The Beer Store to begin accepting empties again at select stores

The Beer Store has announced that starting April 6, select stores will begin to accept empties again, after taking a brief hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

To facilitate an orderly restoration of the recycling program, the reintroduction will begin at a limited number of stores — 71, to be exact.

This will allow retail operations to ensure they have substantial quantities of personal protective equipment — PPE — while safeguarding the operational maintenance of social distancing with increased store traffic.

The locations that will be accepting returns will be open using modified hours from 10 am to 4 pm, Monday through Saturday, with regular operating hours on Sunday.

Those stores include:

Kingston – 1090 Midland Avenue
Kitchener – 1255 Weber Street East
Leamington – 255 Erie Street South
Lindsay – 370 Kent Street West
London – 1600 Dundas Street East
London – 414 Wharncliffe Road South
London – 1199 Oxford Street West
Midland – 9350 Hwy #93
Milton – 1071 Maple Avenue
Nepean – 1984 Baseline Road
North York – 81 Billy Bishop Way
North York – 1718 Wilson Avenue
Oakville – 290 Hays Boulevard
Orillia – 275 Atherly Road
Orleans – 2276 Tenth Line Road
Oshawa – 200 Ritson Road North
Ottawa – 1860 Bank Stret
Ottawa – 7 Selkirk Street
Owen Sound – 965 10th Street West
Pembroke – 311 Nelson Street
Peterborough – 570 Lansdowne Street West
Pickering – 1355 Kingston Road
Sarnia – 1107 Confederation Street
Sault St. Marie – 250 Bruce Street
Sault St. Marie – 150 Churchill Boulevard
Scarborough 2360 – Kennedy Road
Scarborough 3130 – Danforth Avenue East
Scarborough 2727 – Eglinton Avenue East
Scarborough 871 – Milner Avenue
St. Catharines – 99 Dieppe Road
St. Thomas – 1014 Talbot Street
Streetsville – 65 Queen Street
Sudbury – 42 Lorne Street
Sudbury – 1485 Lasalle Boulevard
Sutton West – 20903 Dalton Road
Thunder Bay – 911 Fort William Road
Thunder Bay – 212 North Cumberland Street
Toronto – 500 Dupont Street
Toronto – 227 Gerrard Street East
Toronto – 2153 St. Clair Avenue
Vaughan – 9771 Jane Street
Waterloo – 70 Weber Street North

Employees will continue to offer customers directional information when they arrive on site, in order to practice social distancing, and stores have minimized empty returns to one cart per person.

It is also recommended that customers visit at off-peak times, as transactions may take longer than normal once the program is resumed.

• See also:
  • Second LCBO employee tests positive for coronavirus
  • Toronto LCBO employee tests positive for coronavirus
  • LCBO stays open as Ford shuts down non-essential businesses

Additionally, each Sunday beginning April 5, select Beer Store Distribution Centres will accept empty container returns from 9 am to 3 pm.

These sites will be set up as a drive-thru system enabling a continuous flow of traffic. Distribution Centres include:

• Brampton (69 First Gulf Boulevard, Brampton, L6W 4T8)
• London (280 Sovereign Road., London, N6M 1B3)
• Ottawa (2750 Swansea Cresent, Ottawa, K1G 6R8)
• Stoney Creek (414 Dewitt Road, Stoney Creek, L8E 4B7)
• Sudbury (50 Vagnini Court, Sudbury, P3Y 1K8)
• Thunder Bay (490 Maureen Street, Unit #500, Thunder Bay, P7B 6T2)
• Whitby (1655 Tricont Avenue, Whitby, L1N 7N5)

Note that no bottle drive returns will be accepted.