FAQs

The Product Care ISPs are product stewardship programs which mandate Product Care to operate programs for designated materials in Ontario and that enable Ontario stewards who join an ISP to satisfy their obligations under the Waste Diversion Act.

Product Care has been approved to operate two ISPs in Ontario: The Product Care Paints and Coatings ISP was approved by Waste Diversion Ontario (WDO) December 10, 2014 and the program launched June 30, 2015 and the Pesticide, Solvent and Fertilizer (PSF) ISP was approved by WDO December 17, 2015 and the program launched April 1, 2016

• All mercury-containing lamps, including fluorescent tubes, CFLs and HID lamps
• Supply/sales to all users in Québec, including the residential, institutional, commercial and industrial sectors
• Sales through all channels of distribution, including Internet sales and drop shipments
• The following table illustrates the fee categories for the program.

Provincial regulation provides relevant language on the obligated businesses that must join an accredited industry-managed program (i.e. Product Care Association’s program) or develop their own program. Generally speaking, this obligation falls on the brand owner or “first supplier” of products in the province of Québec. “First supplier” means an enterprise having a domicile or establishment in Québec (i.e. a physical location) that acquires a covered product outside Québec in order to market it in Québec. The first supplier is the enterprise located in Quebec that is the most upstream in the distribution chain in province. Thus, a first supplier can be an importer, broker, wholesaler, distributor, retailer or any other stakeholder in Québec that first intervenes in a product’s distribution chain.

In order to help you determine if you are an obligated enterprise, you can access  the following “decision trees”:

Slide 21 of the Guidelines on the regulation respecting the recovery and the reclamation of products by enterprises on the producers’ broaden responsibility (French only)

Page 162 of Regulation Guidelines (English)

The following is an excerpt from the regulation.

Every enterprise that markets a new product referred to in this Regulation under a brand, a name or a distinguishing guise owned or used by the enterprise must recover and reclaim, or cause to be recovered and reclaimed, by means of a recovery and reclamation program developed in accordance with section 5, any product of the same type as the product marketed by the enterprise and that is deposited at one of its drop-off centres or for which the enterprise offers, if applicable, a collection service.

If a product is marketed under more than one brand, name or distinguishing guise, the obligation provided for in the first paragraph falls on the enterprise responsible for the product’s design.

Despite the first and second paragraphs, that obligation falls on the enterprise that acts as the first supplier of that product in Québec, whether or not the enterprise is the importer, in the following cases:

1. The enterprise referred to in the first or second paragraph has no domicile or establishment in Québec;
2. The enterprise that markets the product acquires the product outside Québec, regardless of whether the enterprise owning or using the brand, name or distinguishing guise has a domicile or establishment in Québec; or
3. A product does not bear any brand, name or distinguishing guise.

Further detailed information on these requirements and definitions, including information on remote orders, brand owners located in Québec etc., can be found in the English Regulatory Guide.

The Québec regulation respecting the recovery and reclamation of products by enterprises obligates all regulated enterprises (see above) of mercury-containing lamps to either operate or be a member of an approved program to recover and reclaim end-of-life mercury-containing lamps in Québec. The program must be funded by these enterprises to provide a collection and recycling option for all generators of mercury-containing lamps in Québec, pursuant to the collection system requirements outlined in the regulation.

Product Care Association (PCA) is a non-profit association and has registered in Québec under the name Association des Producteurs Responsables (APR). PCA has now finalized an agency agreement with RECYC-QUÉBEC, the oversight agency in Québec for product stewardship programs, as an organization that can implement a “recovery and reclamation system” for mercury-containing lamps on behalf of its members, pursuant to the regulation. Any enterprise that is obligated under the regulation is invited to join the PCA program in order to satisfy the requirements of the regulation.

Members of the program agree to report, on a monthly basis, their sales of program applicable products to PCA and remit applicable recycling fees on those sales after October 1, 2012, except in cases where another member agrees to report/remit fees on their behalf (see below). Formal membership in PCA is still required even if another member will be reporting sales/remitting fees on behalf of that obligated enterprise. A remitter agreement is required for PCA program membership.

