Recycling in British Columbia

In B.C., producers (e.g., product manufacturer, brand-owners, importers, retail sellers, distributers) of regulated products are responsible for managing their products' lifecycle as part of an industry-led approach called Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR).

EPR is the system that collects and recycles certain products across the province. The system includes the whole life cycle management, not just recycling. It starts from the beginning of the product's design and continues through to the end of the product's life.

B.C’s Recycling Regulation sets requirements for obligated producers to collect and manage their regulated products.

To meet these requirements, an obligated producer must have a recycling plan or join a recycling program run by an agency that acts on their behalf.

Producer responsibilities include:

Collecting from households or through collection facilities
Reuse and recycling products

You can find out more about the provinces recycling system at their website here: https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/environment/waste-management/recycling.

Provincial-wide EPR (Recycling) Programs

The following is a list of the province-wide EPR programs that exist in B.C.

You can find a current list on the provinces’ website (click here) by looking at which organization has a current EPR plan.

An EPR plan demonstrates how the organization intends to collect and manage their regulated product and includes information about:

Recovery or capture targets for collected product waste

Collection system
Performance measures
Consultation with interested parties
End-of-life management of the product

These plans are updated every 5 years and are approved by the province. Organizations are also required to publish an annual report (on July 1st each year) on their website to show their activities in relation to their approved EPR plans.

Batteries