6. Pollution Prevention Hierarchy and Product/Component Management
OPEIC strives to manage collected materials in accordance with the pollution prevention hierarchy set out under Section 8(2)(d) of the Recycling Regulation. These end-of-life products are shipped to processors that break them down into component parts to be recycled and/or recovered. In 2024, all Program Products, collected through the Service Provider’s collection network, were processed by the Service Provider’s contracted processors. In 2024, the Service Provider contracted with three processors to process collected materials. All three processors are certified under the R2 certification program. Under this certification, they are required to conform to the Electronics Product Stewardship Canada (EPSC) Electronic Recycling Standard, the industry standard for like-products (e.g., electrical, electronics and battery-operated.) The EPSC Electronic Recycling Standard defines the minimum requirements for handling end-of- life electronics and contains mandatory environmental, occupational health and safety, and material handling requirements. The downstream material flows are audited annually by the Recycler Qualification Office (RQO), an independent third-party auditor, and are based on information from the RQO-approved materials and processor documents. Bulky Product Management In 2024, all Bulky (i.e. electric lawn tractors) and Regular products were collected in the same stream. As part of the Ministry’s Approval Letter (July 30, 2020), OPEIC is required to utilize collection sites, and services that ensure batteries in Bulky products are properly managed and handled in accordance with all applicable legal requirements by July 1, 2021. OPEIC has reported out on this in previous annual reports, but since both streams are now combined and lawn tractors are no longer managed independently, separate reporting on this is no longer necessary. Battery Management As noted, the Program accepts all batteries recycled with Program Products. In accordance with the requirements set out in the EPSC Electronics Recycling Standard, the Service Provider’s primary processors remove batteries from Program Products and send them to an approved downstream processor where base materials are extracted and commodified. Table 3 below provides a description of the downstream process for each commodity type, accounting for all Program Products in 2024. Materials are reported by commodity only and not by product type or component. Due to the complexity of the disassembly process, it is difficult for commodities to be completely segregated for measurement purposes.
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