Each company that is obligated under the regulation was required to notify Ministère du Développement Durable, de l’Environnement, de la Faune et des Parcs (Recyc-Québec) by April 14, 2012 of their intention to start their own program or to join an accredited industry-managed program such as the PCA program. It is not too late to act. Obligated companies must inform RECYC-QUÉBEC of their intention as soon as possible and complete Product Care’s membership process, unless they are operating their own program accredited by RECYC-QUÉBEC. See below for more information on how to join the PCA program to fulfill this regulatory requirement.

LAny enterprise that is obligated under the provincial regulation is invited to join the Product Care Association (PCA) program in order to satisfy the requirements of the provincial regulation. It is not necessary to act as a return collection site to become a member of PCA.

Existing PCA members must extend their membership to Québec on www.ehfreporting.com

Companies which are not already a member of another PCA program must submit their application on www.ehfreporting.com. Please indicate whether the membership is for the Québec lamps program (RecycFluo) only or other programs as well. For more information, please email at info@recycfluo.ca

Each company that is obligated under the regulation was required to notify Recyc-Québec by April 14, 2012 of their intention to start their own program or to join a recognized industry-managed program such as the PCA program. It is not too late to act. Obligated companies must inform RECYC-QUÉBEC of their intention as soon as possible and complete PCA’s membership process, unless they are operating their own program recognized by RECYC-QUÉBEC. See below for more information on how to join the PCA program to fulfill this regulatory requirement.

The Regulation places financial responsibility for the program on the brand owner or “first supplier” in Québec. Accordingly, in the RecycFluo program, the responsible enterprise is required to report sales/remit fees to the program, except in cases where another member (either “upstream” or “downstream”) has agreed to report these sales/remit fees on their behalf. Product Care Association (PCA) permits flexibility in terms of which company in the supply chain will report sales/remit fees to the program, though all legally obligated enterprises must formally join the program as a member. PCA requires the use of a “Remitter Agreement” between members in order to clarify which company remit recycling fees to the program.

Any member may report sales/remit fees on behalf of one or more other members, regardless of who in the supply chain is actually the obligated enterprise. Sometimes it is more practical for a company that is not the legally obligated enterprise to join the program as a member to report on their sales (sometimes called a “voluntary contributor”) to customers classified as obligated enterprises. As stated, the program is flexible in terms of which company in the supply chain reports applicable sales/remits fees, so long as there is assurance that the program receives the eco-fee for every program product sold in the province.

For example, a manufacturer may ship to a distributor or retailer (who may or may not be in Québec) and only the distributor or retailer knows the quantity actually sold in the province. In this case, the distributor or retailer may choose to report and remit eco-fees on these sales to the program directly (as well as the sale of other brands, if agreed upon with those suppliers). The manufacturer would therefore not report and remit fees on sales to that distributor or retailer, but may still report/pay on sales to other Québec customers.

In other cases, a manufacturer may “ship to store” for many Québec based retailers or distributors and is aware of the quantity sold by each retailer or distributor in the province. As a service to its retail or distributor customers, a manufacturer may agree to report to PCA on the aggregate of all Québec sales to these customers and remit the recycling fees, and the customers do not.

In any of the scenarios outlined above, members may “pass through” the fees on to their customers, provided the cost of the fees is internalized in the product itself (see discussion on visible fees above).

Manufacturers need to communicate with each of their customers (retailers, distributors etc.) that are located in Québec or that sell products into Québec to determine who is in the best position to report sales/remit fees. Similarly, each retailer and distributor need to speak with their suppliers to determine who is in the best position to report sales/remit fees. Product Care requires the use of a “Remitter Agreement” between members in order to clarify which company  remit eco fees to the program.

Recyling Fee Flow Chart:

The following chart illustrates recyling fee remittance pathways discussed above.

Legend

A – Fee remittance pathway A
Manufacturer reports quantity sold/remits fees directly to the program. Manufacturer recovers fee on wholesale invoice to retailer/dealer. Retailer/distributor ultimately recovers fee from consumer as part of product price – fee may be visible or invisible at retailer/distributor option.

