Waste Diversion – Recycling and Product Stewardship

This article was originally published in Blakes Bulletin on Environmental Law - October 2004

The Ontario government established April 20, 2004 as the date for companies to register with Waste Diversion Ontario or its delegatee – Stewardship Ontario. That date has come and gone, along with a 60-day grace period that ended on June 21, 2004. In the meantime, many companies selling products in Ontario are still grappling with the scope of the Blue Box Program and have yet to register and determine whether any fees are due and owing for 2004.

For those readers who include themselves in this group, the time has come to sit up and take notice of the "Product Stewardship" wave that is sweeping Canada. The concept of businesses accepting responsibility for the management of wastes generated by their products has been talked about for some time. In May 1996, the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment (CCME), a committee of federal and provincial ministers of the environment,