OPSEU “Withering Trillium” Award – February 2007
Bungled LCBO
recycling plan awarded “Withering Trillium” by OPSEU
TORONTO – The McGuinty
government and the LCBO have bungled the chance to create a truly
effective deposit-return system for wine and spirits bottles, according
to the Ontario Public Service Employees Union.
As a result, almost
20,000 tonnes of glass that could have been returned and recycled will
still be sent to Ontario landfills each year, OPSEU says.
“Asking LCBO customers
to make a separate trip to The Beer Store to return their wine and
liquor containers just doesn’t make sense,” said OPSEU President Leah
Casselman. “It’s not convenient for customers, so it won’t be effective
for the environment.”
In recognition of the
deep flaws in the government’s new deposit-return system, which was
launched today, OPSEU has given its “Withering Trillium Award” to
Premier McGuinty and Ontario Environment Minister Lauren Broten. Also
sharing the award are LCBO acting chair and CEO Phillip Olsson, and the
liquor agency’s president, Bob Peter.
According to targets
announced last fall, the government hopes the new deposit-return system
will eventually recover up to 85 per cent of LCBO containers. This is
well below the 98 per cent recovery rate for domestic beer bottles,
which customers can return to The Beer Store when they make their next
purchase.
The 13 percentage
point difference is equal to more than 50 million bottles or
approximately 19,500 tonnes of glass per year.
“The government missed
the obvious solution, which is to give LCBO customers the option to
return their empties to their liquor store,” Casselman said.
Even worse, she said,
the new system slams the door on the possible re-use of Ontario wine and
spirits containers.
“We all know that
re-using is better for the environment than recycling,” Casselman said.
“There is no reason why we can’t set up a system for re-using bottles,
rather than smashing and recycling them. But that will take a close
partnership with Ontario’s wineries and distillers.
“The LCBO already has
the business and logistical relationships needed to make a re-use
program work. The Beer Store doesn’t.”
OPSEU, which
represents approximately 6,500 LCBO employees, issues its Withering
Trillium award to public sector managers who “demonstrate, in the finest
tradition of management, a complete lack of understanding, skill,
knowledge, fairness or competence.”
“The McGuinty
government and LCBO management have missed a golden opportunity to do
the right thing for our environment,” Casselman said. “I can’t think of
a better set of candidates for our Withering Trillium Award.”
Previous Award Winners
