Nova Scotia preparing to make producers pay for plastic, paper and packaging waste

Nova Scotia is taking a step toward making the private sector responsible for collection and disposal of packaging, paper and single-use plastics.

The province announced Friday it will start consulting with stakeholders in January on an expansion of extended producer responsibility, or EPR. 

EPR policies make producers or retailers responsible for the post-consumer stage of the items they make or sell. In Nova Scotia, the policies already apply to some products, including electronics and paint. 

The consultations will help guide new regulations and the design of a new waste management model that includes extended producer responsibility for a longer list of products.

"This is a good day. This is a good, good day," said Amanda McDougall, mayor of CBRM and president of the Nova Scotia Federation of Municipalities.

Right now, it's up to municipalities to manage discarded packaging, paper and plastics, whether that means recycling them or sending them to a landfill. Municipalities have been pushing for that to change for several years.

A 2019 report on waste management in Nova Scotia estimated EPR for packaging, paper and plastics could save municipalities up to $17 million a year.

McDougall said even if costs transfer to the private sector, municipalities are likely to remain part of the process of collecting and managing waste. For that reason, she said she's glad to see municipalities included on the list of interested parties to be invited to participate in the discussions.

The list also includes:

• Divert Nova Scotia.
• The retail sector, including large grocery and retail chains, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business and the Retail Council of Canada.
• Waste management facility operators and haulers.
• Apartment building property groups and associations.
• Academia.
• Industry and business associations.
• Environmental stewardship organizations.

The PC government alluded to expanding EPR and reducing single-use plastics in the environmental bill passed this fall in the legislature. The bill was similar to one passed by the previous Liberal government, for which the Clean Foundation conducted public consultation earlier this year.

'Broad public support'

"There's broad public support and interest for this kind of measure," said Erin Burbidge, director of policy and programs for the Clean Foundation.

Burbidge said there are still many details to be worked out, including how and where products will be recycled and exactly which products will be included.

"At this point, we know it's paper, packaging and single-use plastics — that's a massive category of goods."

Burbidge said the Clean Foundation is interested in "the broadest application possible," but acknowledged there may be a need for some exceptions. Those could include medical supplies that become biohazards after use.

"Some products just might be so complex that they can't be wrapped into an initial framework," Burbidge said.

Jim Cormier of the Retail Council of Canada said expanded EPR comes as no surprise to retailers and they aren't opposed — they just want guidelines that ensure fairness.

He said his group will be pushing for a wide group of businesses and organizations to be included in the category of "producer," including manufacturers, retailers and — in the case of products made outside Nova Scotia — importers.

Small business exception

He noted that some exceptions would be fair for small businesses.

"You probably do need to have a threshold, be it a revenue threshold or based on the amount of packaging that they actually are involved with."

"That said, we'd like to keep that number fairly low."

A spokesperson for the Department of Environment and Climate Change said in an email there is an intent to exclude small businesses, but consultation will determine the exact thresholds for exemption.

"In other provinces similar in size to Nova Scotia, it's mostly larger corporations that participate," the spokesperson said.

British Columbia and New Brunswick are among the Canadian provinces that have already introduced policies for packaging, paper and plastics.

Cormier said he hopes Nova Scotia will harmonize its practices with those provinces.