Advocating for EPR
Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) won't happen unless we push for it. With rare exceptions like the Beer Store, most companies have done nothing to practice EPR. In other countries, governments have required companies to practice EPR. To date, provincial and federal governments in Canada have opted for voluntary measures that have resulted in very few, new EPR initiatives. To make matters worse, when municipalities like Toronto tried to implement EPR practices a decade ago, their power to do so was taken away.
Below are some of the things you can do to promote EPR.
1. Use your purchasing power.
Going to the LCBO for wine? Avoid wasteful containers like Tetra Pak cartons that are hard to recycle, and buy local VQA wine in a glass bottle instead. Also, contact the LCBO and tell them you’d like your wine sold in refillable glass containers, just like beer!
Please contact Lyle Clarke, Manager, Corporate Policy, at lyle.clarke@lcbo.com; telephone 416 864-7718.
2. Leave non-recyclable product packaging at the store.
Torontonians will soon have to start paying for how much garbage we throw away. It's time stores start putting pressure on producers to switch over to recyclable containers. Styrofoam trays, plastic or styrofoam egg cartons, and clear plastic fruit and vegetable containers are just a few examples of packaging that can't be recycled in Toronto.
3. Tell your City Councillor to push for EPR at the provincial and federal governments.
While the City can do some things to reduce waste such as add new items to the Blue Box, they don’t really have any control over whether or not a company decides to make their product or packaging is recyclable, reusable, or disposable. About the only power City Hall has is to show their support for Extended Producer Responsibility regulations, and take part in the consultations on the ‘Canada-wide Strategy for Sustainable Packaging’ currently taking place. This will put pressure on the Provincial and Federal governments to enact EPR regulations, since they do have the power to force industry into compliance.
And if a Councillor asks why they should get involved, let them know that EPR is a guaranteed way of reducing the current financial and environmental cost to the City’s already costly waste management burden.
4. Contact your MPP and MP and tell them you want the Ontario Government and Federal Government to push for mandatory EPR regulation.
The voluntary approach to EPR has not worked. It's time governments enact regulations that promote Extended Producer Responsibility, so that all industry are required to commit to EPR and meet important environmental targets.