WHEREAS under Province of BC legislation, extended producer responsibility EPR places the responsibility for end of life product management on the producer and consumers of a product whereby fees are charged to fund the collection, processing and recycling of such products; AND WHEREAS local government, through participation in the BC Product Stewardship Council BCPSC, advocates with a common voice for enhanced stewardship programs: THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the UBCM urge the Province of British Columbia Ministry of Environment to monitor EPR programs in regional districts to encourage improved service levels and ensure that stewardship plans are being adequately delivered, and further, to evaluate EPR programs and develop a cost recovery formula that considers distributing revenue collected from the programs back to BC communities that bear the cost of collecting and transporting the material.
Ministry of Environment The Recycling Regulation establishes stewardship responsibilities for producers of prescribed products. The regulation requires the provision of reasonable and free consumer access to collection facilities. To monitor performance of the Provinces extended producer responsibility EPR programs, the Ministry of Environment is now requesting stewardship agencies to report collection results on a regional basis to encourage improved service levels and ensure that stewardship plans are being adequately delivered. In this context, most of the provinces industry stewardship agencies continue to work toward expanding their return collection networks and several have partnered with local governments e.g. Product Care for household hazardous waste to enhance collection services for local residents. The Recycling Regulation is deliberately silent with respect to financing mechanisms. Proposals for cost-sharing agreements between industry stewardship agencies and local governments with respect to managing product wastes regulated under the Recycling Regulation would need to be negotiated between these two parties directly.