Product Care Canadian Paint Stewardship Programs Northwest Product Stewardship Council Surrey, BC October 2, 2007 by Mark Kurschner, President Product.

“Product Care Canadian Paint Stewardship Programs”

Northwest Product Stewardship Council Surrey, BC

October 2, 2007 by Mark Kurschner, President Product Care Association

Product Stewardship Solutions

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About Product Care• A federally incorporated, not-for-profit, industry product stewardship association

• Managing multi material and multi provincial household hazardous and special waste stewardship programs.

• Governance of Product Care: – Membership divided into sectors by material type (paint, flammables etc)

– Members are manufacturers, distributors, major retailers (brand owners and first importers)

– Board of 10 members, industry only, sector elected, sector + board approval required for sector specific issues

– Product Care and its board have evolved as products added

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Product Care’s programs• British Columbia: Paint (1994) and other Household

Hazardous Waste (HHW) (1997)• Nova Scotia: Paint (2002), managed in partnership with

Resource Recovery Fund Board of Nova Scotia• Saskatchewan: Paint (2006)• Saskatchewan: e-waste (2007) – Product Care appointed

program manager to SWEEP – Saskatchewan Waste Electronic Equipment Program, Canada’s first industry managed e-waste program

Other Paint Stewardship Programs in Canada:• Quebec: Eco-peinture, • BC:Tree Marking Paint Stewardship Program,

Other Paint Programs in development in Canada:• Manitoba: paint and HHW (2008?)• Ontario: HHW (2008?)• New Brunswick: Paint (2008?)

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Legal basis for Paint Stewardship ProgramsAbout the regulations:

– Most Cdn stewardship programs operate under provincial regulation (waste management is provincial, not federal)

– Typically the Regulations are passed pursuant to a provincial waste management statute.

Who is obligated– Generally the regulations obligate all manufacturers /

first importers / first sellers in the province of product to be part of an approved stewardship program.

Government role: – gov’t oversees the program– Requires regular reporting including reference to any

targets set– Conducts compliance enforcement– Non compliance is a prosecutable offence

Voluntary Programs (non regulated)– Can work well (eg. rechargable batteries, agricultural

pesticide containers), but vulnerable to non participation

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Regulatory system (cont’d)

Program product definitions:• Architectural (“household”) paint + all aerosol paints• Regardless of whether consumer or commercial user of the

paint• Product defns the same in all paint programs, except empty

containers accepted in BC, SK, QC, not in NS, not all aerosols in NS.

Regulatory design options:– Framework type regulation, with products designated in

schedules/letters e.g BC, ON (being considered by California now)

– Product specific regulations, e.g. MB

Regulatory scheme variations:• Allow more than one program for the same product (BC, SK, NS)• Require participation in authorized program (AB, ON)• Provide for an oversight (sometimes multi stakeholder) board

(ON, QC, NF)• Allow gov’t agencies manage the programs (AB, NS)

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•collection system•transportation•processing/recycling•communications •risk management•administration

How it worksHow it works

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• collection system• transportation• processing/

recycling• communications• risk management • administration

• in BC program • Product Care operates 100+ depot system, • individual depot contracts• approx. 50% are municipal sites, rest are bottle depots and other organizations• Product Care also operates infill one day “events”

• in NS province wide 70+ bottle depot system and some participating municipalities • in SK the province wide 70 bottle depot system is used (also manage electronics waste)• In QC, > 560 municipal and >500 return to retail

Collection systemCollection system

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•collection system•transportation•processing/recycling•communications •risk management•administration

• all programs use reusable bin systems

• pick up frequency varies from several times a week to several times a year.

• programs contract trucks to pick up full bins, drop off empty bins from depots

• management of logistics / transportation:

•In BC, Product Care manages transportation.

•In SK, NS, transportation managed by collection system.

•In QC transportation managed by processor.

• must comply with federal Transportation of Dangerous Goods regns.

