The program is funded by recycling fees applied to the sale or supply of new lamps, ballasts and fixtures sold in BC effective October 1, 2012. The fees are used by Product Care, a non-profit industry association, to fund all program costs including the collection, transportation and recycling of end-of-life products to ensure all generators can recycle these products at the end of their life without charge, as required by the BC Recycling Regulation.
These fees are paid by program members (manufacturers, distributors, retailers) who have joined Product Care to fulfill their legal obligations. Members have the option of “passing-on” this fee to their customers. The fee may be shown separately on the product invoice/receipt, incorporated directly into the price of the product or absorbed, at the discretion of the program members and their subsequent customers. In comparable programs, the fee is often passed down through the supply chain. The price paid by downstream customers should never exceed the program-mandated fee.
The fee is subject to sales tax, as it is considered to be a part of the price of regulated products. While the applicable HST is remitted to the government, no part of the fee itself is remitted to the government.