B –  Fee remittance pathway B
Retailer/distributor reports quantity sold/remits fees directly to the program. Retailer/distributor informs all suppliers of this, so suppliers do not report/recover fees on sales to that retailer/distributors however they may report/pay fees to the program for other customers via fee remittance pathway A.

C – Pass through of fee to Consumer
In both A and B, the retailer/distributo may (but is not required to) pass the fee on to the consumer as a visible or invisible fee. In this way, the consumer « reimburses » the retailer/distributor for the cost of the fee that has been remitted to the program.

D – Program Cost
Product Care uses the fee revenue to pays all costs associated with delivering the program.

The program  is funded by “recycling fees” applied to the sale or supply of new mercury-containing lamps on a per-unit sold basis since October 1, 2012. These fees are paid to Product Care Association (PCA)/Association des Producteurs Responsables (APR) by the program members (manufacturers, distributors, retailers, etc.) and  are used by PCA/APR to fund all RecycFluo program costs including the collection, transportation and recycling of end-of-life products. Members have the option of “passing on” these fees to their customers, though the Québec regulation limits the use of “visible fees.”

Member “recycling fee” obligations commenced October 1, 2012.

The following table lists fee categories and rates, effective October 1, 2012 in Québec. Members should be discussing the fees and how they will be applied, reported and paid with their suppliers and/or customers. As a reminder, the Québec regulation limits the use of visible fees in the supply chain.

Effective October 1, 2012 recycling fees applied only to mercury-containing lamps sold separately from fixtures or other products, as replacement lamps.

As of July 14, 2013 the Québec regulation included “component” lamps from the requirements of the Regulation.  Accordingly, recycling fees have applied to replaceable mercury-containing lamps sold integrated into lighting fixtures since July 14, 2013. As of October 2013, RecycFluo has collected recycling fees for these newly included products.

In order to understand the recycling fees applied to mercury-containing light bulbs included as a component of another product (fixtures, vehicles, etc.) as of October 2013, please click here.

The terms recycling fees or environmental handling fees are sometimes used to describe the fees paid to the RecycFluo program by its members on the sale of products captured by the provincial regulation respecting the recovery and disposition of products by enterprises. To ensure consumer comprehension and message consistency, Product Care Association (PCA) recommends the use of the term recycling fees.

Companies subject to the provincial regulation have the option of “passing-on” the program recycling fees to their customers or “absorbing” the cost of the fees. All recyling fees are remitted to RecycFluo in order to fund the program.

For more information regarding the display of eco-fees, please refer to Article 7 of the Regulation or to the Regulation Guidelines.

Industry stewards may be the first importers, manufacturers, or brand owners of materials that are designated in the province under extended producer responsibility regulation.

Stewards that choose to join the Product Care Paint ISP do so as members of Product Care and are subject to the Product Care membership requirements . Companies that are not obligated stewards but for other business reasons wish to report and remit on their program products supplied in Ontario may also join the Product Care Paint ISP.

For further information visit the Waste Diversion Ontario website.

Reporting is done on a monthly basis using an online reporting system. Reports and fee remittances are due by the end of the month following the reporting period (e.g. sales in October of a given year must be reported and received by the Program before the end of November of the same year). The recycling fee is subject to sales tax, as it is considered to be a part of the price of designated products.

a) Important notice to members of RecycFluo program regarding pre-sales policy – September 28, 2012

b) Important Notice to all Members of RecycFluo Program – December 31, 2012: Effective date of the termination of Presales Policy – November 20, 2012

c) Revised presales policy – November 2012

Since a large majority of the stewards, by market share, have joined the Product Care ISPs, Stewardship Ontario (SO) and Product Care have agreed that Product Care will take over the end-of-life management system developed by SO for paints and coatings, pesticides, solvents and fertilizers. Product Care has been operating the end-of-life management system for paint in Ontario since June 30, 2015 and began operating the end-of-life management for pesticides, solvents and fertilizers April 1, 2016.

For more information on the program, please contact:

Catherine Turcotte

catherine@productcare.org

514.940.4913
1.888.604.2624

Note: Product Care has distributed a Request for Expressions of Interest (REOI) to potential collection sites. See the Service Providers page for more information.

