Who should pay for recycling programs? Government, Consumers, or Producers? Traditionally the Government is tasked with the implementation and delivery of recycling programs with little say in which materials are used by Producers while consumers, in turn, pay flat rates for these programs. This system, unfortunately, doesn’t reward Producers for sustainable product development or consumers that choose to support these brands. With Extended Producer Responsibility, the Producers are responsible for the full lifecycle of the materials they produce, closing the loop from design to recovery.
Originating from Europe in the early 1990s, Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), also known as the polluter-pays-system, is a widely adopted mechanism that shifts operational and/or financial responsibilities for recycling to waste Producers, such as brand owners, and manufacturers. Producers then transfer the waste management expenses to production costs, and eventually, end customers will pay for their shares of recycling expenses. EPR is widely adopted in North America. There are now about 80 EPR programs operated by provincial governments throughout Canada. In the US, 19 states have implemented EPR policies since 2015, and now 9 states ally themselves with each other to push the pass of EPR for plastic packaging.
Adopting EPR introduces fairness and standardization of recycling programs across multiple regions as Producers pay for the materials used in their products. Additionally, Producers are motivated to use more sustainable and environmentally-friendly materials to reduce recovery costs. Last but not least, EPR can reduce municipalities’ burden for waste management. Therefore, jurisdictions often adopt mandatory EPR to deal with materials that are too costly to recover. Such materials usually include batteries, electronic equipment, ozone-depleting substances, paints, pesticide containers, pharmaceuticals, used oil, and used tires (Learn more about EPR here).
How does EPR work?
An EPR program can be either mandatory/legislative or voluntary. Governments can also enter into a negotiated agreement with Producers. Meanwhile, Producers usually associate with each other and establish a Producer Responsibility Organization (PRO) to fulfill EPR obligations. PRO is an industrial nonprofit organization that executes EPR programs on its members’ behalf.
Like any other recycling program, EPR programs have two general responsibilities, operation and financing. Depending on the agreement between municipalities and Producers, PRO may have a singular focus on operations or finances or assume both duties.
What changes will an EPR program bring?
Under an EPR system, PRO may require municipalities to meet some minimum requirements to qualify for the recycling programs funded by Producers. These minimum requirements change municipal recycling programs and help municipalities reduce waste and reach their waste management goals. Two of the most common changes EPR brings are:
Standardized recycling policies. To make recycling easier and more efficient, PRO sometimes requires municipalities across the designated region to have standardized and consistent recycling policies, such as a uniform acceptable recycling list. Harmonized recycling policies can help a region better manage its waste system and increase recycling participation.
- Motives to reduce recycling contamination. In some Canadian provinces, PRO set a maximum recycling contamination rate for member municipalities. If the contamination from a city is above the set rate, the city may be fined for low-quality recyclables. In British Columbia (Canada), PRO fines municipalities that send loads with more than 3% contamination. Surrey BC previously paid over $100,000 in contamination fines due to a 10% rate in 2017. Contamination penalties are set to become increasingly severe with future fines potentially reaching up to $480,000 / year or $3/household/year. With expensive penalties in mind, cities are incentivized to develop effective education programs. On the other hand, governments may also set goals for PRO, and failure to meet expectations will lead to financial penalties.
How do Canadian provinces carry out EPR programs?
British Columbia (BC)
BC has a very mature adoption of EPR first embracing it in 1994 to handle paint waste. Over the following two decades, the province expanded its EPR systems gradually to cover a wide range of materials from residential waste to oil, electronic, and health products. Currently, there are more than 20 EPR programs in BC. Among these programs, RecycleBC is the PRO responsible for residential packaging and paper recycling. British Columbia is the first province in North America to have a packaging and paper recycling program 100% funded by Producers, meaning taxpayers pay nothing. BC’s governments can choose either to assume collection responsibilities by themselves or to outsource all the operational responsibilities to RecycleBC.
Recycle BC website, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
Quebec
Éco Entreprises Québec is the Producer Responsibility Organization in Québec (ÉEQ). ÉEQ consists of approximately 3,400 companies and organizations obligated to finance the recovery of containers, packaging, and printed matter. These companies are fully responsible for financing the recycling program in Quebec. Municipalities in Quebec retain the operation rights to provide collection services directly to residents. Recently, Quebec announced that in the future, companies will be more involved in the operation of the recycling program, including sorting, processing, and recycling. At the same time, Producers will also be held accountable for recycling and collection targets. Failure to achieve set goals will result in obligations to invest in waste system improvement (Read how Quebec changes its EPR policies).
Quebec EEQ website and LinkedIn
Ontario
Stewardship Ontario is the PRO in Ontario that operates the curbside recycling program (Blue Box) and hazardous or special waste disposal and recovery program (Orange Drop). Stewardship Ontario fully funds Orange Drop and shares 50% of Blue Box expenses with municipal governments (The Blue Box, n.d.). However, in 2023, the funding responsibility of Blue Box will completely shift to Producers. This change will save Ontario governments over $ 156 million annually and an estimated $30/household/year.
Stewardship Ontario Website, Twitter, and LinkedIn
Read how other North American municipalities implement EPR here
By executing EPR programs, municipalities can build fair systems for their recycling programs. By holding Producers accountable for materials’ entire life cycle, EPR incentives sustainable behaviours for audit and monitoring systems for both municipalities and Producers. Through the use of PRO, Governments and Producers collaborate on goal setting as it relates to recovery and contamination targets. These mutual obligations push municipalities and Producers to strive to reduce contamination and improve recycling results. In this way, EPR increases the utilization of innovative technologies to reduce contamination and waste.
Prairie Robotics works with Cities across North America to make recycling simple! Our services are used to automate manual cart audits and education strategies allowing for administrators to focus on program and policy design instead of data collection. Our robust reporting module allows for various levels of government to share recycling data in real-time to meet all EPR reporting requirements.
