Eliminate residential curbside recycling collection of packaging materials
BC is a world wide leader in extended producer responsibility (EPR) policy. Also known as "product stewardship", current legislation covers items such as tires, paint, beverage containers, and electronics. High recycling rates of these materials are achieved through consumer "take back" programs, where recyclable items are returned to retail stores or taken to depots. EPR policy is centred on the notion of placing waste management/recycling responsibility of products that become waste squarely on the shoulders of the industries that produce these items in the first place. The benefit of EPR is that it shifts the costs of managing these items away from the general tax payer and onto industry and the consumers of these items. It then creates an incentive for these industries to better design and manage their products with the environment in mind. EPR could be expanded to include many more items that historically have been included in municipal recycling programs.
AdminGreenest City Planning Team
(Admin, CG2020)
shared this idea
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NOTE: Thomas's idea "Businesses responsible for there waste" has been merged with this one
"Business should be responsible to recycle goods and packaging they sold. Consumer should be allowed to return packaging (cardboard, Styrofoam etc) to the business where they brought a good. When the good is on the end of there live the business should take it back and recycle it responsibly. This program could be extended that if you buy a new good you can return the business is obligated to accept the old good. For example you buy a new printer the business is responsible to take back the old broken printer. Same with all the TV: People that buy a flat screen TV return there old TV."
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NOTE: Charles Latimer's idea "Maker stores take back all of their products for recycling." has been merged with this one
"That it been clothing, electronics or appliances, stores should be responsible for the full life-cycle of their products.
If you purchase batteries at a store, you should be able to bring them back once they are spent. The same should go for camping gas canisters.
Every product that is put out by stores should have a end of life solution that is implemented by the same stores."
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HelenS
commented
I wholeheartedly agree! Cities like Vancouver need to drive EPR for packaging by refusing to provide free recycling service for packaging materials.
The Mayor should encourage citizens to complain to the dairies and other industries that generate huge quantities of packaging and insist that the industry provide a recycling program instead of relying on citizens to cut back on libraries, schools, parks and other community services to provide recycling service. We can temporarily continue to recycle newspaper and other paper in our curbside program, because that actually brings in money -- but in the long run, those should be the producers' responsibility too.