The QC Regulation requires a collection system to be in place for all mercury-containing lamps that allows the generators of these products to recycle them without charge. The program recognizes that different collection systems may be needed depending on the type of use (residential or commercial), and the quantity involved.

PCA/AGRP has acquired the existing collection system “RecycFluo” from the Federation des Municipalites du Quebec, and is using the name “RecycFluo” as the program name in Quebec. PCA/AGRP’s collection system commenced in two phases:

July 14, 2012 some municipalities and retailers collected residential-use mercury-containing lamps.

October 1, 2012 specific collection sites were dedicated to institutional, commercial and industrial sources of mercury-containing lamps.

Note that it is not necessary to act as a collection site in order to be a member of the PCA/AGRP program, however anyone interested in providing collection site services should contact PCA/AGRP (see below).

Since October 1, 2012, the program offer the following options:

1. Residential-Volume Drop-off System:

This system comprise about 400 collection sites (including municipalities and retailers) where consumers can drop off up to 16 residential-use mercury-containing lamps per visit.

2. Commercial-Volume Drop-Off System:

Since October 1, 2012, the program employ a system of collection sites for the collection of mercury-containing lamps in quantities normally generated by commercial generators. There is no charge to drop off accepted products. The sites are available to electrical contractors, re-lampers, building managers and any other generator of commercial volumes of these products.

3. Large Volume Direct Service Collection System:

For large volumes, we provide on-site pickup services.

Collection System Development and Interested Parties:

Product Care is currently working to develop the collection network described above. For those interested in acting as a collection site, transporter or recycler, please see the Service Providers page. 

To register for the Ontario Product Care ISPs, visit our membership portal login page. If you are an existing Product Care member of another Product Care program, simply login to your account and add Ontario Paint, Pesticides, Flammable Liquids/Solvents and/or Fertilizers to your membership. If you are new to Product Care, click “Create a New Account” and follow the registration steps. Registration will be conditional until RPRA approves a steward’s exit from SO which will occur on a quarterly cycle.

As part of the registration process, each steward will be required to join a Product Care Ontario ISP(s) and agree to the terms of the program.

For additional support, a registration guideline is available on the membership portal login page.

In order for a steward to participate in a Product Care ISP, the steward must meet the following requirements:

• The Steward must be in “good” standing with SO (see FAQ #6 for details)
• The Steward must be registered with Product Care as a Member of a Product Care ISP (see FAQ #4 for details)

SO sent information to all SO paint stewards on April 16, 2015 explaining the Paints and Coatings program transition. SO also explained the exit process in the Steward Update Webinars on May 5 and May 7, 2015. The Webinar presentation and audio recordings can be found in Presentations & Webinars on the Ontario Member Support page .

SO sent information to all SO pesticide, solvent and fertilizer stewards on January 13, 2016 explaining the Pesticide, Solvent and Fertilizer program transition. SO also explained the exit process in the Steward Webinar held March 9, 2016. The Webinar presentation and audio recording can be found in Presentations & Webinars on the Ontario Member Support page.

If you have any questions about your “good standing” status and the exiting processes, please contact SO’s Steward Services team at WeRecycle@stewardshipontario.ca or 1-888-980-9549.

Stewards participating in a Product Care ISP(s) will report sales on a monthly basis, as with other Product Care programs. In order to complete the monthly reports, stewards will log in to the Product Care membership portal, enter sales data for the reporting period and an invoice will be automatically generated for that period. Reports and payments must be completed within 30 days of the end of the reporting period.

Product Care also has a policy allowing quarterly reporting for stewards who report below a threshold amount – “small remitters”. Although, this policy applies to stewards that have been reporting to Product Care for a minimum of 1 year, Product Care will make exceptions provided the steward can provide sufficient evidence. If you believe you are a small remitter and you would like to report quarterly, please contact us by email at ontario@productcare.org or by phone at 1 877 592 2972 x 239 for more information.

