Ontario launches paint recycling program
RONA, Home Depot stores now accepting unused paint
By Coatings staff | January 28, 2009
The province of Ontario, in cooperation with industry funding organization Stewardship Ontario, officially launched its Municipal Hazardous and Special Waste (MHSW) diversion program in January. The new program, called Do What You Can, was launched at a gala press conference at the Fewster Community Recycling Centre in Mississauga, ON. It will target products including unused paints, coatings and solvents, as well as single-use batteries, motor oil filters, antifreeze, fertilizers, pesticides and propane cylinders, among others. The goal of the program is to divert an average of 32,000 tonnes annually of these materials away from landfill for the next five years.
The new program is the largest and most complex product stewardship program in the country, according to Canadian Paint and Coatings Association (CPCA) president Jim Quick, who chaired Stewardship Ontario’s MHSW Committee that developed the program plan. Quick was singled out for special praise by Environment Minister John Gerretsen for his work in bringing together the 330 manufacturers and importers of the targeted products that come up with the plan. “It’s a little bit like working with 106 members of the legislature,” quipped Gerretsen.
Under the new program, 95 RONA home improvement stores and 85 Home Depot stores across the province will serve as dropoff locations for consumers who wish to dispose of unused paint and single-use batteries. Stewardship Ontario has also signed agreements with 102 Ontario municipalities to add an additional 6,000 days of collection service by expanding hours of operation at permanent dropoff depots and adding more collection event days. The program also includes a new website, www.dowhatyoucan.ca, where consumers can enter their postal code to locate collection sites for various forms of hazardous and special waste in their area.
Stewardship Ontario’s job will be to pick up the materials collected by retail locations and dropoff depots and divert as much of it as possible into “three Rs” solutions and dispose of any remainders in an environmentally appropriate fashion. Funding for the program will come from fees paid to Stewardship Ontario by the manufacturers, brand owners and importers of the designated products. These companies will contribute approximately $28 million in fees in the first year, of which approximately $12 million will come from the paint and coatings industry, says Quick. He points out that paints and coatings make up approximately 70 per cent of the volume of products that will be collected by the program but that the industry will be responsible for less than 50 per cent of the fees.
“It was through the good work of the paint people on that committee that got that done. It’s a good program and we’re really excited about it. Stewardship is a big deal for us. We’re viewed as one of the leaders of product stewardship,” he said afterwards.
Stewardship Ontario will also contribute $600,000 for public education and to help promote the program.
www.dowhatyoucan.ca
