Yellowknife (June 02/03) - A beverage container recycling bill is still expected to appear before the legislature this month.

Jim Antoine, minister of Resources Wildlife and Economic Development, said last March he was planning on introducing the beverage container recycling program bill in June.

"And that is still what we're working towards," said Emery Paquin, director of environmental protection service for Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development.

The program is designed to place a deposit and a non-refundable recovery fee on all beverage containers across the North. Targeted are any container which holds a drink -- including liquor -- such as aluminum cans, tetra-pacs, and glass and plastic bottles.

The Northwest Territories and Nunavut are the only jurisdictions in Canada without beverage container legislation.

Under similar legislation in the Yukon, the cost of a beverage in an aluminum can increased by 10 cents.

When the consumer brings the can in for recycling they receive a five cent refund, with the other five cents going towards a recovery fee used to pay for community recycling centres.

Paquin said the NWT legislating could operate much like the Yukon.

The deposit and recovery fee are not expected to be charged separate from the drink price, Paquin said, but rather be included in the beverage price, resulting in an increase to the consumer.