Application of Section 35 of the WDA - Brewers Retail Inc.

ERO number
019-1984
Notice type
Regulation
Posted by
Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks
Notice stage
Decision
Decision posted
Comment period
July 15, 2004 - August 14, 2004 (30 days) Closed
Last updated

This consultation was open from:
July 15, 2004
to August 14, 2004

Decision summary

In an ongoing effort to modernize the Environmental Registry the Ministry has identified this as an outdated notice which is no longer pertinent or active. The Ontario government has instead revised how blue box materials are dealt with in the Blue Box Regulation that makes producers responsible for their products at end of life.

Decision details

This decision notice has been posted to advise the public that the government is no longer considering the proposal for a draft regulation intended to be in place in the event that the Brewers Retail Inc. ceases operating and purposely change its deposit-return system in a manner that would negatively affect the performance of the system. The new Blue Box Regulation addresses the existing deposit return program operated by Brewers Retail Inc. by exempting alcoholic beverage product and packaging.

Transitioning to a new producer responsibility framework

The government committed to transitioning Ontario’s existing waste diversion programs from the Waste Diversion Transition Act, 2016 (WDTA) to the producer responsibility model under the Resource Recovery and Circular Economy Act, 2016.

In keeping with the government's commitments, the Minister of the Environment, Conservation and Parks (the Minister) has directed that Ontario’s mandated waste diversion programs (including in relation to the current Blue Box program) transition to the new producer responsibility framework. The Ontario government has a Blue Box Regulation under the Resource Recovery and Circular Economy Act, 2016 that makes producers fully responsible for managing their products at end of life.

Blue Box Regulation

Under the Blue Box Regulation, we make producers of blue box materials fully responsible for managing their products by:

  • transitioning existing municipal, unorganized territories and First Nation blue box services to producer responsibility between 2023 and 2025
  • making producers responsible for a consistent set of blue box materials and eligible sources beginning in 2026

The blue box regulation puts in place a new framework that:

  • makes individual producers responsible for the collection and end-of-life management of the blue box materials they supply to consumers in Ontario
  • gives producers control over how they provide blue box collection services to residents, manage collected blue box wastes, and achieve compliance with diversion targets

The Resource Productivity and Recovery Authority (“the Authority”), a non-Crown and not-for-profit corporation, is responsible for oversight, compliance and enforcement of the regulation.

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Supporting materials

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Some supporting materials may not be available online. If this is the case, you can request to view the materials in person.

Get in touch with the office listed below to find out if materials are available.

Waste Management Policy Branch
Address

135 St. Clair Avenue West
Toronto, ON
M4V 1P5
Canada

Office phone number

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Contact

John Fox

Phone number
Email address
Office
Resource Recovery Policy Branch
Address

40 St. Clair Avenue West
8th floor
Toronto, ON
M4V 1M2
Canada

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Original proposal

ERO number
019-1984
Notice type
Regulation
Posted by
Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks
Proposal posted

Comment period

July 15, 2004 - August 14, 2004 (30 days)

Proposal details

This notice was originally posted in the old Environmental Registry under number RA04E0013.

Description of regulation

As per S. 42(1)(i) this regulation renders S. 35 of the Waste Diversion Act 2002 ("The Act") inapplicable should Brewers Retail Inc. cease to operate its system for recovering, reusing and recycling packaging associated with products it lists for sale. More specifically, the exemption provided for in Section 35 remains active as long as Brewers Retail Inc. continues to operate a deposit-refund system for beer containers and continues to collect all other secondary packaging (crowns, cartons, trays, plastic bags etc.) associated with products listed for sale by the Beer Store.

The Draft Regulation is as follows:

  1. In this Regulation,
    "beer container" means a bottle, can or other primary container used to contain beer that is listed for sale by Brewers Retail Inc.;

    "secondary packaging" means packaging, other than beer containers, that is associated with products listed for sale by Brewers Retail Inc., including,
    1. plastic bags,
    2. boxboard cartons, trays, liners and inserts,
    3. fine paper,
    4. bottle crowns and caps,
    5. shrink-wrap, and
    6. plastic can rings.
  2. Section 35 of the Act does not apply if,
    1. Brewers Retail Inc. stops charging a deposit on every beer container, charges a deposit of less than 10 cents per beer container, stops accepting the return of beer containers at its retail stores or stops refunding deposits on returned beer containers; or
    2. Brewers Retail Inc. stops accepting the return of secondary packaging at its retail stores.

Purpose of regulation

This draft regulation is intended to be in place in the event that the Brewers Retail Inc. should cease operating and purposely change its deposit-return system in a manner that would negatively affect the performance of the system.

The Brewers operate a highly effective deposit-return for refill system achieving an overall recovery rate of approximately 87 per cent of all its packaging materials, including recovery of 96 per cent of refillable glass bottles.

The Ministry expects that the Brewers Retail Inc. will continue to operate its system of recovering, reusing and recycling packaging material associated with its products listed for sale by Brewers Retail Inc.

Other information

The Waste Diversion Act, 2002, established a permanent non-crown corporation named Waste Diversion Ontario.

On December 22, 2003, the Minister of the Environment approved the Waste Diversion Ontario Blue Box Program Plan.

Under the Blue Box Program Plan, the first year net cost of the Blue Box program was agreed to be $62.5 million, and municipalities would receive 50% of the annual net cost. The 50% of net program costs are paid for by industry stewards through the fees they are charged.

Consultation opportunities

This regulatory amendment was previously posted as an information notice. Please see the hyper-link at the end of this notice to view the original notice

Supporting materials

View materials in person

Some supporting materials may not be available online. If this is the case, you can request to view the materials in person.

Get in touch with the office listed below to find out if materials are available.

Waste Management Policy Branch
Address

135 St. Clair Avenue West
Toronto, ON
M4V 1P5
Canada

Office phone number

Comment

Commenting is now closed.

This consultation was open from July 15, 2004
to August 14, 2004

Connect with us

Contact

John Fox

Phone number
Email address
Office
Resource Recovery Policy Branch
Address

40 St. Clair Avenue West
8th floor
Toronto, ON
M4V 1M2
Canada