TIME TO EXPEDITE THE INCLUSION OF ALL ICI RECYCLABLES INTO THE PROVINCIAL RECYCLING REGULATIONS (2023)
Issue
Does cardboard, plastics and packing materials collected from businesses in rural areas or smaller communities go into landfills or does it get recycled? If a private individual can recycle their cardboard in the Provincial Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) program, so should a business be able to. In 2011, the province amended the Recycling Regulation to make large businesses supplying packaging and printed paper responsible for collecting and recycling their products. This was done to shift recycling costs from B.C. taxpayers to producers and to give producers more incentive to be environmentally friendly by producing less packaging and waste; however, this regulation has negative effects on businesses in rural areas or smaller communities.
Background
In 2014, B.C. led the nation by being the first province to make producers fully responsible for managing residential packaging and paper products, admittedly with some push back from the large producers. Today, producers successfully operate an efficient provincewide recycling system that collects and manages over 186,000 tonnes of material each year. Most materials are collected through curbside programs, from multi-family residences, or a network of more than 200 recycling depots across British Columbia. However, packaging and paper products beyond the residential stream are not regulated and are independently managed as waste or through recycling. Collectively, they are referred to as the Industrial, Commercial and Institutional (ICI) sector. Stakeholders and key partners have identified the ICI sector as a large contributor to overall waste in the province and expressed a desire to expand EPR to include ICI-generated waste and recyclables.
For example, Metro Vancouver alone reported 95,000 tonnes of plastic and paper were landfilled in 2020 by commercial and institutional businesses and organizations in the region. Rural communities with limited services and market accessibility report that considerable amounts of packaging from the ICI sector is still landfilled.
Recycle BC has made some advancements and improvements in the program following the development of the BC Extended Producer Responsibility 5-year action plan that was established to be focused on 2021-2026. We acknowledge that the ICI sector is complex and applaud the steps taken for more product inclusion in recent years.
A faster resolution to the sector deficiencies is needed which is becoming exceedingly problematic and cost prohibitive for both business and municipalities in rural or remote communities. There are many factors to consider, such as the accessibility and cost to recycle in rural and remote communities, the types and quantities of recyclable materials being generated and contamination levels of the materials.
The Chamber applauds the actions taken to date but feels the need to expedite the inclusion of ICI PPP recyclables into the Recycling Regulations.
ICI material, especially cardboard, is a huge issue financially, environmentally and logistically due to the fact that one needs volume to bale cardboard to make it economical to ship to the end contractor. As businesses cannot dispose of their cardboard at a Recycle BC depot or waste transfer station, the business can either 1) dispose of the cardboard in a landfill site or 2) pay a private hauler to transport their cardboard (baled or unbaled) to a designated industrial or commercial recycling depot. Certain landfill sites have banned cardboard as it is a) an easily recyclable material, b) is a fire hazard, c) takes up space and d) compromises the integrity of the landfill.
Private residents may self-haul recyclable cardboard to a Recycle BC depot or waste transfer station, but businesses are not permitted to put any (zero) cardboard into the self-haul depots at transfer stations. It should be noted that it is not just business, but institutions, organizations and schools fall into the ICI category too and therefore cannot officially drop off recyclables at a Recycle BC depot or transfer station. This is applicable to all B.C. schools due to the provincially regulated EPR program.
Businesses with ICI cardboard are expected to use private haulers to collect and transport cardboard to industrial/commercial recycling facilities; however, these private haulers are challenged in rural areas or smaller communities with extra transport costs, since they must ship the cardboard loose as baling facilities are not available in these communities.
Cardboard is easier to ensure it gets recycled. There is less ICI recycling for other types of materials (plastic, tin, glass, etc.) as these materials are less marketable. An EPR program for ICI will provide stability for the collectors and haulers involved in the system for recycling cardboard and these contractors will have the ability to broker materials (whether it be cardboard, plastic or other) more efficiently.
An ICI EPR Program is essential for the long-term sustainability of even residential recycling in low population density areas as ICE occupies approximately 40% of the waste stream. Areas with low volumes of recyclables need an ICI recycling program to support processing facilities (for example bailing facility, transportation system, waste base re-manufacturing, etc.).
THE CHAMBER RECOMMENDS
That the Provincial Government:
- Include Industrial Commercial Institutional (ICI) material in the Provincial Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) program to make it fair and inclusive for retailers, small businesses, offices and schools.