As Ontario Beer Stores close, returning empties gets harder

Many Ontario Beer Stores will close this fall, leaving drinkers asking: where can they return their empty bottles and cans? Heather Wright finds out.

There are concerns about the future of Ontario’s bottle deposit and return program as more of The Beer Store locations shut down, leaving consumers with a dwindling number of convenient options to return their empties.

“Where are those people going to get their money back? They’re not going to drive an hour to a Beer Store,” says John Knock, president of local 12R24 of the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW), which represents the roughly 6,000 Beer Store workers. “The environmental impact is going to be huge if something isn’t put in place.”

By the end of this year, The Beer Store will have closed more than 100 locations with more expected to be on the chopping block in 2026.

The Beer Store, which is owned by international brewing companies, once enjoyed a monopoly on beer sales in Ontario, but now faces competition from grocers and convenience stores which are now permitted to sell beer, wine and other alcoholic beverages.

“There are more points of sale to buy it, but what’s going to happen with the recycling and the empties,” Knock asked.

Currently, most grocery and convenience stores do not accept empties, but that will change on Jan. 1 when grocery stores larger than 4,000 square feet will be required to accept returns and provide deposits as a condition of keeping their liquor licence.

It’s not clear if grocery stores will agree to that requirement or if it will even be enforced.

Right now, roughly 70 grocery stores located more than five kilometres away from a Beer Store have been required to take empties since last fall but only a handful are complying. Some major grocers have indicated they’d rather give up their licence to sell alcohol than collect empties.

“Given the cost and operational complexities of managing alcohol returns, some retailers are reassessing whether it remains viable to continue selling alcohol,” says Michael Zabaneh, the vice-president of sustainability at the Retail Council of Canada, which responded on behalf of Loblaws, Sobeys and Metro. Zabaneh notes the health and safety requirements of processing thousands of empties, noting “retail settings are not designed to accommodate bulk returns of alcohol containers.”

According to The Beer Store, more than 1.6 billion empties were returned to its locations last year which are purpose built to accept and process the bottles and cans. But with fewer locations, some consumers may be reluctant to go out of their way to recoup their deposits, typically ten cents for a can and twenty cents for a bottle.

For some, it’s an inconvenience but for others, it’s a worry.

“So, when all of these are going to be closed, where are we supposed to bring our cans?” asked Sandy, a woman returning empties to The Beer Store location on Bathurst St. in Toronto, who collects empties to supplement her old age security.

“By the time you pay your rent and other bills, I am lucky if I end up with $140 dollars for the month,” she says. “This is really helpful for us.”

The province did not directly respond to a question about whether it would scrap the requirement for grocery stores to accept returns but praised the Ontario Deposit Return Program (ODRP).

“The ODRP supports high recovery rates, reduces litter, and helps to keep costs down for consumers by supporting the efficient drop off and collection of alcoholic containers,” said Scott Blodgett, media relations advisor with the Ontario Ministry of Finance. Blodgett added that “The Beer Store will continue to run the effective and efficient provincewide recycling program for alcoholic beverage containers until at least 2031 as part of a transition period in the new marketplace.”