Q-2, r. 35.1 - Québec residual materials management policy

Section 7.5 Disposition versions

2012-09-01

7.5. Make producers more responsible

Containers, packaging, printed material, and written media represent a significant proportion of the residual materials generated by households. Municipalities provide services for recovering and reclaiming these products. Under the Environment Quality Act (EQA) (chapter Q-2) , the industry must pay up to 50% of the net costs borne by the municipalities for these services. To bring this more in line with sustainable development principles, the government intends to make companies assume the entire cost of recovering and reclaiming containers, packaging, printed material, and written media.

Once companies have to pay the full cost, the government intends to assess whether they should also bear full responsibility for managing the program according to the principle of extended producer responsibility.

Municipal curbside collection services are often poorly adapted to materials that require special handling because of their hazardous nature, size, weight, or reclamation potential. Producers can more easily take charge of these materials at the end of their useful life and find appropriate management solutions. They can also design them to be more environmentally friendly. In keeping with the approach of extended producer responsibility, the government intends to gradually transfer responsibility for recovering and reclaiming residual materials from municipalities to producers.

Used tires are one of the products that require special handling. Because of the danger tires present, the government imposed a $3 environmental fee on the purchase of new tires and on the retail sale or lease of road vehicles equipped with new tires. This fee serves to fund the Québec Integrated Used Tire Management Program and the Program for the Emptying of Scrap Tire Storage Sites in Québec.

The government will maintain these 2 programs as well as the environmental fee on new tires until the storage sites are completely empty. Subsequently, the responsibility for managing used tires, including oversize and off-road vehicle tires, will be entrusted to producers based on to the extended producer responsibility approach.

O.C. 100-2011, s. 7.5.