WEEE Program Plan A Municipal Perspective

1
WEEE Program Plan A Municipal Perspective

• Dave Gordon
• May 13, 2008

2
Agenda

• Background
• Ministers Direction for the Plan
• Plan Overview
• Municipal Considerations
• Summary

3
Background

• December 2004 WEEE was designated under the Waste
  Diversion Act.
• July 2005 deadline to submit to the Minister
• A study of WEEE and,
• A consultation plan.
• June 2007 the Minister replied and by Feb 2008
• Asked for a new implementation plan complete with
  a revised consultation plan and,
• Described product phase-in.
• September 2007 Ontario Electronic Stewardship was
  incorporated

4
Ministers Direction for the Plan

• Plan will be rolled out in two phases

5
Program Overview

• The program is intended to
• Collect WEEE from all sources (residential,
  industrial, commercial, institutional)
• Provide for reuse
• Provide for recycling
• Provide for appropriate disposal where reuse and
  recycling are not possible
• Have manufacturers and retailers fund the
  programs.

6
Municipal Considerations

• Overall, this is a good plan that strives to
  embrace full EPR where stewards are managing
  their products at the end of their useful life
• Some consideration should be given to the
  following recommendations

7
Collection Costs

• 165/tonne is to be paid to all collection agents
  for Phase I materials
• This may not be sufficient for all municipal
  operations
• The incentive should be reviewed each year and
  should be adjusted to cover all collection costs,
  including non-depot collection systems

8
Accessibility

• The accessibility targets are a bit vague
• Accessibility is not defined and while the number
  of depots is articulated the locations are not
• All areas of Ontario, whether dense urban areas
  or remote rural locations require readily
  available access

9
Reuse

• Reuse represents a small portion of the
  electronics diverted from landfill
• The Plan calls for reuse targets of 11.2 in
  Year 1 and 12.9 in Year 2
• The Plan could benefit from higher reuse targets
  and more detail on market development for reuse
  options

10
Public Education

• WEEE programs differ significantly across the
  Province
• Public education efforts should be coordinated
  with the local and/or regional government

11
Expedite Phase II Implementation

• Many municipalities collect WEEE items that are
  not included in Phase I
• The Ministers Program Request Letter calls for
  Phase II to be implemented within one year of the
  Plan approval
• Phase II should be expedited to eliminate
  confusion for consumers and reduce complexity for
  program operators in separating Phase I and Phase
  II materials

12
Design for the Environment

• The plan should include design for the
  environment principles, including
• recognition that design decisions are not
  exclusively made for the Ontario marketplace and
  efforts should be taken for the elimination of
  environmentally harmful materials
• redesign of products that facilitate disassembly
  for reuse and recycling
• strong mechanisms instituted by the Ministry of
  the Environment to ensure high levels of
  enforcement and compliance to the program plan
  targets and standards

13
Summary

• The progress on EPR plans has been encouraging
• Blue Box - 50/50 cost share
• MHSW Functional Split model
• WEEE Full EPR
• We support the Plan and hope that the
  recommendations submitted by municipalities to
  the Minister will be incorporated