New bottle deposit centre opens in Montreal as part of Consignaction centre expansion

New bottle deposit centre opens in Montreal A new drop-off point for cans and bottles opened at 1301 Beaubien St. in Rosemont-La Petite-Patrie.

A new drop-off point for cans and bottles opened in time for Earth Day at 1301 Beaubien St. in Rosemont-La Petite-Patrie.

The Consignaction centre is the first of hundreds planned for the Island of Montreal and in the province. The kiosk has recycling machines and staff that help you trade your bottles and cans for cash on the spot.

How does it work? Easy -- just pop in your single-use aluminum, plastic or glass bottles and cans. They go into the same machine and you get cash immediately. The machine will sort a bag of unsorted drink containers and people can redeem their money by e-transfer if they've downloaded the Consignaction app.

Maryse Taupier, senior operations director of Consignation, says it’s all to increase returns.

Taupier says this modernization of the deposit-refund system in Quebec means more containers can be accepted for recycling — almost 2.5 billion containers.

She says plans are to accept five 5 billion containers as of March 1, 2025. Consignaction already has a bigger centre in Granby that welcomes 250 people a day who want to recycle their containers for cash.

The Quebec Beverage Container Recycling Association says the province has a 73 per cent return rate and is aiming for 90 per cent by 2032. By that time, hundreds more neighbourhood recycling kiosks will dot the province.

By March 2025, glass bottles 500 ml and over will also be refundable with $0.25 deposit.