Beverage group vows to go ahead with recycling fees for cans, bottles

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The organization behind a beverage-industry plan to charge new recycling fees of up to three cents for all cans, bottles and drink boxes sold in Ontario says the move is going ahead, despite word from the province’s Environment Minister that he would block it.

Ken Friesen, executive director of the Canadian Beverage Container Recycling Association (CBCRA), said in an interview on Friday that his organization, which includes Coca-Cola and Tim Hortons on its board, plans to proceed with its “Recycling Everywhere” program on June 1.

Under Ontario’s new private-sector-led recycling regime, Mr. Friesen said, his organization would charge its fees to the producers of non-alcoholic beverages. Whether they in turn pass them on to retailers, and whether retailers pass them on to consumers – as is the case in other provinces with similar fees – is not up to the CBCRA, he said.

The association intends to spend the more than $80-million a year it would collect from the fees on new recycling bins in public places and on an awareness campaign, in order to hit the province’s target of recycling 80 per cent of beverage containers by the end of the decade.

While answering questions from reporters on Thursday, Ontario Environment Minister David Piccini said he intended to block the CBCRA’s plan – with new regulations if needed. He said if the organization thought they could pass on all of their new recycling costs to consumers, they “had another thing coming.”

The two men took part in a phone call Thursday evening, about which Mr. Friesen would say little. “I can’t speak for the minister, but our conversation and ongoing conversations are productive,” he said.

Daniel Strauss, a spokesman for Mr. Piccini, declined to make the minister available for an interview Friday.

In his comments on Thursday, the minister did not say what mechanism should replace the recycling charges. But he said the industry would not be “tacking this onto consumers in a visible fee.” It was unclear whether retailers would be able to simply hide the new fees in increased prices.

The minister’s comments were a surprise to the consultants and industry lobbyists who have been working to design and implement the province’s new and complex private-sector-led recycling scheme.

The proposed fees had ruffled feathers with many retailers, who feared they would be on the front lines of a consumer backlash at a time of high inflation.

Gary Sands, vice-president of the Canadian Federation of Independent Grocers, said his group had previously raised its concerns about the fee with the government. He said the large chains could find ways to wiggle out of having to charge the fees, using their leverage with suppliers, leaving smaller operators stuck having to pass on the charges to consumers.

“The lack of outreach from CBCRA to our association, representing those main-street grocers, was appalling,” Mr. Sands said.

The fees were originally set to be imposed as of April 1. But the CBCRA announced last month it was putting off its start date to June 1. It said the delay followed discussions with the Retail Council of Canada, which represents the country’s leading supermarket chains and other retailers. The RCC declined to comment.

The fees were supposed to be a key part of Ontario’s new “extended producer responsibility” recycling system, which is being phased in starting this year. The changes hand the entire system to private-sector groups but include phased-in, more ambitious government-set recycling targets. The cost of the old system was covered half by municipalities and half by industry funding.

The idea behind the new system, similar to ones in place in Europe and British Columbia, is to force waste producers to innovate, such as by finding ways to reduce packaging, since they must pay the full costs of recycling. But critics have said allowing a fee to be tacked onto prices across the board would reduce the incentive for companies to change their behaviour.