Beverage Container Recovery in Ontario: Achieving Greater Performance and Sustainability

Transcription

1 Beverage Container Recovery in Ontario: Achieving Greater Performance and Sustainability Draft CBCRA Industry Stewardship Plan for Submission to Waste Diversion Ontario September 5, 2013 i

2 Table of Contents 1 Glossary of Key Terms and Acronyms Key Terms Acronyms Introduction The Need Program Objectives CBCRA Program Benefits Designated Materials Overview of Used Beverage Container Recycling at Home Overview of Used Beverage Container Recovery Away From Home Ontario s Overall Beverage Container Generation and Recovery Program Design Materials Management At Home Collection Channel Northern and First Nations Communities Municipal Support Payments Technical Support Away from Home Collection Channel Service Providers CBCRA Integration Payment CBCRA Events Team Schools and Post-Secondary Education Institutions End-markets Communications, Promotion and Education Current State of Awareness Extensive, Dynamic and Integrated P&E and Communications P&E Implementation Plan P&E Anti-Litter Campaign ii

3 5.5 Research and Development Financial and Human Resources Summary Program Costs Elements and Fee Setting Methodology Program Performance Annual Collection Targets Performance Measurement and Reporting System Program Governance Model Transition Plan Roles and Responsibilities Appendices Appendix A: Current CBCRA Participants in the CBCRA Manitoba Program Appendix B: Draft ISP Participant Agreement Appendix C: Letter of Intent to participate in the ISP Appendix D: Key Stakeholders and Program Participants Potentially Impacted Appendix E: P&E Implementation Plan List of Tables Table 1: Baseline beverage container generation and five year generation projections... 8 Table 2: Residential beverage container and secondary beverage packaging recovery performance Table 3: Estimated away from home beverage container recovery performance Table 4: Ontario s used beverage container and residential secondary beverage packaging recovery performance Table 5: Year One CBCRA budget Table 6: Baseline beverage container and secondary beverage packaging generation and recycling performance Table 7: Five year recovery targets iii

4 1 Glossary of Key Terms and Acronyms 1.1 Key Terms Away From Home Generation Away From Home Recovery Available for Collection Blue Box Program Plan (BBPP) Collection Channel Diversion Generation Industrial, Commercial & Institutional (IC&I) Industry Producer Responsibility (IPR) Marketing Material Consolidation Public Spaces Recovery Refers to materials generated in away from home (non-residential) locations such as offices, events, shopping malls, businesses etc. Refers to materials collected for recycling in away from home (nonresidential) locations such as offices, events, shopping malls, businesses etc. Refers to the total quantity of material available to recover through a given collection segment. Refers to the Program Plan created by Stewardship Ontario and approved by the Ministry of Environment that guides the operation of the Blue Box recycling system. Refers to a discrete set of sites that share characteristics and similar recycling profiles. Examples of different collection segments are parks, restaurants, convenience stores, and government buildings. See Recovery below. Refers to the total quantity of material sold into market. Refers to sites that are operated by an industrial, commercial or institutional entity. Examples include office buildings, arenas, restaurants, hospitals and transit hubs. Refers to Individual Producer Responsibility (IPR), where financial responsibility and liability for responsible end-of-life management of products lies with the individual companies/producers who create these products, or import them into Ontario. Refers to the shipping of processed used beverage containers to a downstream market at either a positive or negative value. Refers to specific points where collected used beverage containers are consolidated with other used beverage containers prior to further processing. Refers to sites that are open to the public, and typically managed by or on behalf of the government. Examples include parks, sidewalks, and fairgrounds. Refers to the proper disposal and collection of waste material for recycling. May also be referred to as diversion and is used consistently throughout the document to mean the collection of used beverage containers. 1

5 Recycling Collection Unit Secondary Beverage Packaging Service Provider Steward or Industry Stewards A container in which recyclables are placed for recycling. This includes residential Blue Boxes, barrel containers, customs bins, and carts amongst others. Recycling Collection Units can be used in residential or away from home locations. Refers to packaging used to provide beverage containers to consumers including boxes, trays, neck ring carriers, closures and overwrap. Secondary beverage packaging in this Plan refers only to secondary beverage packaging in the residential stream. Refers to a company that a municipality, business, or event has engaged to provide recycling services. May include collection sites, haulers, recyclers, etc. Individual obligated brand owner or first importer of products into the Ontario marketplace (considered the producer in Extended Producer Responsibility - EPR). Source: WDO s ISP Procedures, Appendix A. Used Beverage Containers WDO Datacall Refers to sealed ready to serve beverage containers after the contents have been consumed and the container is ready for disposal. Sealed beverage containers do not include any open cups e.g. used to serve soft drinks or coffee. Waste Diversion Ontario Datacall is a Municipal Datacall which is an annual survey of Ontario municipalities, and associations representing municipalities, to compile tonnage data on the quantity of materials diverted and disposed as well as to compile cost data for certain diversion programs, such as collection, processing and marketing of residential Blue Box materials. 1.2 Acronyms AMO B2B CARI CBA CBCRA CFIB CofA CRF HDPE IC&I Association of Municipalities of Ontario Business-to-Business Canadian Association of Recycling Industries Canadian Beverage Association Canadian Beverage Container Recycling Association Canadian Federation of Independent Business Certificate of Approval Container Recycling Fee High-Density Polyethylene Industrial, Commercial & Institutional 2

