North America’s first full producer responsibility EPR program for the Blue Box has been running for over a year now in British Columbia, with positive results. Will Ontario and the other provinces follow suit? Will they have the political wherewithal to effectively address the key issues of free-riders and producer control?
The paper industry has a major interest in these matters. Some 75% of the material collected in Canada’s Blue Box systems is paper of one kind or another, most of it used again and again as feedstock to produce new printed paper or packaging. Paper products provide more than half of all Blue Box revenues.
But the Blue Box is only part of the story. Canada’s recycling mills rely far more on the collection of old corrugated boxes from the back of factories and supermarkets, and on the used printing and writing paper collected from offices. The infrastructure to recycle this material has existed for years.
This is why it is so important that the provincial politicians who make decisions on who controls the Blue Box, make them based on overall need, not just on what municipalities say they want or are lobbying for. There are economies of scale to be achieved by better coordinating the location and capacities of all transfer stations and material recycling facilities (MRFs) in a province, whether they cater to industrial, commercial and institutional recycling or to what comes out of people’s homes. Too many MRFs, with all the same bells and whistles, is a recipe for financial disaster.
PPEC’s upcoming seminar on October 28th couldn’t be better timed. The speakers include:
Glen Murray, Ontario’s Minister of Environment and Climate Change. The minister has promised to introduce new waste reduction and resource recovery legislation to Ontario. This will impact all waste streams and recycling in the province. Here’s your chance to hear the minister explain, in person, the major thrust and intentions of the new legislation.
Dan Lantz, COO of Green by Nature EPR, which processes the residential materials from all of BC’s recycling programs. How is North America’s first full producer responsibility program working? What can we learn from it? Do we want it to be applied in other provinces? What are the implications for the paper, glass, plastic and metal industries?
Bob Chant, VP Corporate Affairs and Communication at Loblaw, who represents Canada’s major grocery retailer on several producer-related bodies, including the industry funding organisation for Ontario’s Blue Box program, Stewardship Ontario, and its parent, the Canadian Stewardship Services Alliance (CSSA). What’s the retailer perspective on EPR in Canada? How are they handling the conflicting demands and range of programs across the country? What do they see as the key decisions to be made going forward? What are the implications for the material sectors?
The seminar will be rounded out by an American perspective from Dennis Colley, President of the Fibre Box Association, representing the US corrugated box industry. What is the status of the EPR debate in the US, and what are the implications for the paper industry there?
For more details on this timely seminar, click here.
To register for this event please click here.
