Answers to Your Frequently Asked Questions

You will receive a refund of 25 cents for each container over 1 litre and 10 cents for those that are 1 litre and under.

Refund Amounts

• 10 cents
• Container Volume 1 Litre or Less

• 25 cents
• Container Volume More than 1 Litre

All ready to serve beverage containers that are sold in Alberta must be registered by the manufacturer with the Beverage Container Management Board (BCMB). Water, milk, juice, pop, alcoholic beverages and many other types of containers are eligible.

All “Registered” beverage containers are eligible for a deposit refund at an Alberta Depot. Depots do not accept soup, oil or other non-beverage product containers. It is illegal for a depot to give a refund for an unregistered beverage container. Unregistered containers are usually new or foreign beverage containers and are not eligible for a deposit refund. If you would like more information, contact your local depot or the Beverage Container Management Board.

Almost all beverages sold in Alberta are registered with the government and are eligible for a refund. The containers must be:

• Ready-to-serve drinks, including:
  • Beer (bottled in Canada or imported)
  • Wine and coolers
  • Spirits and other liquor
  • Pop (soft drinks)
  • Fruit and vegetable juice, or flavoured juices
  • Energy drinks
  • Water (pure or flavoured)
  • Milk (white or flavoured)
  • Rice and soy drinks (milk substitutes)
  • Cream and milk-based coffee creamers
  • Cannabis-infused drinks
• Sold in the province of Alberta
• Still wearing their product label and whole (not broken or cut in pieces)
• No smaller than 35 ml in size and no greater than 20 litres (20,000 ml) in size

Note: All ready-to-serve beverages sold in Alberta fall under the regulation and must be registered with the Beverage Container Management Board (BCMB) by the manufacturer. There are over 130,000 beverage containers registered in Alberta, and all are eligible for a refund when returned to a bottle depot. Depots do not accept soup, oil, infant milk formula or other non-beverage containers.

These beverages in any of the following types of containers are eligible for refund:

• Aluminum cans (for beer, pop, juice, and energy drinks)
• Other metal cans (for juice and other drinks)
• See-through plastic bottles (for pop, water, juice, liquor)
  • Also called “P.E.T.” plastic (PET: #1)
  • May be clear or coloured light blue, green, or brown
• Semi-transparent and solid plastic bottles, jugs, or cups (for milk and juice)
  • Includes “H.D.P.E.” plastic (HDPE: #2)
  • Includes other plastics
  • May be white, solid colours such as blue or orange, or translucent (semi-transparent)
• Beer bottles including:
  • The industry standard brown, re-fillable, long neck-bottle
  • Specialty refillable bottles such as Sleemans or Steam Whistle
  • Non-refillable glass bottles that are clear, green or non-standard sized brown
• Other glass bottles (for wine, liquor, and juice)
  • May be clear or coloured
• Polycoat containers (for juice, milk, cream, rice and soy drinks)
  • Includes Tetra Brik, plastic-coated and foil-lined cardboard
  • Includes plasticized cardboard, also known as “gabletop”
• Bag-in-a-box (for wine)
• Cardboard boxes with plastic liners and pouring spouts
• Plastic-foil pouches (for juice)

To check if a container is returnable, try entering the brand name or the UPC code in the BCMB Portal Search.

Please do not bring any of the following items to our bottle depot – there is no deposit for refund on any of these items, and we cannot recycle them. All of these items should be recycled from home in the City of Edmonton blue bag or your apartment recycling bin.

• Vegetable and cooking oil
• Lemon juice or food flavourings that are not a drinkable beverage
• Infant milk formula
• Any concentrated beverages that required addition of water before serving
• Petroleum-based coffee cream or flavourings
• Disposable coffee cups, and pop or smoothie cups from fast food outlets

For more information on how or where to recycle non-beverage food containers, plastic motor oil jugs, automotive products or anything else, please check with the City of Edmonton’s Recycling Program.

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