmark, Finland, Oregon, British Columbia, and Quebec.