FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 8, 2006
McGuinty plan for
booze bottles would prevent re-use, OPSEU says
TORONTO: A proposal by
the Ontario government to create a deposit/return system for
liquor containers would prevent the re-use of those
containers, the union representing liquor board workers says.
“From the point of view of
eliminating solid waste and conserving energy, the only
sensible option is to create a deposit/return system that
encourages re-use,” said Leah Casselman, president of the
Ontario Public Service Employees Union. “While any move to
divert packaging from landfills is a step forward, it makes
little sense environmentally to smash bottles, use nuclear
power to melt them down, and manufacture new bottles when we
have millions of perfectly good bottles already.”
Casselman said the McGuinty
proposal to have a deposit/return system for liquor bottles
run by The Beer Store only serves to guarantee that liquor
bottles will never be re-used in Ontario, now or in the
future.
“The only way to create a
system that encourages re-use of liquor bottles is through
close co-operation between the retailer – the LCBO – and the
wineries and distilleries,” she said. “The LCBO has a close
business relationship and logistical links with its suppliers,
and as the largest buyer of alcohol in the world, it also has
considerable influence with them.
“In contrast, The Beer Store
has no connection of any kind with Ontario wine and liquor
producers.”
An LCBO-run deposit/return
system would also be more convenient for customers, which
would increase the environmental effectiveness of the program,
Casselman said.
“The LCBO is an alcohol
super-power, and as such it has not only the obligation but
also the ability to be a global leader in
environmentally-friendly packaging,” Casselman said. “The
McGuinty plan has been thrown together hastily and without
public consultation. He needs to think about alcohol packaging
in much broader terms.”
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Further information:
Randy Robinson (416)
448-7441; (416) 788-9134 (cell)