6 IFO ISO ISP MMSM MOE MRF MTS MWA NGO OFNTSC OWMA POS PET P&E RCO R&D RCC SO Industry Funded Organization Industry Stewardship Organization Industry Stewardship Plan Multi-Material Stewardship Manitoba Ministry of Environment Materials Recovery Facility Material Tracking System Municipal Waste Association Non-Governmental Organization Ontario First Nations Technical Services Corporation Ontario Waste Management Association Point-of-Sale Polyethylene Terephthalate Promotion & Education Recycling Council of Ontario Research & Development Retail Council of Canada Stewardship Ontario WDA Waste Diversion Act, 2002 WDO Waste Diversion Ontario 3

7 2 Introduction In accordance with the Waste Diversion Act, 2002 (WDA) and Waste Diversion Ontario s (WDO) Procedures for Industry Stewardship Plans, the Canadian Beverage Container Recycling Association (CBCRA) is submitting this Ontario Industry Stewardship Plan (ISP) on behalf of stewards who produce, import and distribute non-alcoholic beverage products in Ontario. CBCRA will be responsible for the management of used non-alcoholic, non-dairy beverage containers in all collection channels in Ontario. CBCRA was incorporated without share capital under Part II of the Canada Corporations Act. CBCRA s objective is to carry on its operations without pecuniary gain to its members, and any profits or other accretions to CBCRA are to be used in promoting its objectives. For income tax purposes, CBCRA qualifies as a not-for-profit organization which is exempt from income tax under Section 149(1)(l) of the Income Tax Act While CBCRA has an office in Toronto, the organization also has extensive experience with the successful recovery of used beverage containers in Manitoba, which is directly applicable to Ontario. CBCRA was founded by beverage producers and distributors in April 2010 to respond to and achieve the Government of Manitoba s mandated target of recovering 75 per cent of all beverage containers sold in that province. The proposed ISP will represent stewards who produce, import and distribute non-alcoholic, non-dairy beverage products in Ontario. It will therefore represent beverage companies that produce and package the following beverage products: Soft drinks; Water; Juice; Energy drinks; Sports drinks; and Iced teas. This ISP does not represent the producers of the following beverage products: dairy, alcohol or meal-replacement products. All CBCRA stewards participating in Ontario will be listed on a newly created public CBCRA website. CBCRA will also publish registration, reporting, CBCRA Program rules and other information on its website. The WDA was established to promote the reduction, reuse and recycling of waste materials generated in Ontario. Under Section 25 (5) the Minister of Environment requested a waste diversion program for Blue Box Waste be developed for payments to municipalities equaling 50 per cent of the total net costs incurred by those municipalities as a result of the program, which is managed by Stewardship Ontario (SO). Ontario Regulation 273/02 made under the WDA defines Blue Box Waste as waste that consists of glass, metal, paper, plastics, textiles or any combination of these materials. As such, members of the ISP have been designated as stewards under the WDO approved Blue Box Program Plan for all designated Blue Box Waste supplied into households in Ontario. Through this ISP, the participating stewards are seeking exemption from Section 31 (1) of the WDA. 4

8 CBCRA is committed to the continued support of the WDA objectives and seeks to increase the recycling performance of used non-alcoholic beverage containers through this ISP. Where the Blue Box Program Plan (BBPP) focuses on residentially-generated Blue Box Waste, this ISP proposes a broader focus to include beverage container recovery wherever generated - at home and away from home. The proposed duration of the ISP is five years, consistent with the WDO-approved BBPP. The approved ISP will be managed by CBCRA and its Ontario based contracted service provider, Reclay StewardEdge, and will seek to achieve an overall 75 per cent beverage container recycling target within five years of launch. To support all elements of the CBCRA Program, enhanced promotion and education (P&E) and other targeted recovery program elements will be a key factor in its success and will help to ensure increased used beverage container recovery across the province. CBCRA will work in close cooperation with the operators of the BBPP and other key stakeholders to build on the current residential Blue Box program and away from home collection programs that will set new performance standards for voluntary recycling programs. All of the ISP-designated materials are accepted as recyclable materials for the purposes of handling and transportation under existing Ontario 3R regulations, and are widely collected and processed as recyclable materials by municipalities and private service providers. CBCRA is not aware of any other relevant legislation or regulations that would impact on the proposed program. Beverage stewards currently subscribed to CBCRA for its program in Manitoba represent more than 95 per cent of all non-alcoholic, non-dairy beverage containers sold in that province. It is anticipated that most, if not all, of these stewards that sell products into Ontario will also subscribe to CBCRA s program in Ontario. Any and all non-alcoholic and non-dairy beverage stewards supplying these products in Ontario are also welcome to join the ISP in the future, under the same terms and conditions as the initial stewards. 2.1 The Need Many CBCRA members have been actively involved with Stewardship Ontario and have played a key role during its formative stages. CBCRA commends Stewardship Ontario for its successes in growing and stabilizing the Blue Box Program across municipalities in Ontario. However, Stewardship Ontario s mandate focuses on residential packaging and printed paper only and, as such, does not address the wider concerns and requirements of CBCRA members to improve the recovery performance of beverage container recovery across the province. Other motivations for the development of this ISP include, but are not limited to, the following: Current recovery rates for the residential stream are flat and lower than CBCRA wishes; CBCRA is committed to the continued support of the Waste Diversion Act, 2002 (WDA) objectives and seeks to increase the recycling performance of used non-alcoholic and non-dairy beverage containers through the ISP; Where the current system focuses on residentially-generated Blue Box Waste, the ISP will take a broader focus and include used beverage container recovery wherever generated - at home and away from home; Consumption of beverages away from home is increasing and increased effort is required to increase used beverage container recycling in this channel; 5

