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One year after enhancing Alberta's deposit-refund system -and just five months after milk containers were added -Albertans are returning more beverage containers than ever.

"We modified the deposit-refund system to combat waste, boost recycling, and promote conservation across the province." said Diana McQueen, Environment Parliamentary Assistant. "It's encouraging to see how quickly Albertans are adapting to these changes, and I'm eager to see this growth in recycling continue."

Changes to Alberta's container recycling system also saw return rates for milk containers rise steadily each month since they were added to the deposit-based system on June 1. This increase is expected to continue as more Albertans become familiar with returning empty milk containers to bottle depots.

"We are really excited to see Albertans embracing the beverage container recycling program," said Ross Risvold, Chair of the Beverage Container Management Board. "Positive changes in the system mean more Albertans than ever before are recycling and fewer containers are going into landfills."

In a move to make beverage container recycling even more straight-forward, the special red ink marking that indicated a milk container was eligible for refund will be discontinued as of November 1. Now that most containers purchased before June 1 have been returned for recycling, all milk containers sold in Alberta will be accepted for a full refund.

For more information on Alberta's beverage container recycling program, visit www.bcmb.ab.ca.

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