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Eco fee

Posted Jul 29, 2010 By EMC News

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EMC Editorial - Ontario residents can retract their claws, for now. The controversial eco fee that came into effect on July 1 has been repealed by the Ontario government.

The Municipal Hazardous or Special Waste (MHSW) program, now known as Orange Drop, was originally introduced in 2008. Developed by Waste Diversion Ontario (WDO) in co-operation with Stewardship Ontario, the program, which is funded by industry, seeks to divert hazardous household wastes from landfills or sewers.

As part of phase one of the program, which rolled out July 1, 2008, an eco fee was placed on nine material categories, including batteries, paint and antifreeze. On July 1 of this year another 13 categories of materials joined the fold. The fee imposed on these products is used for the cost of recycling the material.

This eco fee is determined by the manufacturer or retailer and may already be absorbed in the sticker price of certain products or be itemized on your receipt.

Outrage was the reaction when consumers began to notice these fees while out doing their shopping.

There were a few problems with the rollout of this phase of the MHSW program. First off, while phase one of this program was launched on July 1, 2008, picking that same date to rollout phase two of the program in 2010, given that it coincided with the implementation of the controversial Harmonized Sales Tax, was perhaps not the best idea.

Second, there was no promotional information informing consumers of the upcoming rollout of this program, what products would be affected and what this would mean for shoppers.

And third, the program was found to be too confusing for retailers.

On July 20 Environment Minister John Gerretsen announced that the eco fee had been repealed. It will be back however. Over the next 90 days the program will be under review in an effort to create a system that works for consumers.

We'll have to wait and see what they come up with but we believe no matter how they tweak the program consumers will still be angered by this additional hit to their pocket books so soon after the implementation of the HST.