9 A desire to harmonize with other beverage industry program standards and approaches in other provinces; The ISP will build on CBCRA s experience in operating a used beverage container recovery program in Manitoba; Preparing the industry for anticipated changes to WDA in the near future; Improved effectiveness and efficiency. 2.2 Program Objectives Increased diversion of used beverage containers from disposal across Ontario The CBCRA Program will seek to achieve an overall 75 per cent used beverage container recycling target within five years of launch through improved public education and awareness and other targeted motivational efforts, and by increasing the opportunities to collect and recycle used beverage containers wherever they are consumed and disposed. This will require the Program to continuously improve consumer accessibility to recycling in multi-family as well as single-family housing dwellings, and in away from home locations. Littering of used beverage containers should also be reduced. Through increased public education and awareness about the benefits of recycling used beverage containers and increased accessibility to public space recycling collection, CBCRA is committed to reducing the amount of used beverage container litter across the province. Through this initiative CBCRA will establish a current baseline of littered containers, implement a multi-year litter reduction educational campaign and track and report on reduction performance. Accurate, province-wide tracking of used beverage container recovery Currently there is no agency or tracking system in place to monitor the true recycling rate for used beverage containers across the province. Used beverage container recovery rates reported by WDO and SO reflect only those collected under the BBPP. CBCRA will build and make available to stakeholders a comprehensive database on the generation and recovery performance of beverage containers generated away from home. This will be combined with more detailed data on used beverage container recovery from the residential waste stream which will allow all stakeholders to monitor the true recycling rate for used beverage containers in Ontario. Effective and efficient program delivery In order to deliver an effective and cost-efficient program, CBCRA will place significant emphasis on: Leveraging existing resources CBCRA will build on and enhance relationships with existing stakeholders, and further leverage existing efforts and resources to ensure a cost-efficient program. CBCRA will work with established waste management service providers and municipalities that are already collecting and recycling used beverage containers to expand these services and to improve used beverage container recovery performance. Making strategic investments to overcome known barriers to improved performance Limited access to recycling services in some regions of the province high contamination rates and vandalism of recycling bins, are the most significant barriers to improved away from home recycling performance. CBCRA will prioritize investments to increase 6

10 opportunities to recycle, increase awareness while continuously improving the quality of recovered material. Equitable and transparent funding In Year One, CBCRA participants will be charged a container recycling fee (CRF) for each container supplied into the Ontario market to finance the costs associated with the Program. The funds generated will be used exclusively to finance all CBCRA program start-up, communication and education directed to consumers, operating and management costs in the Province of Ontario. CBCRA will closely monitor and assess the costs associated with managing each of the packaging materials managed under the first two years of the program and in no later than Year Three of the program will modify the CRF to reflect the costs incurred to manage each specific packaging type as follows: Annual fee setting and review As a not-for-profit organization, CBCRA will ensure sufficient cash flows to maintain program operations which recognize key program timing and seasonality issues. All CRFs collected within the Ontario ISP, will remain in Ontario. During its first year of operation, CBCRA will initiate activity-based costing by material stream for the away from home stream. This will allow for material specific fee setting in future years that reflects the away from home costs in addition to the material-specific Blue Box fees. Based upon Ontario specific operating experience and planned program investments, CBCRA will re-assess the amount of the CRF on an annual basis. Participants will be notified of any changes in the CRF at least 90 calendar days prior to any CRF changes. 2.3 CBCRA Program Benefits The CBCRA Program will provide significant benefits for Ontario:: Increased used beverage container recovery across the province; Increased revenues for municipalities, waste management companies and recyclers as a result of increased recovery of aluminum and PET; Increased overall recovery of other packaging and printed papers resulting from the halo effect created by the comprehensive CBCRA Program P&E; Positive effect on provincial economy through creation of direct and indirect employment resulting from program expenditures; Increased business opportunities for waste haulers and recyclers through increased service locations and volumes of recovered materials; Reduction of litter as a result of the Program s anti-litter campaign and increased used beverage container recycling accessibility; Demonstrated industry leadership to increase recycling in the IC&I sector as well as from households; Harmonization with other provincial programs and simplified reporting for participating stewards. 7

