WHEREAS British Columbia is a North American leader in product stewardship, requiring industry-led recycling of products such as paints, bottles, cans, tetra-packs and batteries; AND WHEREAS reducing waste is a critical component of a sustainable city and part of the City of Vancouver and Greater Vancouver Regional Districts sustainability policies; AND WHEREAS electronic waste is the fastest-growing component of our municipal waste stream, with thousands of products in storage in homes around the city awaiting disposal; AND WHEREAS electronic waste contains toxic materials; AND WHEREAS the Greater Vancouver Regional District is encouraging product stewardship of electronic waste, where the manufacturers and consumers of products take responsibility for their entire life cycle under a cradle to grave philosophy; AND WHEREAS the provinces of Ontario and Saskatchewan have already implemented stewardship requirements for e-waste such as computers, cell phones, TVs and monitors: THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Union of BC Municipalities request that the British Columbia government implement a product stewardship program for electronic wastes as soon as possible.
Ministry of Environment The Ministry intends to ask cabinet to add a schedule for e-waste to the Recycling Regulation in the fall of 2005. This schedule may include products such as televisions, computers and associated peripherals, which were agreed to through consultations with producers. Products that could be added at a later date include cell phones, stereos, VCRs, DVD players, electronic games and fax machines.