Ontario Introduces Recycling Fee for Electronics

The Ontario government has approved a plan that will significantly increase the amount of obsolete electronic equipment being collected for recycling purposes.

The program, approved by the province’s Environmental Minister john Gerretsen, will set up several hundred free drop-off locations for the material. The locations will include charities, municipal collection spots and recycling firms. The province expects the total number of locations to grow from the current number, 167, to 420 locations by the first year, and more than 650 in five years.

Ontario's e-waste diversion program will be the first in Canada to set environmental performance targets for collection, reuse, recycling and accessibility. Currently, about 27 percent of electronic scrap is reused or recycled, a number that's set to more than double to 61 per cent by year five.

The WEEE program will consist of multiple phases. The Phase 1 Plan will address desktop and portable computers, computer peripherals, monitors, printers, fax machines and televisions. A plan for second phase materials, such as phones, cameras and audiovisual equipment, will follow approximately 12 months later.

Industry will pay 100 per cent of the costs of the diversion program. Stewards pay 50 percent of the Blue Box program, and about 80 percent of the municipal hazardous or special waste program.

The costs to manufacturers, brand owners or importers of the products work out to about $13 for a desktop computer and $10 for a TV.