11 3 Designated Materials The CBCRA Program will include all non-alcoholic, non-dairy beverage containers supplied into the Ontario market by the participating CBCRA stewards. Specifically, this includes all consumer primary beverage container packaging including PET, HDPE, glass, metal, polycoated cartons, and pouches. The Program will also continue to pay fees to Stewardship Ontario for secondary beverage packaging currently managed under the BBPP including boxes, trays, neck ring carriers and overwrap. Given that it is not practical to exclude similar materials from non-participating stewards, the CBCRA ISP material management system will also manage similar beverage container materials supplied into the Ontario market by parties that are not participants in the ISP. Beverages are consumed almost everywhere; at home, in foodservice establishments, recreational facilities, places of business, public gatherings, events and while on-the-go whether commuting in a vehicle or while walking. Therefore, used beverage containers are generated in almost every household in the province and in many locations outside of the home. For the purpose of this ISP, the generation and flow of beverage container packaging can be simplified to two main categories: 1) From households: where the used beverage container and secondary beverage packaging is available for collection through municipally-managed recycling programs. CBCRA will enter into an agreement with Stewardship Ontario and WDO to pay material-specific fees applicable to management of the beverage containers and related secondary beverage packaging managed under the Blue Box Program Plan. In addition, CBCRA will directly manage additional initiatives and programs to promote higher capture rates of used beverage containers than are currently being achieved under the BBPP. 2) Away from home: including but not limited to industrial, commercial and institutional (IC&I) locations, public buildings, for example arenas, pools, and outdoor public spaces such as a parks, streetscapes or community and outdoor events. CBCRA will directly manage a comprehensive, province-wide program to recover used beverage containers from all of these channels. Beverage products included in this ISP are distributed to every region of Ontario through hundreds of thousands of sales points including: Thousands of retail stores; Thousands of vending machines; Tens of thousands of restaurants, bars, cafeterias, and vendors in offices, institutions, factories, sports and entertainment facilities; and Through public festivals and events held across the province. The estimated generation of used beverage containers and their associated secondary packaging (boxes, overwraps, neck-rings, etc.) for the baseline year and the first five years from CBCRA Program launch are presented in the table below: Table 1: Baseline beverage container generation and five year generation projections 8

12 Consumption Channel Baseline Generation (Tonnes) Year One Generation (Tonnes) Year Two Generation (Tonnes) Year Three Generation (Tonnes) Year Four Generation (Tonnes) Year Five Generation (Tonnes) At Home 63,200 65,400 67,600 69,900 72,300 74,700 Away from Home 15,400 15,900 16,500 17,000 17,600 18,200 Total Containers 78,600 81,300 84,100 86,900 89,900 92,900 Secondary Beverage Packaging in the Residential Sector 18,300 18,900 19,600 20,300 20,900 21,700 Total Beverage Related Packaging 96, , , , , ,600 CBCRA has operated a similar program in Manitoba since Stewards are required to submit data on all quantities of packaging supplied into the Manitoba market and the efficacy of this data is verified through reviews of reported data and a third party verification process managed by CBCRA s auditors, Price Waterhouse Coopers. The majority of ISP stewards operate in both Manitoba and Ontario and for initial planning purposes; we assume that per capita generation is similar in the two provinces. The generation data within Table 1 is based on supplied to the market data reported to CBCRA in Manitoba for 2012 and extrapolated to the Ontario population. The percentage of material generated at home versus away from home is based on an IPSOS study conducted in Ontario in 2012 by the beverage industry. For the purposes of initial ISP planning, it is assumed that there is a one-to-one ratio between the quantity available for collection and the quantity supplied into the marketplace by the CBCRA stewards. Therefore, Table 1 shows both the quantity of material entering the marketplace and the quantity available for collection. 3.1 Overview of Used Beverage Container Recycling at Home The largest volumes of beverage containers are generated at home where comprehensive systems are in place across Ontario to collect and recycle the used beverage containers and secondary beverage packaging. However, there is growing evidence through research that consumer habits are changing and a growing volume of beverage containers are consumed and available for collection away from home. The away from home systems for collecting and recycling used beverage containers are less accessible and less comprehensive and involve more complex arrangements than residential collection systems. At home, recycling typically involves a consumer s local municipality providing a long standing, consistent and relatively simple collection program operated directly or through a contracted service provider. Financial responsibility for these programs is currently shared between municipalities and Stewardship Ontario, acting on behalf of stewards. 9

