Beverage containers you can recycle with BC’s Return-It program

It can often be confusing when you’re trying to figure out how to recycle bag-in-a-box beverage containers. Is it plastic? Is it cardboard? Should you separate it? Well, if you live in BC, Return-It has a simple answer.

It’s estimated that only 46% of British Columbians are aware that a bag-in-a-box is returnable for a refund.

Encorp Pacific

If you don’t think bag-in-a-box containers should go through traditional curbside recycling or garbage collection as is, you’re right. To recycle them and get your refund, you just have to take them to your local Return-It location — just remember to leave the bag in the box and don’t flatten or crush it.

Run by Encorp Pacific, a federally incorporated, not-for-profit, product stewardship corporation, Return-It manages and operates the BC deposit system and accepts a variety of beverage containers, including some you never thought to recycle.

Refunds for drink boxes and other beverage containers

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While aluminum cans are the most common beverage containers people return for recycling, some other beverages you’re also able to return are drink boxes, along with milk and plant-based beverage containers, which were recently added to the deposit system in 2022. You can also easily recycle plastic drink containers, including those under one litre.

It’s simple to recycle these beverage containers at home, but if you’ve just finished spending an afternoon outside and have empty beverage containers with no recycling bin in sight, the last thing you should be doing is throwing them in the garbage just because it may seem convenient — hold on to them until you can bring them to Return-It for recycling.

Pro tip: when recycling your drink boxes or bottles, simply push the straws back inside the container or put the caps on so everything gets recycled together.

There are also tons of other beverage containers you can return for recycling, like gable top beverage containers, drink pouches, and plastic beverage containers, like pop, milk, and water.

Convenient Return-It locations

Encorp Pacific

With plenty of Return-It locations conveniently located across BC, Return-It has Express locations for easy, convenient ways to return your eligible containers for a refund.

When you sign up for a Return-It Express account, which is completely free, you don’t have to waste time counting and sorting your beverage containers. Just bag them and drop them off at Express, Express and GO, or Return-It Express Plus locations. You also don’t need to handle cash or coins, as any returns get automatically credited to your online account within 10 business days.

To learn more about how you can take advantage of this handy recycling program, you can visit the Return-It location nearest you, and visit their website to see what you can return for a refund.