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THE PULSE
Newsletter of the Canadian Association of Recycling Industries
Volume 14, No. 9, September 2009

President's Message | CARI Members | CARI Activities | Other Advertising Opportunities
Industry Competitive Act Information | Fast Facts

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

From time to time, CARI and particularly its members, will create a policy with regards to an issue on behalf of the industry. At a recent board meeting, CARI formalized its policy of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR). In 1999 the OECD defined EPR as a strategy designed to promote the integration of environmental costs associated with products throughout their life cycles into the market price of the products.

This strategy is often more commonly known as “Product Stewardship” and the many new electronic programs are examples. Essentially Product Stewardship uses political means to hold producers liable for the costs of managing their products at end of life. EPR promotes that producers (usually brand owners) have the greatest control over product design and marketing and therefore have the greatest ability and responsibility to reduce toxicity and waste. This can take the form of a reuse, buy-back, recycling program, or in energy production. The producer may also choose to delegate this responsibility to a third party, a so-called producer responsibility organization (PRO), which is paid by the producer for spent-product management.

In this way, EPR shifts responsibility for waste from government to private industry, obliging producers, importers and/or sellers to internalize waste management costs in their product prices and ensuring the sustainable and safe handling of the remains of their products.

CARI believes that it makes sense for manufacturers to take responsibility for their products. However, some manufacturers attempt to shift costs to the recycling sector. To date, most programs end up with some form of collection/recycling program without benefit of consulting with the recycling sector. Often manufacturers attempt to have the costs for end-of-life management listed as an add-on to their product costs instead of internalize them like other costs. The implications can be that the recycling sector has caused these extra costs. Another concern is that program can create unfair competition or become a form of flow control or both. One such example is the Ontario WEEE program. Finally, programs to date have failed to focus on the design of the product, which is, in fact, the part of the cycle that manufacturers have the greatest knowledge and control over.

Given all of these factors CARI’s approved policy is to support Extended Producer Responsibility or Product Stewardship programs provided that:

1. The manufacturer and/ or initial importer of the product is responsible for the end-of-life management costs.

2. The costs are not separately listed, but internalized as any other cost.

3. The main focus for the producers must be to design their products to minimize environmental impacts and maximize material recovery through recycling.

4. Any collection system should have the proper input from the recycling and waste industry experts.

5. Any resulting program is based on the private sector competitive process.

I trust that this brief explanation is useful to members, especially those who may need to answer questions by your local media or politicians. We plan to keep members informed on all policies set by CARI and would very much appreciate any suggestions by members for other topics that might need addressing on behalf of the industry.

Thank You.

Sheldon Jarcaig
CARI President

CARI MEMBERS

CARI member, Sims Recycling Solutions (SRS) has acquired the German Frankfurt-based electronics recycling firm Technorecycle Buromaschinen Verwertung Gmbh. It will be SRS's second operation in Germany.

CARI ACTIVITIES

As a result of a 2007 complaint, regarding the information collection practices of the City of Ottawa, the Information and Privacy Commissioner (IPC) conducted an investigation into the City’s by-law requirements for personal information collection as they pertained to “second-hand dealers”. The investigation resulted in the issuance of an order that required the City of Ottawa to amend its licensing by-law to remove the requirement for these businesses to collect personal information and to destroy personal information previously collected under the by-law.

The IPC then issued a document entitled “Privacy Guidelines for Municipalities regulating Businesses Dealing in Second-hand Goods,” which provides assistance to municipalities in justifying collection of personal information related to the regulation of Second-hand Good Sellers. These guidelines require that any municipal by-law be enacted in the “least invasive manner to personal privacy”.

Last November, after discussions with the IPC, the City of Toronto considered amending its Municipal Code but deferred the decision. Since no further action has taken place and the current sections require the collection of personal information CARI has raised a formal Privacy Complaint against the City of Toronto with the IPC.

OTHER ADVERTISING OPPORTUNITIES

To further raise the profile of the association, CARI will be doing a story on the recycling industry, which will be featured in the Collision Repair Magazine publication. The article will look at the association and the services it provides to the industry in relation to the automotive recycling industry. In addition, this is another opportunity for members to directly target automotive recyclers. Interested member can contact Gloria Mann of Media Matters at 416-628-8344 or via gd.mann@rogers.com for more information.

Visit www.agroinsuranceinc-crhb.ca for info.

INDUSTRY COMPETITIVE ACT

INFORMATION

The Competition Act Amendments and Your Business – Pitfalls and Opportunities

In March of this year the Federal Government passed major amendments to the Competition Act. The amendments will change how all companies, including CARI’s members, interact with one another. These amendments contain pitfalls but also opportunities for CARI members. Over the next four issues of the Pulse, Jonathan Hood, a competition and litigation lawyer at McMillan LLP will provide an overview of the amendments important to CARI members on the following four topics:

• Conspiracy Provision Amendments Part I – New Provisions Cast a Wide, Uncertain Net
• Conspiracy Provision Amendments Part II – Defences and Leniency
• Amendments to the Pricing Provisions – Increased Flexibility on Pricing
• Changes to the Marketing Provisions – Rules Change and Penalties Increase
  

FAST FACTS

• The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) announced its investigations into alleged the dumping and subsidizing of certain oil country tubular goods (OCTG) from China. The Canadian International Trade Tribunal (CITT) will begin a preliminary inquiry. A decision is expected to be issued by Oct. 23 while the CBSA have theirs by Nov. 23. If the CITT establishes an unusually significant increase in harmful imports has occurred before the CBSA's decision and the retroactive application of anti-dumping or countervailing duty is justified, duty could be levied on the goods brought into Canada as of Aug. 24.

• Although not yet official, it is reported that India’s notice on scrap metal imports will be repealed. It became a barrier to Indian brokers because importers that don't operate mills or smelters have to get special licenses to import scrap. No system for issuing such permits currently exists. The regulations left room for eventual licensing of brokers to import scrap, but without defining how that might occur.

• Although the need to recycle automotive lithium batteries in large quantity is still a decade away, Japan’s Nippon Mining & Metals Co. and GS Yuasa Corp. have already started collecting batteries from scrapped electric and hybrid vehicles. Nippon had developed a technology that extracts lithium from the batteries and plans to have its trial plant running in 2011. GS Yuasa, a major automotive battery producer, will utilize used batteries from automakers to further develop its recycling process based on the lithium usage in different parts of the batteries. The US Department of Energy granted $9.5 million to a California-based Toxco to build America's first advanced recycling facility for lithium ion vehicle batteries. Toxco has been recycling lithium batteries in electronics and industrial applications since 1992 at its British Columbia facility in Trail. The grant will aid Toxco transfer the recycling process to its Ohio operations.

• Ontario Tire Stewardship (OTS), an industry funded organization, will be implementing and operating the province’s The Used Tires Program. It is hoped to recycle the used tires into useful products. Through registered retailers, municipalities and drop-off sites, the program will allow residences to drop off up to four used tires per person, for free. OTS’s tracking systems will help to eliminate illegal dumping of scrap tires and to ensure they are managed and the best environmental practices are adopted. This program includes a three-year plan to eliminate the stockpiled tires in dumpsites across Ontario, while ensuring the tires are diverted from burning and landfilling to other uses.