13 In 2011, according to the WDO 3Rs Datacall, there were 231 municipal (including First Nations) residential Blue Box Programs serving 394 of the 444 municipalities (including 19 First Nations) in Ontario. 1 These 231 municipal residential Blue Box Programs provide services to just over 5 million households (5,013,181), with 4,808,387 single and multi-family households receiving curbside collection services. Additionally, these households may also have access to depot recycling services. Of the total number of households with recycling service, 204,794 households are provided with access to depot recycling only by their municipality. 2 There is an increasing trend towards multi-family buildings receiving direct commercial waste and recycling services. For example, in 2008 Toronto provided recycling service to approximately 95 per cent of the multi-family building units and in 2011 this decreased to approximately 85 per cent of multi-family units. 3 This has largely been a result of a new volumebased rate structure and different service levels that were introduced by Toronto in An estimated 27 per cent of the 5 million households assumed to be receiving recycling collection services are multi-family households. Recycling tonnage information from these premises is generally not available to municipalities as private contracts are arranged between the property management company and the contractor. Therefore, tonnage from multi-family household dwellings is often not reported through the WDO Datacall process. The following table presents a summary of the projected beverage container generation and recovery for Ontario. The material-specific recovery rates are based on published information from Stewardship Ontario that have been applied to the projected generation of beverage containers available for collection from at home residential sources. Table 2: Residential beverage container and secondary beverage packaging recovery performance Consumption at home Generation (tonnes) BASELINE Recovery (tonnes) Aluminum Cans 18,892 8,199 43% PET 28,304 14,718 52% HDPE 1, % Other Rigid Plastics % Flexible Plastics % Glass 7,176 6,272 87% Ferrous % Aseptic Containers 4, % Gable Top Cartons 2, % All Beverage Containers 63,212 31,423 50% SECONDARY BEVERAGE PACKAGING IN THE RESIDENTIAL STREAM Recovery Rate (%) Discussion with Renee Dello, City of Toronto, August 14,

14 Consumption at home Generation (tonnes) BASELINE Recovery (tonnes) Cardboard 6,550 5,620 86% Paperboard 9,488 4,127 44% Plastic Wrap 2, % Hi-Cone % Total Secondary Beverage Packaging in Residential Stream 18,326 9,939 54% TOTALS 81,539 41,362 51% Recovery Rate (%) 3.2 Overview of Used Beverage Container Recovery Away From Home Waste and recycling collection and management services for commercial buildings, events, hospitals, and universities (away from home locations), are generally contracted to private sector service providers. However, there is little information available for the total number of IC&I establishments across Ontario that are participating in used beverage container recycling programs. The reasons for this include: There is no single provincial or municipal authority that oversee diversion performance from the IC&I sector; There are no regulatory requirements for companies providing waste and recycling collection and processing services to track and report volumes handled to the government or the WDO; Ontario Regulation 102/94 requires selected IC&I facilities such as shopping malls, office buildings, hotels, educational institutions and manufacturing facilities to conduct Waste Audits and Waste Reduction Work Plans. 4 While the Regulation has been in place for many years, there are no published results or performance measures in relation to its effectiveness; Approved waste management facilities can be required under their Certificate of Approval (CofA) to report volumes received and processed to the Ministry of Environment (MOE). However, this rarely happens in practice and any information reported is not consolidated. Due to the lack of data available for the away from home recovery information the estimates in Table 3 below are made on the basis of an IPSOS study conducted in Ontario in

15 Table 3: Estimated away from home beverage container recovery performance Consumption BASELINE Generation (tonnes) Recovery (tonnes) Aluminum Cans 4,723 1,322 28% PET 6,759 1,893 28% HDPE % Other Rigid Plastics % Flexible Plastics % Glass 2, % Ferrous % Aseptic Containers 1, % Gable Top Cartons % All Beverage Containers 15,408 3,981 26% Recovery Rate (%) 3.3 Ontario s Overall Beverage Container Generation and Recovery Ontario s residential and away from home used beverage container and secondary beverage packaging recovery performance is presented below in Table 4. The recovery rates within Table 4 show that based on the current recycling systems in place, Ontario is only achieving a 45 per cent recovery rate for beverage containers when the secondary beverage packaging from the residential sector is included the recovery rate is 47 per cent. CBCRA has set a 75 per cent recovery target within five years of Program launch. 12

16 Table 4: Ontario s used beverage container and residential secondary beverage packaging recovery performance TOTALS BASELINE Generation (tonnes) Recovery (tonnes) Recovery Rate (%) Aluminum Cans 23,615 9,522 40% PET 35,063 16,611 47% HDPE 1, % Other Rigid Plastics % Flexible Plastics % Glass 9,199 6,838 74% Ferrous % Aseptic Containers 5, % Gable Top Cartons 2, % All Beverage Containers 78,620 35,403 45% SECONDARY BEVERAGE PACKAGING IN THE RESIDENTIAL SECTOR Cardboard 6,550 5,620 86% Paperboard 9,488 4,127 44% Plastic Wrap 2, % Hi-Cone % All Secondary Beverage Packaging 18,326 9,939 54% TOTALS 96,946 45,343 47% 13

