SEATTLE (Recycling Monster): The plans to introduce legislation to prevent beverage industry group from imposing recycling fees on non-alcoholic drink containers in the province has been withdrawn for now, said Ontario Environment Minister David Piccini. The decision follows assurance from the industry that the burden of such taxes will not be passed on to customers.

Earlier, the industry had planned to impose fees of up to three cents for each can, bottle and drink box starting this June, in order to cover some of the costs of recycling. However, the Ministry had raised opposition to the proposal.

The government is exploring all possible options to scrap the plan altogether and replace it with a deposit-return scheme, similar to what is followed in other provinces and for alcoholic beverages in Ontario itself. As part of the efforts to achieve the ambitious target of 80% collection rate for beverage containers by 2030, the province has been working on expanding its deposit-return system.

Meantime, the Canadian Beverage Container Recycling Association (CBCRA), which bats for imposition of fees, says that revenue would cover the creation of a new recycling system for discarded containers.