No timeline set yet for increase in bottle and can refunds on P.E.I.

Refunds for bottle and can deposits will be going up on P.E.I. for sure — it's just a matter of when, according to P.E.I.'s new environment minister.

Last spring, the province said the change would happen in August, to encourage people not to discard the recyclable containers as garbage in dumps and along roadsides. Then, the date was moved to this month.

But when Green Party interim leader Karla Bernard raised the question Wednesday, Environment Minister Gilles Arsenault wouldn't put a timeline on it.

"We will assure Islanders that the price will be going up," he said. "We will be doing the proper steps to make sure that this happens and we're going to make sure that everybody that's involved in this process is talked to."

Currently, Islanders pay a 10-cent deposit on most bottles and cans and can get five cents back for the empty beverage container.

The government has promised to increase the deposit to 20 cents and refund 15 when the empties are brought in.

Arsenault said his department has been monitoring what's happened in New Brunswick, which switched to a new deposit system with larger returns this year.

In an interview with CBC News, Arsenault said he needs time to talk to more Islanders and industry stakeholders before deciding on whether to follow the New Brunswick model or start fresh and issue a request for proposals seeking new ideas.

He said it would take "a couple of months to ensure that I have all the proper information and we have all of the consultation done" before determining which way to proceed. Then he said required legislative changes would be made during the spring 2025 sitting of the legislature.

Bernard said the change can't come soon enough for Islanders who've been stockpiling cans and bottles since the province's announcement refunds were going up "gave them some hope for financial relief."

"The amount of cans being held in garages around this province is incredible," she said. "Many of our families are living paycheque to paycheque.... This was a little light in the tunnel."

Arsenault told CBC News he knows there will be "financial implications" for the government from people holding onto cans and bottles from the old deposit system, waiting to return them when the refunds go up. The province will be on the hook to pay five cents more for every bottle and can that's redeemed after the change than it took in through deposits for each container bought before the change. 

"We encourage them to return them [now], but if they want to have the higher return on the investment, it will be another few months to be able to count on that," Arsenault said.

A spokesperson for the Department of Environment told CBC News that 69 million beverage containers are returned annually in P.E.I., and the province is planning to take in $8.4 million in deposit revenue in the current fiscal year.