Deadline looms for grocery stores to start accepting your empties

Have you tried returning any empties lately? It’s not as easy as it used to be.

Nearly 100 Beer Stores have permanently shut down since the Ford government expanded alcohol sales to corner stores and grocery stores, and more are expected to close in the coming months.

But here’s the problem: although all grocery stores with a license to sell liquor will be required to accept empty bottles and cans as of Jan. 1, only a small percentage have actually started collecting.

And as the deadline looms, some independent grocers are adamant they’d rather hand back their licenses than deal with such a health and safety hazard.

“Where do you suggest in the store that customers bring these dirty bottles and cans?” said Gary Sands of the Canadian Federation of Independent Grocers, during a recent interview on our Closer Look podcast. “The stuff that comes crawling out of those cans and bottles should not be anywhere in a food environment. So where should it go? By the bakery section? The fruit and vegetables? By the meat section?”

You can watch the full episode HERE.

Hosted by Village Media’s Michael Friscolanti and Scott Sexsmith, and produced by Derek Turner, Closer Look is a new daily podcast that goes way beyond the headlines with insightful, in-depth conversations featuring our reporters and editors, leading experts, key stakeholders and big newsmakers.

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