Alberta recycling company to appeal $845K fine for cashing in on out-of-province containers

EDMONTON — An Edmonton-based recycling company plans to appeal an $845,000 fine it received last year for illegally cashing in on beverage containers from outside Alberta.

Alberta Reclaim and Recycling Company and its directors were charged for transporting beverage containers into Alberta and collecting refunds on them. More than eight million bottles were brought into Alberta from the Yukon between January 2012 and January 2013, according to documents filed with the Environmental Appeals Board.

Gilbert Van Nes, general counsel with the EAB, said the containers were purchased from Raven Recycling in Whitehorse. They were shipped to a location in Edmonton in large bails where they were disassembled, sorted and brought to the Andrew Bottle Depot for return, according to Van Nes.

The number of containers processed through the Andrew Bottle Depot between January 2012 and January 2013 increased more than 10 times, according to the EAB documents.

Alberta Reclaim and Recycling Company was slapped with an $844,778 fine in February 2015. The fine was based on the economic benefit from the containers – $769,778 – plus a $75,000 penalty.

“This is by far the largest administrative penalty we’ve seen,” Van Nes said.

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Alberta Reclaim and Recycling Company was also charged with failing to comply with the terms and conditions of its permit to operate the Andrew Bottle Depot.

The Environmental Appeals Board hearing is scheduled for April 22.