17 4 Program Design This section includes a description of key components of the Program design including how materials are managed, recovery at home, away from home and in Northern and First Nation communities. It also describes the technical support that CBCRA will provide, the payments to service providers to report on collected tonnes, the recovery infrastructure, Event Teams and School programs as well as the material end markets. Once this Plan is approved, a detailed Implementation Plan will be prepared and updated on an annual basis. 4.1 Materials Management Collected packaging materials will be managed primarily through existing materials recycling systems. The Canadian beverage industry is already a leader in the selection and use of recyclable materials and in minimizing the quantities of packaging materials used to deliver its products. ISP participants consider these to be issues on which they already compete, while establishing effective and efficient collection and recycling systems for used beverage containers requires industry-wide coordination, given the impracticability of collecting individual company brands. For beverage containers generated in households, the CBCRA Program will continue to support and enhance the recovery of used beverage containers and secondary beverage packaging materials from households through the existing province-wide, municipal residential collection system. Enhancements will include additional research and development activities and extensive promotion and education campaigns that are outlined below. This system and the associated participants (such as transporters, consolidators and processors) will continue to operate within existing industry and program standards. For beverage containers generated away from home, CBCRA will implement a comprehensive program that will: Maximise the use of existing infrastructure and service providers already providing recycling and waste management services throughout the province; and Provide new opportunities to recycle used beverage containers where gaps exist and consumers do not currently have convenient opportunities to recycle. A key consideration of the CBCRA program design is to seek to provide a comprehensive, province-wide recycling system which is effective, cost-efficient and which affects the marketplace in a fair manner. Therefore: CBCRA will not set-up a separate residential collection system and it will not encroach on existing business relationships within the IC&I sector. Instead it will maximize use of the residential and existing IC&I arrangements already established. The existing system and the associated stakeholders (such as transporters, consolidators and processors) will continue to operate within existing standards. Similarly, the most effective and efficient way to collect used beverage containers from households is through the existing Blue Box system; Where needed, for example, at sporting, entertainment or other publicly accessible events or to expand collection in underserviced IC&I facilities, the CBCRA Program will link these facilities or events with a list of potential registered service providers. These service providers, transporters, consolidators and processors will include private, public and not-for-profit organizations; 14

18 Should the CBCRA Program at any point need to arrange for recycling services directly, CBCRA will involve service providers through a competitive bidding process. CBCRA will develop operating standards for service providers (including transporters, consolidators and processors) contracted directly by CBCRA. All registered service providers will be required to report collected and marketed tonnages to CBCRA. CBCRA will invite all potential service providers to register with CBCRA. The key conditions for becoming a registered or approved service provider include a commitment to the standards set out by CBCRA as well as a willingness to report to CBCRA the collected tonnes of beverage containers. 4.2 At Home Collection Channel The largest volumes of used beverage containers are generated at home where comprehensive systems are already in place across Ontario to collect and recycle used beverage containers and secondary beverage packaging. At-home recycling typically involves a consumer s local municipality providing a long standing, consistent and relatively simple collection program operated directly or through a contracted service provider. Financial responsibility for these programs is shared between municipalities and Stewardship Ontario acting on behalf of stewards. CBCRA will pay the material-specific fees set by Stewardship Ontario, for the services it provides for the management of used beverage containers and secondary beverage packaging from households. CBCRA will also promote higher rates of collection of used beverage containers consumed at home by directly providing additional services (beyond those currently provided by Stewardship Ontario) including the following key elements: Provision of technical services to increase diversion rates; Research and development support to better understand: current beverage container recycling rates; the barriers to increased collection and recovery; and how they can be overcome; Increased spend on extensive, continuous earned and paid media communications and education activities across the province directed at residents to encourage increased use of the existing municipal Blue Box system. This will include annual P&E mass media campaigns specifically to promote increased collection and recycling performance from the residential sector. The level of mass media expenditure for recycling will be unparalleled in the province and will benefit all municipalities in Ontario through higher recycling participation and capture performance for all materials, from all households; details of the plan can be found in section 5. The core messages of the CBCRA campaign will be developed based on Ontario specific consumer qualitative and quantitative market research. Dedicated support for hard to reach communities such as those based in northern Ontario or within First Nation communities. CBCRA will develop and implement initiatives in conjunction with the Ontario Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs and First Nations groups as appropriate to support Northern communities. 4.3 Northern and First Nations Communities CBCRA will develop and implement initiatives to support Northern communities to enhance recycling programs put in place by SO to ensure the capture of used beverage containers. CBCRA will also work with the Ontario Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs and First Nation groups to develop and implement initiatives for First Nation communities across Ontario. Activities may 15

