2020 was a garbage year for the Environmental Law Centre. ELC released two publications that explored the complex regulatory world of garbage and recycling management in Alberta:
Good Riddance – Waste Management Law in Alberta explores the regulation of different waste management streams in Alberta, including hazardous and non-hazardous waste, oilfield waste, biomedical waste, agricultural waste, nuclear waste, and recyclables.
Extended Producer Responsibility: Designing the Regulatory Framework outlines the concept of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) including its history, its objectives, the regulatory mechanisms that drive it, and the roles of various stakeholders. It also explores the policy considerations and regulatory framework that underpin EPR, including a survey of key design choices.
Introducing the EPR Brief
A lot has changed since 2020, notably the introduction of Alberta’s very own EPR system. To catch us up to date on the new system, we made a Brief describing what we know so far and what to watch out for as Alberta’s brand-new system continues the process of implementation.
What you’ll find inside
Ranging from how the producer of a product is defined to how the system is enforced, the Brief describes Alberta’s EPR system’s design choices with reference to those explored in our 2020 Extended Producer Responsibility: Designing the Regulatory Framework publication. It also explores how these choices impact four policy considerations that often play a role in the success of EPR systems: incentivizing product redesign, dealing with free riders, encouraging competition, and harmonizing with other jurisdictions.
What is Extended Producer Responsibility?
EPR is an increasingly popular policy and regulatory tool that attempts to address the growing volume and costs of waste management. It assigns financial and operational responsibility for a product’s post-consumer life (e.g. collection, landfilling, recycling) to the business that produced the product.
This means that those who make goods or place them on the market are responsible for what happens to them after consumers are done using them. Shifting the responsibility for products from municipalities to producers is intended to address problems facing modern waste management systems. Its goals are:
- To increase the amount of waste diverted from landfills;
- To reduce waste management costs for municipalities and taxpayers;
- To create alternative waste streams for hazardous materials;
- To incentivize producers to redesign their products;
- To create a circular economy.
Alberta’s goals in implementing its Extended Producer Responsibility(EPR) system are:
- To enhance recycling rates and therefore reduce the amount of waste going to landfills;
- To catalyze Alberta’s circular economy, leading to more jobs, more economic investment and larger economies; and
- To lessen the cost burden on municipalities and taxpayers.
Ultimately, Alberta’s success in achieving these goals will depend on the EPR system’s design and implementation.
Look out for future blogs and publications on waste and recycling in Alberta!
Other Resources
Alberta Government – Extended Producer Responsibility regulations
Environment and Climate Change Canada – EPR overview.
Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment (CCME) – EPR policies.
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