WHEREAS the amount of packaging generated by industry that ends up in our waste stream has climbed astronomically over the past century, and municipal residents must cover the cost of this excessive waste; AND WHEREAS municipal residents also receive significant unsolicited material at their homes through Canada Post and other forms of door-to-door delivery, and though residents do not request this material and many do not want or read it, those residents must dispose of the materials and all residents must pay for that disposal nevertheless: THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the UBCM write to the provincial and federal governments asking them to work with industry to reduce packaging and excessive waste that ends up in the municipal waste stream, and to increase the recyclability of packaging materials, including consideration of charging industries based on excess waste created by their products and packaging andor offering incentives for waste minimization; AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the UBCM write to the federal government requesting that a disposal fee be imposed on those sending unaddressed ad mail through Canada Post, to be spent on waste reduction initiatives and a portion returned to local governments to cover the costs of waste disposal.
MINISTRY OF WATER, LAND AND AIR PROTECTION Future stewardship program product categories would be determined in consultation with stakeholders, including local government, and using the science-based process developed by Marbek Resource Consultants Ltd for assessing the suitability of products for industry product stewardship programs. With respect to packaging, the ministry believes it would also be desirable to work with other provinces and the federal government, since a national program may be most effective.
ENVIRONMENT CANADA Within the federal government, packaging is regulated under a number of separate pieces of legislation, such as the Food and Drugs Act, the Fertilizers Act and the Agricultural Products Act. The packaging components of regulations under these acts address issues that primarily focus on health and safety. Thus, for example, the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Regulations, under the Agricultural Products Act, specify appropriate types of packaging for fresh fruit and vegetables. Similarly, the Egg Regulations specify that packaging for eggs must be clean, dry, of sound construction, and will not have a deleterious effect on the eggs. These federal regulations do not address packaging from an environmental point of view, but rather are designed to address the function of the packaging and health and safety issues, particularly in the case of direct food contact. A number of provinces, including British Columbia, have the authority to regulate such issues as the recycled material content of packaging. Although the citizens of British Columbia and all Canadians continue to struggle with waste management issues, such as throw-away and excess packaging, some national progress in waste diversion from disposal has been documented. For example, packaging waste disposal was reduced by 51.2 per cent between 1988 and 1996, meeting the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment CCME packaging waste reduction goal of 50 per cent by 2000. Information on the initiative is available on the CCME Web site at www.ccme.ca. Industry played a role in this achievement by providing and developing markets for used secondary materials, and by using reusable packaging in factories and warehouses. Bins made of plastic, metal or wood that can be reused or flattened for more efficient transport after use, are now quite widely used in large corporate operations where goods are regularly shipped within a plant or between company facilities. Today, reusable wooden pallets are also a common industry feature. Pallets were formerly used only a few times before being scrapped. Better made reusable pallets are now generally managed through common systems where the pallet is actually rented. Unfortunately, these types of initiatives are not commonly used for consumer products purchased by the public. Although many packaging materials are recycled through programs, such as those operated by your members, examples of packaging reduction and reusability are less common. Despite some success in the area of packaging, as described above, the most recent Statistics Canada data, for 2002, shows that per capita waste generation increased from 952 kilograms kg in 2000 to 971 kg in 2002. On the plus side, residential, industrial, commercial and institutional waste diversion from disposal through recycling and other initiatives increased from 199 kg per capita in 2000 to 211 kg per capita per year in 2002. These data suggest that we cannot be complacent and that more needs to be done. New approaches and laws to address the issue of waste and packaging are needed. One idea which is being widely adopted is that more responsibility for waste management and pollution prevention should be taken by manufacturers and users of packaging and other products. This new polluter pays policy approach to waste management is known as Extended Producer Responsibility EPR. EPR programs, like all others around the world, have their conceptual beginnings in the 1991 German Packaging Ordinance, which gave direct responsibility for waste packaging to the brand owners who use the packaging in their products. In EPR programs the responsibility for wastes is transferred from the municipal, provincial or federal taxpayers to producers and brand owners. The policy works on the concept that if an industry is given primary responsibility for waste at the end-of-life of a product or package, then the brand owner will have an incentive to minimize that waste, make the product more recyclable, easier to disassemble, etc. Numerous EPR programs exist in Canada through which industry boards manage the collection, recycling and proper disposal of packaging and products such as beverage containers, waste motor oil, batteries, tires and paint, at no direct cost to taxpayers. In British Columbia, this approach has been used for a number of products, under the authority of the Recycling Regulation of the provinces Environmental Management Act, 2003. The Province of Ontarios recently instituted packaging stewardship program is an example of an EPR program in the area of packaging; the Province of Quebec has recently announced the launching of a similar program. As to Canada Posts policies on unaddressed advertising mail, there is a policy in place for any individual who has a postal address in Canada and who would like to stop receiving unaddressed mail. By contacting Canada Post through their Customer Product and Sales information office, at 1 800 276-1177, an individual can have their name and postal address removed from the Canada Post unaddressed mail sender list.
CANADA POST Canada Post appreciates the Unions resolution regarding waste reduction and disposal initiatives in relation to unaddressed mail. Because we share this concern, we implemented our Consumers Choice Program several years ago. This program ensures that postal staff do not deliver Unaddressed Admail to those customers who do not wish to receive it. Customers need only place anotice or sticker on their postal box, and this will be acknowledged by Canada Post. Exceptions to this policy include materials from federal, provincial and municipal electoral offices, House of Commons mailings and community newspapers. To date, only a very small number of customers 3.8 nationally have elected not to receive unaddressed mail. Customers who use Unaddressed Admail to promote their products or services are provided with specific delivery details through our Householder data products. The Householder counts are available online at www.canadapost.ca and this information enables a mailer to plan printing and distribution requirements and also ensures that the correct numbers of admail pieces are deposited at the postal depots for distribution in the areas specified. We are not pursuing an initiative whereby we would levy a disposal fee on our customers who use this service. Much admail is recyclable, and Canadians are encouraged to take advantage of local recycling programs once they have finished with the advertising mail they receive. You may also be interested to learn that Canada Post is only one of many distributors of unaddressed mail. Indeed, we deliver only some 20 of the unaddressed material in Canada; the remainder is distributed by private sector companies, including daily and weekly newspapers. Unfortunately, these companies may not respect the Consumers Choice notice or sticker on mail receptacles. Finally, I wish to assure you that Canada Post is very concerned about all aspects of conservation, and our Environment Policy stipulates that Canada Post must manage its operations and serve its customers with diligence and care for the natural environment. We believe that environmental protection and conservation are essential to the well-being of our employees, our customers, and the communities in which we serve. We are committed to conducting our operations in a manner that meets applicable standards and that reflects a proper balance between ecological, technical and economic considerations. FCM RESPONSE At its 2005 Annual Convention, the FCM adopted this resolution as a category A resolution, meaning that it is considered to be a national municipal issue of direct concern to Canadian municipalities.