WHEREAS the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, Environment Canada sic defines Extended Producer Responsibility EPR as an environmental policy approach in which a producers responsibility, physical andor financial, for a product is extended to the post-consumer stage of a products life cycle; AND WHEREAS there are two key features of EPR policy: 1 the shifting of responsibility physically andor economically, fully or partially upstream to the producer and away from municipalities, and 2 to provide incentives to producers to take environmental considerations into the design of the product; AND WHEREAS the Environmental Management Act defines packaging as a material, substance or object that is a used to protect, contain or transport a commodity or product, or b attached to a commodity or product or its container for the purpose of marketing or communicating information about the commodity or product: THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the UBCM lobby the provincial government to place all packaging under the BC Extended Producer Responsibility legislation.
MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT The Ministry of Environment has committed in its Service Plan to implement industry product stewardship programs for two new products in each three year period. Packaging is one of several product categories under consideration for addition to the Recycling Regulation. Should packaging be added to the Regulation, producers of products with packaging would be required to take responsibility for the life-cycle management of their packaging.