Revisiting EPR (CONT’D FROM PAGE 18)
Differences in where materials come from need to be taken into consideration when looking for solutions to in- creasing waste diversion in the IC&I sector, as they can have impacts on how materials are collected, managed, and ultimately recycled. In many ways, EPR for residential paper and packag- ing is in its infancy in Canada. While we have had legis- lated programs in place for years, decades even, British Columbia is the only province with a true EPR model. Most provinces are either in the process of developing or tran- sitioning to full producer responsibility models, where pro- ducers fund and operate recycling programs, from existing program models where producers only fund the costs of programs operated by municipalities. It will take time to see if this shift to true EPR results in higher recycling rates and program efficiencies. PPEC has high hopes for what true EPR could achieve for Canadian residential recycling pro- grams, but we are not there yet.
In the IC&I sector, businesses are responsible for man- aging their own waste and recyclables, and typically busi- nesses contract directly with waste management service providers. But we understand that not all establishments neces- sarily do that, and even with those that do, there may be challenges with recycling the materials once collected (e.g., contamination, quality issues, lack of end markets to sell the materials). But when it comes to paper packaging, PPEC mem- bers are often the end markets as mills buy back used cardboard and paper materials from grocery stores and other commercial entities, allowing those materials to be responsibly recycled and reused to make new paper packaging products.
DESIGNS THAT INCREASE PRODUCTION
While PPEC members have not his- torically been obligated stewards of EPR programs – our members typically engage in business-to-business transactions, and do not directly supply finished products to consumers – the success of recycling programs is critical to our industry, which relies on using recycled content as its pri- mary feedstock. PPEC members represent several dif- ferent components of the paper packag- ing recycling value chain: as providers of recyclable paper-based packaging, pro- cessors and recyclers of collected paper materials, and end markets who buy back recycled fibres to reuse in their operations. Our industry has been a pioneer in re- cycling for decades, implementing a cir- cular economy for paper packaging long before it was widely recognized, driven not by regulation or EPR, but because it makes environmental and business sense to manufacture paper packaging products using recycled fibres. And while we may not represent obli- gated producers, the decades of experi- ence PPEC members have with recycling – which includes mills buying back used paper materials directly from the IC&I sec- tor to use in their operations – provides our industry with insights that we hope governments and policymakers will con- sider. Let’s get EPR for residential right first before we put the cart before the horse by applying it to the IC&I sector. Rachel Kagan is the Executive Director of the Paper & Paperboard Packaging Envi- ronmental Council.
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