EXTENDED PRODUCER RESPONSIBILITY

Extended Producer Responsibility

Extended Producer Responsibility

Introduction

Who should bear the more than $250 million cost that local governments incur annually to manage the solid waste produced in our province? Should it be the municipal taxpayer, or those who produce and use the consumer goods that are the primary source of that waste? Is it more cost effective to landfill whatever waste we generate, or can recovering and recycling commodities help restructure our system into a closed-loop, sustainable economy in which waste is the exception and not the rule. And what about tomorrow? Do we identify potentially hazardous wastes now and deal with them in an effective and proactive manner, or do we leave coming generations potential environmental time bombs set to contaminate their future? Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) programs may be the answer to all those questions (Davis, 2009, 15).

Discussion and Analysis

The concept of EPR is based on the principle that suppliers, manufacturers, and consumers share the responsibility to minimize environmental impact in a system that manages the cradle-to-cradle life cycle of the products they make, sell and use. Industry-managed EPR programs are gaining acceptance throughout the world.

B.C. currently leads North America in its approach to EPR through Product Stewardship Program Regulations. In 1970, B.C. became the first jurisdiction in North America to establish a mandatory deposit-refund system for soft drink and beer containers. Government programs became active in 1991 for lead-acid batteries and scrap tires. Then in 1994 B.C.'s first true EPR program was created through the Post-Consumer Paint Stewardship Program Regulation to manage leftover consumer paint. Three years later in 1997, the Post-Consumer Residual Stewardship Program Regulation was established, initially covering solvents, flammable liquids, pesticides, gasoline and medications. In June 2003, B.C. consumers saw a revamped used oil program become the latest product of the EPR or stewardship model. The program also included used oil filters and containers. Then on February 16, 2006 the province passed a modification of the Recycling Regulation to include end-of-life electronics, or e-waste. The e-waste program will be implemented by June 1, 2007.

In 2003 B.C.'s Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection, (WLAP; now Ministry of the Environment) moved to streamline its EPR regulatory structure. According to its web site, the ministry favoured a single comprehensive, results-based regulation to cover producer-operated product stewardship programs. Some previous WLAP stewardship regulations were prescriptive, telling brand owners not only what to accomplish, but how to accomplish it, right down to the size of the letters required on program signs. Instead of that approach, WLAP chose the objective-based Post-Consumer Residual Stewardship Program Regulation as the most suitable to model its new omnibus stewardship legislation. As part of that process, the Post-Consumer Paint Stewardship Program Regulation and the Residual Stewardship Program Regulations were repealed in 2003 and 2004 respectively. Both were replaced by WLAP in 2004 with new EPR legislation called simply, Recycling Regulation. All future regulated stewardship products will eventually be added as individual schedules under this ...