Wind up of the Municipal Hazardous or Special Waste (MHSW) Program
On April 12, 2018, the Minister of the Environment and Climate Change issued direction to Stewardship Ontario to wind up the Municipal Hazardous or Special Waste (MHSW) Program by December 31, 2020. Upon wind up, materials collected under the MHSW Program will be managed according to an individual producer responsibility (IPR) framework under the Resource Recovery and Circular Economy Act, 2016.
On December 11, 2018, the Minister of the Environment, Conservation and Parks (MECP) amended the timelines for the wind up of single-use batteries, stating the waste diversion program for single-use batteries would cease operation on June 30, 2020 to allow for coordination with waste electrical and electronic equipment.
On July 2, 2019, Stewardship Ontario received further direction from the MECP regarding the wind up of the MHSW Program. The new direction letter amendments are summarized below:
- The program to manage all designated materials except single-use batteries will now cease operation on June 30, 2021 instead of December 31, 2020.
- The program to manage single-use batteries will continue to cease operation on June 30, 2020.
- Stewardship Ontario is to develop a proposal to return surplus funds to Ontario consumers of MHSM in its proposed Wind Up Plan:
- For MHSM categories whose recovery is managed by Stewardship Ontario, the plan will set out rules governing a fee elimination during the wind up period;
- For MHSM categories that are managed through industry stewardship plans, the plan will include options to return surplus funds to MHSM consumers, for example, through a consumer rebate program.
Stewardship Ontario submitted its proposed MHSW Wind Up Plan to RPRA by the September 30, 2019 deadline. RPRA has posted the plan here along with their consultation details. The Minister anticipates RPRA will approve the plan no later than December 31, 2019.
Click here for more information regarding the Wind Up Plan and consultations