19 include undertaking an inventory and assessment of recycling across First Nation communities throughout Ontario. The inventory will look at current service levels to determine current levels of recycling and waste management practices and to assess gaps and potential opportunities to collect or enhance collection services for used beverage containers. 4.4 Municipal Support Payments Under the Program CBCRA will assume responsibility, on behalf of its participating stewards for payment of material specific fees set by SO for the management of used beverage containers and secondary beverage packaging under the BBPP. CBCRA supports the continuation of funding to municipalities for CBCRA used beverage containers and secondary beverage packaging within the approved BBPP. The CBCRA Program will use the existing Blue Box municipal collection and processing infrastructure and therefore will continue to make fee payments as required to Stewardship Ontario. Both parties will need to cooperate and work together on issues such as allocating the percentage of material streams that are associated with CBCRA stewards and potentially non- CBCRA beverage stewards. CBCRA will dedicate funds towards future joint studies and assessment work that have traditionally been conducted solely by Stewardship Ontario. This includes, but is not limited to, waste audits, Material Recovery Facility (MRF) audits and cost allocation work. This level of research requires the involvement and support of the municipal partners. CBCRA and Stewardship Ontario will benefit from CBCRA participation in existing communication and committee processes and systems that have been established. 4.5 Technical Support CBCRA will provide additional technical support to municipalities as appropriate to enhance used beverage container collection and processing. This enhanced support will increase capture of used beverage containers and reduce material loss in processing. Technical support will include a focus on helping known problem locations increase their recycling tonnage, for example in multi-family household buildings. A gap analysis of the current recycling services and support provided for multi-family household buildings will be undertaken to benchmark the current situation and to identify improvements to make progress towards the 75 per cent recycling target. A successful analysis will require co-operative relationships with Stewardship Ontario, municipalities and service providers. Other support that CBCRA will provide includes technical reviews of sorting and marketing practices to identify practices to improve collection rates and to ensure maximum recovery. The Program will support ongoing technical research such as conducting composition analyses of collected materials and bale audits at MRFs, to ensure accurate and updated information on the quantity of used beverage container and secondary beverage packaging found in Blue Box programs. 4.6 Away from Home Collection Channel A key focus of the CBCRA Program is to increase the support provided for used beverage container recovery in away from home locations. CBCRA has several years experience in the design, implementation and operation of away from home used beverage container recovery in 16

20 Manitoba. It will build on this experience to ensure best-in-class programs will be designed and implemented in Ontario. Data on the current recovery performance of this sector is very limited. CBCRA s initial priority will be to establish baseline recovery data from different away from home sectors: public buildings, events, public spaces, streetscapes, etc. This information will be used to establish realistic and relevant improvements to infrastructure, P&E, signage and accessibility to increase the recycling rates of used beverage containers. Locations and type of collection site operator CBCRA will increase infrastructure and accessibility at away from home locations. This will include both permanent and temporary locations and will include but will not be limited to the following types of locations: Municipal streetscapes; Municipal, federal and provincial parks; Municipal public buildings, arenas, pools, etc.; Transportation systems and hubs; Shopping malls; Hospitals and institutions; Restaurants, banquet halls, conference centres; Hotels and motels; Tourist attractions; Commercial, Federal, and Provincial Office buildings; Events; and Schools, universities, colleges and any other educational facilities. Collection site operators will include municipalities, institutions, commercial and industrial building managers. Collection location standards CBCRA will educate new collection site managers as to the minimum standards by which collected containers must be managed. All collection locations will be required to sign an agreement with CBCRA, including a commitment to collect the used beverage containers and provide them to a registered recycler/service provider. Collection locations in areas where beverage containers are sold CBCRA will prioritize increasing infrastructure in collection location areas in and near where used beverage containers are generated and consumed. For example, working with municipalities and their service providers to identify the best locations to site bins to service nearby retail outlets and foodservice establishments. Acceptance/ collection of designated products from non-cbcra stewards If similar used beverage containers from non-participating stewards or similar container types from dairy, alcohol or meal-replacement beverage products enter into the CBCRA away from home collection channel, CBCRA will accept and manage this material. Through the use of effective signage, CBCRA will seek to minimize the amounts of non-cbcra participant material 17

21 collected in the away from home channels. CBCRA will also conduct waste audits to monitor the amount of non-cbcra materials collected in the away from home channels. Provincial Parks/ Conservation Authority Program Provincial Parks and Conservation Ontario are desired partners for CBCRA to work with to assess and improve used beverage container recycling facilities in parks across Ontario thereby increasing used beverage container collection and reducing litter. Working in partnership with these organizations and others such as Ontario Parks and Tourism Ontario, visitor number information will be gathered; additionally waste audits and litter studies will also be conducted. Streetscape Locations Current streetscape recycling infrastructure on municipal sidewalks will be evaluated for effectiveness regarding recovery, contamination reduction and signage. Presently, streetscape recycling services vary depending on the municipality. Providing permanent streetscape recycling bins for used beverage containers to municipalities will offer the possibility of a standardized streetscape service throughout Ontario thereby increasing access and consistent messaging. Studies, including waste audits, will identify the composition and volumes of used beverage containers that are collected at specific sites, what currently happens to these containers and whether or not there are more efficient ways of handling these materials. Transportation Systems and Hubs Ensuring that public transportation systems have a standardised used beverage container recycling system is important for good recycling behaviour and increased recycling rates. Waste audits, litter audits and patronage information will be gathered by working in partnership with transit systems and their service providers to ensure that recycling receptacles and signage are effective. Other Outdoor Locations A variety of other outdoor away from home locations exist and the Program will work with service providers and other partners to ensure that public and private outdoor locations such as trailer parks, golf courses, recreational centres and theme parks have recycling bins in place. Additionally, CBCRA will gather data on accessibility and recovery from these locations. Indoor Locations- Leading Commercial Owners/ Managers The Program will work with IC&I organizations such as building owners, property and facilities managers of shopping malls, hospitals and other institutions, to implement used beverage container bins at these facilities. CBCRA will not prioritize supplying recycling bins to private properties that are already serviced by service providers, as CBCRA s intent is not to encroach on previously established business arrangements. However, if properties or service providers do contact CBCRA for advice or equipment, then the Program will provide free bins and signage as required. Special Events Current data on recycling rates for used beverage containers collected at festivals and events is 18

