Beer drinkers who have accumulated a mountain of empties during the COVID-19 pandemic will be able rid themselves of the bottles and cans as of next week.
The Beer Store has announced it will resume accepting empties at 71 of its 450 stores as of Monday.
The retail giant suspended its recycling program last month in order to better protect its employees from the coronavirus outbreak. But now a bottle shortage at some breweries has prompted the Beer Store to reinstate the program.
"To facilitate an orderly restoration of the recycling program, we have temporarily reduced the number of stores accepting empties," the retailer said on its website. "This will allow our retail operations to ensure we have substantial quantities of personal protective equipment along with safeguarding the operational maintenance of social distancing with increased store traffic."
Customers are also being limited to bringing back only one cart of empties per visit and are advised to drop off during off-peak times.
Store hours at the 71 outlets that will be accepting empties have been modified to 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Sunday hours are unchanged.
A Drive-thru drop-off will also be held every Sunday at the Beer Store's seven distribution centres, including the one at 280 Sovereign Rd. in London.
Southwestern Ontario Beer Stores that will be accepting empties include the following:
Chatham – 132 Richmond St., N7M 1N9 Leamington – 255 Erie St. S., N8H 3C3 London – 1600 Dundas St., E. N5W 3C2 London – 414 Wharncliffe Rd. S., N6J 2M5 London – 1199 Oxford St. W., N6H 1V8 Sarnia – 1107 Confederation, N7T 7H9 St. Thomas – 1014 Talbot St., N5P 1G3 Windsor – 2380 Walker Road, N8W 3P6 Windsor – 790 Goyeau St., N9A 1H6 Windsor – 8150 Tecumseh Blvd E., N8R 1A2 Woodstock – 86 Beale St., N4S 6X4