Extended Producer Responsibility

The Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) program transfers full responsibility for collecting, sorting, and processing curbside recyclables from municipalities to producers and first distributors of the material.

Traditionally, costs related to the collection, treatment, and disposal of designated curbside recyclables (printed paper and packaging material including glass, aluminum, plastic, and steel) have been split between producers and municipalities and First Nations communities.

The EPR program promotes waste reduction, re-use, and recycling activities while lessening the burden on municipalities and taxpayers to fulfill the manual and financial requirements of waste management. Since municipalities have a limited ability to impact the generation of waste, the EPR program transfers waste management costs onto producers, who can minimize waste by re-designing their product and packaging.

What is the definition of a producer?

In short, producers are entities that distribute, sell, or otherwise supply the designated recyclable material. You are a producer if you match one of the following roles:

• You are a brand holder resident in Canada;
• You are an importer of designated material, resident in a Canadian province, where the brand holder is not resident in Canada;
• If no brand holders or resident importers are identified, the retailer is the producer.

What materials are covered by the EPR program?

In short: packaging, paper products and packaging-like products. These include:

• • Primary packaging, including cardboard trays and plastic labels
  • Transportation packaging, including pallets, bale wraps, and boxes
  • Convenience packaging, including plastic shopping bags
  • Service accessories, including straws and cutlery
  • Ancillary elements, including measuring cups and pouring spouts
  • Paper products, including newspaper, magazines, greeting cards, notebooks, and promotional material
  • Packaging-like products that are used to contain, handle, deliver, or transport items before they are supplied to the customer, such as cardboard boxes, cling wrap, and sandwich bags

How should producers manage the transition?

Organizations that have been designated as producers must privately arrange the collection of the designated material or can join other producers in producer responsibility organizations (PROs).

PROs are responsible for meeting the recovery and recycling obligations of individual producers. They function as the liaison between producers, collectors, recyclers, and the province’s regulator. PROs ensure producers comply with legislative requirements, co-ordinate the collection, transportation, and management of post-consumer products in their district and prepare and submit reports on behalf of their members.

How can Miller help producers and PROs meet their EPR obligations?

Miller Waste has been a pillar in the Canadian waste diversion industry since 1961 and can assist producers and PROs with the collection, haulage, processing, and marketing of designated recyclable material to meet the requirements of the EPR framework. We have a fleet of more than 1000 collection vehicles and current owns and operate two Material Recovery Facilities (MRFs) and operates four on behalf of municipalities in Ontario.

We were also involved in the design and construction of the largest and most technologically advanced MRFs in the country (Toronto, London, and York Region) and have completed capital upgrades to several others to maximize the quality and quantity of recycled material they produce.

In total, Miller process more than 380,000 tonnes of post-consumer waste annually in facilities we have built or retrofitted.

Miller also manages the sale of high‐quality products and material generated from these facilities through a dedicated marketing department and long-standing relationships with a reputable network of end markets in Canada and the US.

Miller’s expertise in responsible resource recovery makes us the ideal partner to help producers and PROs meet their obligations under the province’s new EPR framework. Contact us today to get started.