Ontario Minister of the Environment approves Blue Box Program Plan

by Donald Wiedman for StewardshipOntario 

TORONTO, December 23, 2004 – Stewardship Ontario strongly welcomes Ontario Minister of the Environment Leona Dombrowsky ‘s approval of the Blue Box Program Plan. The Minister’s announcement signals that, beginning on February 1, 2004, affected industry will be responsible for funding 50% of the net cost of Ontario’s municipal Blue Box programs. Approval of the Plan means about $3 million per month will flow from industry to municipalities in 2004.

“The Minister’s announcement, “says Dennis Darby, Stewardship Ontario Chair and Director of External Relations for Procter & Gamble Inc., “ensures a sustainable financial foundation for municipal recycling programs in Ontario, and launches a new era of waste diversion cooperation between our municipalities, government and industry.”

Stewardship Ontario is the province’s first Industry Funding Organization (IFO), created in late 2002 in response to a request from the Ontario Minister of the Environment to Waste Diversion Ontario (WDO) to submit a waste diversion program for Blue Box wastes. The resulting Blue Box Program Plan outlines how companies - or “Stewards” - that introduce packaging and printed paper into the Ontario consumer marketplace will share in the funding of 50% of the net cost of Ontario’s municipal Blue Box waste diversion programs.

“The Blue Box Program Plan defines and designates as ‘Stewards’ the brand owners, first importers and franchisors in Ontario of products that result in consumer packaging and printed paper waste,” explains Damian Bassett, CEO of Stewardship Ontario. “With Plan approval from the Ontario Minister of the Environment, Stewardship Ontario will now set out to collect fees from the new ‘Stewards’ of the province, and distribute new industry funding to support the recycling programs of the municipalities of Ontario.”

A "How to Register" workshop and webcast will be held on January 21, 2004 to help Stewards come quickly into compliance with their new obligations. Company representatives should return regularly to the Stewardship Ontario website for news on their next steps toward compliance.

Letters of Notification and information brochures will be sent to close to 25,000 potentially obligated Stewards in Ontario in the first week of January 2004. Companies who pre-register will receive guidebooks to help determine their obligations. They will also be sent a passcode allowing access to the on-line materials Data Reporting & Management System used to calculate their fees.

For further information: http://www.stewardshipontario.ca/