Recycle Milk Containers

Milk & Plant-Based Beverages Transition into the Deposit System

Now, you can recycle milk containers for 10¢ each!

By:

Nadine |

February 1, 2022
Have you heard? As of February 1st, you can now recycle your milk containers in British Columbia. Recycling milk containers means that we can all cut down the waste that goes into landfills, put more money in your pockets, and it can all be done from the comfort of your home.

Recycling milk containers is part of the CleanBC Plastics Action Plan that the Government of BC launched in 2019. This program will save millions of plastic materials from landfills. By adding these containers to BC Recycling programs, local businesses, schools, and restaurants will be able to include milk containers in with their other empty containers.

Let’s start with which milk containers can be recycled. We are happy to report that we can take a wide range of dairy milk and plant-based milk containers such as glass milk containers, plastic milk jugs, and cardboard milk containers. Use this chart as a guideline.

Accepted Milk Containers 10¢

Best before date after Feb 1, 2022

  • Plastic dairy milk jugs
  • Glass dairy milk containers
  • Cardboard dairy milk boxes
  • Plastic nut milk jugs
  • Glass nut milk containers
  • Cardboard nut milk boxes
  • Plastic soy milk jugs
  • Glass soy milk containers
  • Cardboard soy milk boxes

Non-Refundable Milk Containers

Any milk product from above with an expiry date before Feb 1, 2022

  • Drinkable Yogurts 
  • Infant Formula 
  • Meal Replacements 
  • Diet Supplements
  • Beverage concentrates (condensed milk) 
  • Coffee creamers, whipped cream, & similar. 

Are milk cartons refundable in bc?

Now that you know which milk containers you can recycle let’s talk about how you can put more money in your pocket. Milk containers provide a 10C return. They are a part of the universal return rate; all containers recycled in BC are worth a 10¢ return.

You can earn simpler and faster than ever with our two convenient services.

Milk Deposit System
Milk Deposit System

FastDrop

Drop of your unsorted containers to any of our eight depot locations. You can be in and out of the depot in minutes. We’ll sort your empties, and you’ll have the option of picking up your return in cash or withdrawing it from your FastDrop account after we finish processing your return. Yes, you can put your milk containers in with your other empties!

Regional Recycling Fast Drop Depozip Christmas Recycling
Regional-Recycling-Fast-Drop-Depozip-Christmas-Recycling

Depozip

You can also recycle your milk containers from home. With Depozip, you can schedule a free pick-up of your unsorted empties. Set up a free account, schedule a convenient pickup time, and put your unsorted empties on the curb. We’ll process your recycling and send a return to your account.

This new recycling program, implemented by the Government of BC, launches on February 1st, 2022. Please keep in mind that we can only accept milk containers with a best-before-date that falls on or after Feb 1st.

10 cent deposit on you milk containers
10 cent deposit on you milk containers

Making an A-moo-zing Impact

In 2017/2018, BC dairy farmers produced 808 Million gallons of milk. With this new recycling program, including dairy milk, nuts milk, soy milk, and other milk substitutes, the impact of recycling milk containers will be immense. To ensure we can recycle all the containers we collect, please give your milk containers a good rinse. This will mean we can give them a new life. Thank you for being a part of this great community and helping us keep containers out of landfills!

For more information about this exciting new recycling program, follow this link or reach out to the Regional Recycling team.

COMMENTS

2 Comments

  1. Elisabeth Elsinga

    Can we at least flatten one gallon
    Milk containers?

    Reply
    • burnabybottle

      Hi Elizabeth, thanks for checking on this. We ask that containers not be crushed due to our need to see the brand and purchase information. This allows us to determine if and when a deposit was paid on the container, and to process an accurate refund value. We look forward to seeing you at the depot.

      Reply

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