Waste free: province proposes new legislation

NRU
Dec. 2, 2015

The provincial government is seeking to increase waste diversion rates, which have been stalled for a decade, by requiring producers to take full responsibility for waste generated by their products and packaging.

Last week Ontario Environment and Climate Change minister Glenn Murray introduced Bill 151: Waste-Free Ontario Act, 2015 in the legislature. A draft of the waste free strategy was posted to the Environmental Registry for stakeholder and public feedback as well, with comment’s accepted until February 24.

Waste diversion in the province has stalled at around 25 per cent over the last decade.

Most of this comes from the residential sector, with 47 per cent of household waste diverted from landfills. While the province had introduced diversion programs under the Waste Diversion Act, 2002, the programs only address 15 per cent of the province’s waste stream and these have not expanded since 2009.

The Liberal government previously proposed updates to the province’s waste diversion legislation, through the proposed Waste Reduction Act, 2013, and had started consultation on the draft waste reduction strategy. That bill, however, died when the 2014 provincial election was called.

The legislation and strategy are meant to work together to encourage producer responsibility in regards to packaging and products. They seek to foster innovation in product and packaging design, require full producer responsibility for the blue box program and encourage companies to find ways to make recycling processes more economical. The strategy also aims to reduce the cost burden of recycling to consumers by eliminating industry-funded organizations, such as Stewardship Ontario, that set fees that are passed onto consumers.

If passed, the omnibus legislation would enact the Resource Recovery and Circular Economy Act and the Waste Diversion Transition Act. These legislative changes are intended to shift Ontario towards a circular economy, where end-of-life materials are used for new products and packaging.

In addition to reducing waste Bill 151, if passed, is expected to reduce greenhouse gas pollution that results from products going to the landfill when they could be recycled or composted.

By shifting towards a circular economy the province is seeking to hold producers accountable for recovering resources and reducing waste associated with their products and packaging. If passed, the Resource Recovery Act would also overhaul Waste Diversion Ontario and mandate the oversight body to receive and store data from producers, collectives and municipalities on waste reduction activities, compliance and enforcement under the new producer responsibility regime.