22 very limited. Therefore, a main objective of the CBCRA Events Team (please see Events Team section 4.9 for further information) will be to gather data for used beverage containers collected at festivals and events. This data will be used to help improve understanding of away from home used beverage container recycling rates and behaviours. Data will be gathered through several methods: Waste audits conducted by the CBCRA Waste Audit Team at various events and festivals across Ontario; Tonnage data from used beverage containers collected in CBCRA temporary recycling collection units provided at events and festivals; Surveys administered by the CBCRA Events Team to event hosts and festival organizers to find out more about the waste management systems they currently use; In-person surveys administered by the CBCRA Events Team to members of the public attending festivals and events to find out further information about their away from home used beverage container recycling habits; Data submitted by service providers that service events and festivals; and Explore working with Recycling Council of Ontario to gather data from events and the IC&I sector. After collecting this information during the first year of the Program, data will be analyzed and the appropriate targets set for Year Two and the applicable actions put in place so that the Events Team s activities can help to achieve these targets. The following types of organizations will also be targeted by the Events Team to work with: Concert and music festival organizers, such as Live Nation; Municipalities, such as the City of Toronto, which has an extensive year-round festival schedule; Tourism Ontario, which has extensive year round festivals; First Nation communities, such as First Nation events; Sporting events, such as marathons, triathlons and charity walks. Possible partners could include The Running Room or the Toronto Women s Run Series; Small community or religious group organizations, such as church or mosque events, or Chinese community events to ensure recycling facilities are in place. To ensure these partnerships work smoothly, the organizations contracted service providers will be informed of any special projects to ensure their cooperation. 4.7 Service Providers Service providers are a key component to the success of the Program. Municipalities, government buildings, events and other away from home locations will contract with service providers for the collection of used beverage containers. The additional collection locations and increased volumes will result in additional business for these companies should they choose to embrace this opportunity. Additionally, service providers will gain financially through participation in the CBCRA Integration Payment initiative. 4.8 CBCRA Integration Payment Municipalities provide away from home recycling collection services for a range of municipal facilities (such as city halls and administration offices, fire halls, police stations etc.), public 19

23 space locations (such as parks, baseball and soccer fields) and public streetscapes and also some public and private schools. The current WDO 3Rs Datacall reporting procedures requires municipalities to deduct certain IC&I volumes from their report. These volumes do not qualify for Stewardship Ontario funding. Therefore, used beverage containers recovered by municipalities from these generators and not reported are not being included in province-wide recycling calculations. CBCRA wants to ensure that Ontario recovery performance data can be accurately compared to other jurisdictions across Canada. CBCRA will therefore establish a reporting process for used beverage containers collected in the away from home sector by service providers, municipalities and scrap metal dealers/brokers. This will enable existing and new IC&I collection accessibility and recovery information to be integrated into the CBCRA Integration Payment initiative. Approved Program service providers will receive a financial incentive for reporting accessibility information relating to customer type on an annual basis and for reporting beverage container weights per material type on a quarterly basis. This payment will cover the administrative costs of collating and submitting data to CBCRA. The financial incentive will not, however, cover any costs relating to the operational activities such as the actual collection of used beverage containers. The incentive is intended to compensate service providers for the time and effort in tracking and reporting the accessibility, collection and recycling performance of used beverage containers they are currently managing. The first year of the CBCRA Integration Payment initiative will be dedicated to establishing baseline data. CBCRA will then be better able to: Identify current recovery rates in the IC&I sector; Set specific recovery performance goals for the IC&I sector; and Refine a targeted approach to provide support where necessary to ensure these goals are achieved. CBCRA s aim is not to encroach on the established business arrangements of service providers with their existing or future commercial customers. Instead it will work with service providers cooperatively to aggregate service and collection performance data. The CBCRA Integration Payment initiative will focus on working with registered service providers, such as processors, waste haulers, recycling processors/brokers and scrap metal dealers. To be eligible for this part of the CBCRA Program, service providers will need to register with CBCRA which includes a commitment to meeting CBCRA standards for service providers as well as reporting beverage container collection data to CBCRA. Once approved through a site visit, the service provider will sign an agreement stating they will submit used beverage container recycling data on a quarterly and annual basis through the program s webbased material tracking system (MTS), and agree to a standard of care which includes that all recyclable used beverage containers collected will be recycled. To encourage service providers to register, CBCRA will offer a sign-up bonus during the first six months. In return the CBCRA approved service providers will: Receive financial compensation for information provided; Be able to access additional P&E support materials as well as free beverage container bins to use and provide to their customers and events; and Be recognized as a preferred service provider to CBCRA. Scrap Metal Dealers There is a well-established scrap metal industry across Ontario that handles scrap ferrous and non-ferrous metals. The Canadian Association of Recycling Industries (CARI) has over