• database system used for tracking

• consolidation points used to reduce transportation costs and build full loads

Transportation/ConsolidationTransportation/Consolidation

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•collection system•transportation•processing/recycling•communications •risk management•administration

• In BC, Product Care manages central sorting bulking facility

• In SK, NS, QC sorting/bulking contracted out

• For BC and SK, recycling solutions include paint reprocessing, latex in cement/concrete, solvent extraction, for asphalt use, fuel blending, metal and plastic recycling etc., “no landfilling”

• In NS bulking managed by Paint Recycling Company, then shipped to Laurentide (QC) for reprocessing

• In Quebec, bulking and reprocessing as paint by by Societe Laurentide (QC) • Reuse: Product Care operates “at depot” and “central paint exchange” reuse programs in BC and SK• R & D: two year latex paint in concrete study just completed

Processing / Recycling

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the challenge – targeting - long product obsolescence cycle - several years between purchase and disposal

Product Care’s experience includes:• consumer oriented web page, • 800# hotline, • municipal mailouts, calendars, • point of sale material – brochures, stickers on cans• point of return promotion (cross marketing)

• collection system• transportation• processing/

recycling• communications • risk management

administration

CommunicationsCommunications

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•collection system•transportation•processing/recycling•communications •risk management• administration

Objective:Objective: To protect program, To protect program, brandowners, directors, consumers, brandowners, directors, consumers, the environmentthe environment

Tools: • environmental impairment national insurance policy • insurance reserve fund established• development of good management practices, depot guidelines• system wide manifest and tracking system • due diligence reviews of depots, transporters and recyclers • require certificates of disposal, only use reputable recyclers

Environmental Risk ManagementEnvironmental Risk Management

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•collection system•transportation•processing/recycling•communications •risk management•administration

• program is funded by “eco fees” paid by members to the program based on unit sales in the province• Fees are per unit, e.g. $0.40 for 1 gallon paint• multi provincial approach provides administrative convenience for members (one stop, common product lists, single audit) • Admin functions:

• Identifying and recruiting brandowners and first importers (“level playing field”)

• reporting non members to regulator for enforcement•processing of member reports and fee remittances• maintaining database of sales reports•online reporting system now available • member audits conducted to ensure correct reporting and remittances – level playing field

Administration

Fee rates: • In BC, SK, NS, fees vary by container size:

• 100- 250 ml $0.10• quart

$0.25• gallon

$0.40 (BC,SK) $0.50

(NS) • 5 gallon

$1.00• aerosol

$0.10•In Quebec program, flat fee $0.25 for all containers

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Admin/Financing (cont’d)Setting fees:• BC regulation does not stipulate fees, leaves it up to

program• In some provinces/programs, fees are set or approved by

gov’t (e.g. ON, AB)

Visibility of fees:• in BC, SK no restriction on visibility. However, if fees

are visible at retail, under BC Reg’n must produce and post on internet independently audited and include in annual report

• generally members charge/recover fees “downstream” as a separate line item to customers

• fees stay as a separate line item down the chain to the consumer, however this is not mandatory.

• NS required invisible fees in program plan, but non-member retailers still show fees

• QC – fees not visible

Sales tax on fees• Fees are taxable for federal sales tax• Fees are taxable for provincial sales tax in BC, not in

SK

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Admin/Financing (cont’d)

Financing – general program principles• fees periodically adjusted based on product

management costs for product/province, fees reduced, never increased

• no cross subsidization between provincial programs

“Volunteer” members – remittance occurs at practical point in distribution chain

• Program member is usually the obligated party under the regulation (manufacturer, first importer etc), but sometimes:– out of province supplier agrees to become member

and to pay fees– retailer agrees to become member and pay fees for

all suppliers • To properly report and pay fees, member must know the

volume of sales in the province, ie. a manufacturer shipping to an out-of -province warehouse would not know the sales volume in BC

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Product Care BC Program - leftover paint - liquid paint volume collected annually (US gallons) 1998-2006

BC Population: 4.3 million peopleBC Paint Sold 9.6 million US gals (2.2 gals per capita) BC Paint Recovered 546,000 US gals (0.13 gals per capita)

% recovered v sold 5.7%

The result….

Mark Kurschner, Product Care [email protected] x 201

Thank you!