PLEASE FIND BELOW A PRESS RELEASE FROM THE FAIR TRADING COMMISSION DETAILING THE CORRECT PROCEDURE RELATING TO THE RETURNING OF BOTTLES.

MONEY FOR YOUR BOTTLES

The Fair Trading Commission has had to recently address a number of complaints from consumers relating to their ability to recover the deposit paid on drink bottles or “returnable containers” as the law properly definesstyles them.

At some point in time most consumers have had the experience of visiting a few of the various bottle return centres that provide the service of accepting returnable containers. The advent of these bottle return centres, have been associated with a number of different policies with respect to the return of beverage containers. For example, while some bottle return centres pay cash when consumers redeem bottles, others prohibit cash refunds and onlytherefore issue vouchers that contains terms that limit the time for its redemption. In any event, many consumers are in a quandary as to their rights when they return beverage containers.

The redemption of returnable containers is governed by the Returnable Containers Act Cap.295. The Returnable Containers Act applies to ‘redeemers’ who are the persons who demands the refund value of returnable bottles. The definition of ‘redeemer” comports well with the definition of ‘consumer’, therefore, a redeemer would be deemed to be a consumer under the Consumer Protection Act Cap. 326D.

The Returnable Containers Act requires every person, firm or corporation who engages in the sale of beverage containers to a consumer for off premises consumption in Barbados defined by the said Act as a “dealer” to pay to a redeemer, the refund value of a returnable container of the type and brand sold by that dealer. The only circumstances therefore in which a dealer can refuse to accept a returnable bottle is where they do not sell the type of container which the redeemer seeks to return, the container is decomposed, cut up, contains a significant amount of foreign material or if it is a container for which no refund value is fixed by the act.

Bottle return centres are also required to give to redeemers refunds for returnable containers under the Returnable Containers Act which states that

A dealer shall accept at his place of business from a redeemer any
empty beverage containers of the design, shape, size, colour,
composition and brand sold by the dealer, and shall pay to
the redeemer the refund value of each such beverage container.

The Act states that the refund value of each beverage container is twenty cents for every glass container and ten cents for any other type of container. Therefore, in the circumstances where a consumer requests to have the refund value of the returnable container in cash and the dealer refusesd to do so or to give the refund in any form other than cash, that centre would be acting in contravention of the Consumer Protection Act for misleading consumers of their entitlement to a cash refund with respect to returnable containers.

Additionally, the Act imposes no time limits on the redemption of refunds. Therefore, it would appear that an attempt by a dealer to limit the time for the redemption of refunds may amount to a contravention of the Consumer Protection Act as this may amount to an unfair contract term,. Also, tThis conduct may be likely to or may mislead or deceive consumers that they have a limited time in which they can redeem the vouchers for returnable bottles.

So with this A prpractice of giving a redeemable voucher instead of a cash refund, some has sprung up where certain bottle return centres do not pay cash but give the redeemer a voucher redeemable at a named business place. Bbottle return centres benefit from issuing vouchers because they determine the time frame where the vouchers are redeemable. In such casesAdditionally, dealers benefit every time a consumers loses their deposit as a result of the expiry of the time limitation. Therefore, these facts suggest that there is a significant imbalance in the rights of the supplier and the consumer to the detriment of the consumer.

Under the Returnable Containers Act bottle return centres are required to pay cash to redeemers when they return containers. If they fail to do so, they infringe the Returnable Containers Act as well as the Consumer Protection Act. It should be noted that the Ministry of Environment is responsible for the specific enforcement of the Returnable Containers Act. The Consumer Protection Act can however address the return of beverage containers because Part II and III of the Act this Act is are infringed whenever the scenarios outlined above, occur.

Persons who infringe the Returnable Bottles Act and the Consumer Protection Act may be liable to a fine, imprisonment or both. Consumers should mindful of their rights when seeking to redeem returnable bottles and in the event that they suspect or believe that there has been an infringement of the Act, they should contact the Commission with any questions or queries that they may have. If you have any comments or queries regarding this or any other matter relating to utility regulation, consumer protection, or fair competition, please contact us at 424-0260,421-2382 or email: info@ ftc.gov.bb,