Packaging and printed paper EPR in B.C. officially begins
May 19th was the official launch of B.C.’s new packaging and printed paper recycling program, an EPR initiative designed to shift the responsibility for managing the residential recycling of packaging and printed paper towards businesses, and away from regional and municipal governments and their taxpayers. The program is being managed by Multi-Material Recycling BC (MMBC), a non-profit, industry-led and -financed stewardship organization based out of Ontario (one of 16 stewardship organizations currently operating in the province).
Initially, 1.25 million B.C. households in 88 communities will be provided with recycling collection services, and a new website at www.RecyclingInBC.ca has been launched to provide citizens with information about the program. Additionally, MMBC says the categories of packaging eligible for recycling are being expanded to include items such as milk cartons, foam packaging, plant pots, aluminum foil packaging, certain types of plastic film packaging, glass and drink cups.
“Residents will benefit from a new, improved and clear list of materials that can be recycled, resulting in savings of $85 million to B.C. taxpayers and ultimately the development of more sustainable, recyclable packaging and paper options,” said Allen Langdon, Managing Director of MMBC.
In the many months leading up to the launch of B.C.’s new packaging and printed paper recycling program I have seen a range of news and opinion on the topic come across my desk – some positive, some negative. This is understandable in the face of such a large change in the way we collect recyclables.
The Mayor of Quesnel, B.C., one of the latest communities to receive funding from and sign onto the MMBC packaging and printed paper program said; “All improvements to the volume of material we recycle as a community improves our sustainability.”
Green by Nature EPR (GBN), one of MMBC’s partners, who confirmed in April that they will site a new $15 million container recycling facility in New Westminster, B.C. to serve the processing needs of the initiative, says one of the immediate benefits of the new program is the network of recyclers that will be developed in order to deliver it. Initial participants in the program range from large private corporations such as Emterra Environmental and Waste Management, to non-profit organizations such as Encorp Pacific (Canada), as well as some family businesses, local governments and First Nations, in each corner of B.C.
Change however can rarely be completely smooth and without controversy. There has been strong opposition to the new plan from many B.C. recyclers and citizens, as well as industry stakeholders including the Waste Management Association of BC and the BC Bottle and Recycling Depot Association.
In a recent article in the Nanaimo Daily News, Mike Klassen, director of provincial affairs for B.C. with the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, said the new “recycling regime...will have catastrophic implications for small businesses and the B.C. economy,” and that “MMBC is benefitting from the confusion and complicated aspects of a controversial program.” Klassen is part of a province-wide campaign called RethinkIt-BC (www.rethinkitbc.ca) and emphasized that the “process should be paused until proper discussions are held with the stakeholders who will have to pay for it.”
Time will tell.
Presently, we must bid a fond farewell to a recycling industry pioneer. Len Shaw, Executive Director of the Canadian Association of Recycling Industries (CARI) is retiring this year. I would like to express RPN’s heartfelt appreciation to Len, for his hard work on behalf of the recycling industry, as well as his comments, counsel and contributions over the years to the pages of Recycling Product News. If you wish to say farewell to Len in person, CARI’s Annual Convention is being held in Montréal, in June. (See our Last Word, May/June 2014 issue, for more about Len and his legacy.)
