Municipal Hazardous or Special Waste (MHSW) Program Plan
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Background
On February 19, 2008, the Minister of the Environment approved the Municipal Hazardous or Special Waste (MHSW) Program Plan (the “Plan”) that was developed under the Waste Diversion Act (WDA) to improve diversion – through reduction, reuse and recycling – of hazardous and special waste materials. The Plan will make it easier for consumers, as well as some industrial, commercial and institutional (IC&I) facilities, to take waste paints, solvents, pesticides, batteries and other MHSW to collection points for reuse or recycling. In the absence of convenient diversion services, these materials have often been improperly landfilled, incinerated or dumped onto the ground or into sewer systems, wasting valuable natural resources and contaminating our air, soil and water. Even in very small quantities, MHSW is by definition toxic, corrosive, flammable and/or explosive and requires special handling to ensure the safety of workers and the public and the health of the environment. (For a more detailed review of this decision please refer to 2007 Review of decision on Municipal Special or Hazardous Waste.)
This five-year Plan will be funded by brand owners and first importers of products that end up as hazardous or special waste. The Plan, commencing July 1, 2008, tar- gets the Phase 1 wastes listed in Table 1. The Phase 2 materials are the next priority for plan development.
Table 1: Designated MHSW Materials in Phase 1 and Phase 2
| Phase 1 – Implemented July 1, 2008 | Phase 2 – Implementation Date to be Determined |
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The Waste Management regulation under the EPA
In Ontario, the General – Waste Management regulation (R.R.O., Regulation 347), made under the Environmental Protection Act (EPA), sets out the requirements for the management and tracking of hazardous waste from generation to disposal. Since 1985, generators of hazardous wastes that exceed the small quantity exemptions in the regulation have been required to register with the Ministry of the Environment (MOE) and to use approved haulers and disposal facilities. The small quantity exemptions allow the public and some small businesses to generate and haul their hazardous waste to municipal transfer stations without the administrative burdens that are placed on large volume generators.
The Waste Diversion Act
The WDA, enacted in 2002, promotes the reduction, reuse and recycling of designated wastes. Brand owners and first importers of products that become designated wastes are called “stewards” and can join together to establish an industry funding organization (IFO). The IFO must be incorporated by Waste Diversion Ontario (WDO) and is responsible for developing and administering the waste diversion plan for the designated waste and for funding the plan with fees charged to the stewards. Stewardship Ontario (SO) is the IFO for MHSW.
According to a 2005 study, all residents in southcentral Ontario had some access to MHSW collection services, unlike many residents in eastern and northern Ontario. Municipalities cited cost as the primary reason for limiting their MHSW collection services.
MHSW Program Plan Summary
The Plan includes elements that are common to all Phase 1 materials, such as promotion and education, research and development, market development and performance benchmarks. One of the key elements is the launch of a public awareness program to encourage consumers to “buy only what is needed, use it up, [and] dispose of residue and container responsibly.” The Plan also includes diversion plans for each type of MHSW in Phase 1 that outline:
- the current collection, diversion and disposal services;
- potential diversion options;
- barriers and opportunities to increase diversion; and
- targeted annual diversion rates.
Under the Plan, the quantities of MHSW materials sold in Ontario, collected and diverted annually will be tracked to determine if reduction efforts are effective, to calculate annual stewardship fees, and to measure performance of the program.
The total cost for Year 1 of the Plan has been calculated to be $28.4 million or $1.23 per kilogram diverted, which will be paid by stewards through material-specific fees. For example, a first importer of paint will be charged a material-specific levy of $0.358 for each 3.78 litres of paint it sells in Ontario. Municipalities will continue to be responsible for the full cost of collection activities for all MHSW materials that they manage, but will be compensated for their post-collection costs. The Plan includes $210,000 for MOE over the first five years for enforcement purposes should enforcement be required.
According to the Plan, the collection rate is expected to increase from 32 per cent in 2007 to 62 per cent in 2013, and the diversion rate from 28 per cent in 2007 to 56 per cent in 2013. These targets were established based on collection and diversion estimates for 2007, annual population growth and the anticipated effectiveness of diversion initiatives. Critical to achieving these targets is improving access to collection services for all Ontarians, which is expected to more than double in Year 1 under the Plan.
Public Participation & EBR Process
MOE posted the proposal on the Registry for a 30-day comment period and received 28 written comments. Commenters had concerns about the operational efficiency and administrative burden of the Plan, noting that the various product stewardship programs should be harmonized. Associations representing automobile manufacturers advised that tracking components of a new vehicle (such as an oil filter) as they move back and forth across national borders during assembly and manufacture is very complicated and that they already had implemented source separation programs for their MHSW. Commenters also urged MOE to initiate Phase 2 quickly to reduce the administrative burden of managing MHSWs under different systems. Two commenters suggested that material-specific levies should be based on the waste’s toxicity. For example, the levy for batteries containing mercury should be higher than for non-mercury containing batteries, to reflect the potential to cause environmental harm. Several commenters were concerned that including IC&I wastes in the program will put people at risk and contaminate the residential waste streams rendering them unsuitable for reuse.
Other Waste Management Policies
In 2004, MOE set a provincial goal of diverting 60 per cent of wastes from disposal by the end of 2008 and discussed how the goal could be achieved in “Ontario’s 60% Waste Diversion Goal – A Discussion Paper.” A year later, the Environmental Assessment Advisory Panel recommended that MOE quantify and prioritize the need for waste management services, which MOE has committed to outlining in a “statement of provincial priority.” Lastly, in June 2007, MOE released a draft “Policy Statement on Waste Management Planning” that would establish waste reduction as the first priority, and if approved, would require municipalities to prepare 20 to 25- year waste management plans describing how they will reach the provincial goal.
ECO Comment
The ECO is pleased that this program plan has been approved. The Plan should increase diversion of MHSW, as well as the public’s awareness of the importance of reducing household hazardous waste and disposing of it appropriately. The Plan will shift the post-collection costs of managing these materials from municipalities to industry. For the first time, Ontario will have reliable province-wide data for a large portion of the types and amounts of MHSW materials sold, collected and diverted, and will know how the wastes are finally disposed. In addition, MOE will receive dedicated funding to support its compliance and enforcement work. MOE’s approval of this Plan signals its continued support of producer responsibility and the WDA.
In 2003/2004, the ECO urged MOE to develop an overall waste management strategy that addressed the full range of waste management approaches, including landfilling, incineration, land application and diversion (please see The Blue Box Program Plan for more information). Two years later, the ECO reported that progress on initiatives needed to achieve the provincial waste diversion goal of 60 per cent was slow. Since then, MOE has committed to developing a “statement of provincial priorities” and has released the draft “Policy Statement on Waste Management Planning.” The ECO urges MOE to proceed expeditiously with these initiatives. The ECO also suggests that MOE consider bans on certain types of hazardous and special materials to eliminate both their environmental risks and the need for costly waste management programs. The ECO will continue to monitor MOE’s progress on waste management.
| This is an article from the 2007/08 Annual Report to the Legislature from the Environmental Commissioner of Ontario. |
Citing This Article:
Environmental Commissioner of Ontario. 2008. "Municipal Hazardous or Special Waste (MHSW) Program Plan." Getting to K(No)w, ECO Annual Report, 2007-08. Toronto, ON : Environmental Commissioner of Ontario. 121-124.
