As The Beer Store locations keep closing across Ontario, more responsibility is falling on grocery stores to collect empty alcohol bottles and cans — a job many grocers say they never agreed to do.
“The January 1 deadline might work for the government, but it’s not working for grocers,” said Gary Sands, senior vice-president of the Canadian Federation of Independent Grocers.
Starting January, the province will make independent grocery stores collect empties under the Ontario Deposit Return Program (ODRP). But Sands says many grocers are unhappy with this plan and would rather give up their alcohol licenses than handle the extra work.
Grocers are worried about several things: keeping food safe, finding enough space for the bottles and cans, and hiring staff to sort and clean the empties for pickup.
“We have independents who decided not to apply for licenses because of this requirement,” Sands explained. “Others got their licenses, then learned about the recycling rule and said, ‘thanks but no thanks.’”
One of those stepping away is David La Mantia, whose family owns La Mantia’s Country Market Fresh. His store has sold beer and wine for years as part of Ontario’s early grocery alcohol sales program.
“It’s not a big profit maker — we sell it to bring customers into the store,” La Mantia said. “But taking, cleaning, and sorting empties makes it a losing deal for us.”
La Mantia said food safety is his main concern.
“Our focus is fresh produce, meat, and baked goods,” he said. “Customers don’t want to set their strawberries on a checkout belt right after someone placed dirty beer bottles there.”
On Monday, Premier Doug Ford was asked if there could be another way to handle bottle returns. He said his government is looking for solutions.
“It’s ironic,” Ford said. “Retailers want to sell booze in their stores, but they don’t want to take bottles back. There are also chances for new businesses to open and collect bottles.”
La Mantia shared that his 10-year contract with the LCBO, signed in 2019, doesn’t mention bottle collection at all. Global News confirmed this.
“For the government to say we knew about this is simply not true,” La Mantia said. “We signed that deal in good faith, and it should be honoured.”
He believes the responsibility should be shared across all alcohol retailers — including LCBO stores and convenience stores — not just independent and chain grocers.
In an email, the Ministry of Finance said its rules allow businesses to work together or find other ways to handle bottle collection.
But if nothing changes by January 1, Sands warned that many grocers will give up their alcohol licenses rather than collect empties.