Yes. Stewards that participate in SO’s MHSW program for designated products other than those captured in the Product Care ISP will continue to participate in SO’s MHSW program for those products. The Product Care ISPs do not impact steward obligations for other MHSW and Blue Box programs operated by SO.

Product Care requires all registered Product Care members to report and remit fees on all program products supplied to the Ontario market. However, a Product Care member may establish a remitter relationship with another company (e.g. supplier, distributer, retailer etc.) who reports units supplied and remits fees on the program products that would otherwise be the responsibility of the Product Care member. The reporting and remitting company, and the steward, must be or become members of Product Care and complete the monthly reporting and remitting requirements.

This relationship must be arranged among the Product Care members themselves and must be documented. Product Care will monitor remitter relationships through regular member auditing processes.

Parties to a “reporting agreement” under the SO program (e.g. a retail customer reports the units sold for their supplier’s brand, but the supplier pays the fees) should contact Product Care as soon as possible to set up the necessary accounts. Ontario Product Care members interested in maintaining this relationship as part of a Product Care ISP must complete a Reporter-Supplier Agreement.

The costs of a Product Care ISP, which include the collection system, transportation, processing etc., are funded by the payment of fees to Product Care on a monthly basis by its members participating in an Ontario Product Care ISP program.

The Product Care Paints and Coatings ISP EHF is based on units of paints and coatings sold or supplied during a reporting period, which will give stewards improved cost predictability.

The Product Care PSF ISP EHF is based on units of litres or kilograms sold for pesticides and fertilizers or per litre sold for solvents during a reporting period, which will give stewards improved cost predictability.

This funding model is different from the “cost recovery” model used by Stewardship Ontario in the MHSW program as required by Ontario Regulation 11/12.

The fees paid to Product Care by its members are referred to as “Environmental Handling Fees” or “EHFs”. Product Care does not use the terminology “Eco fees”.

EHF rates have been determined based on a multi-year budget approved by the Product Care Board of Directors with input from stewards. Product Care’s EHF rates for the Product Care Paints and Coatings ISP vary by paint container size, as in Product Care’s other paint programs whereas pesticide and fertilizer EHF rates are per litre or kilogram and the solvent EHF rate is per litre.

Actual program financial performance will be regularly compared to the budget. A minimum of 90 days’ notice would be given to stewards of any rate increase or decrease required.

The EHF rates for the Ontario Product Care ISPs are found on the Ontario Member Support page in the Accepted Products & Fee Rates dropdown.

The EHFs paid by the steward to Product Care are one of many product input costs. It is the decision of the steward how to manage this cost in the pricing of the product.  However, as in the case of some other Product Care programs, the steward must not display the fees as a separate “visible fee” (see FAQ #16 for visible fee definition).

Visible fee means a fee advertised or displayed separately from the price of the product to the end-user (e.g. consumer that generates the waste), as a way to recover the cost of the EHF. The Ontario Product Care ISPs do not permit visible fees and each steward joining a Product Care ISP is required to confirm this commitment. Similar restrictions exist in several Product Care programs due to regulatory requirements in those jurisdictions.

The Product Care ISPs were approved by Waste Diversion Ontario on the basis of no visible fees, in order to avoid the consumer confusion which has occurred in the past.  For stewards participating in a Product Care ISP, the terms of membership require that the environmental handling fees (EHFs) paid by the stewards to Product Care under the Product Care ISP must not be displayed to the end-user as a visible fee, but must rather be incorporated into the total price of the product.

Yes. The EHF rate is just like any other business cost incorporated into the price of a product (eg. manufacturing, transportation, retail operation, etc.) The EHF rates are published on the Ontario Member Support page in the Accepted Products & Fee Rates dropdown.

No. It is acceptable to say that an Ontario Product Care ISP is funded by its participants and the cost of recycling is built into the purchase price like any other business cost (e.g. manufacturing, transportation, retailer operation, etc.), but not to reference the EHFs specifically, which simply represent the funding model between Product Care and its members.

EHFs are publicly accessible on the Ontario Member Support page in the Accepted Products & Fee Rates dropdown. If you have any questions about how an EHF is incorporated in your supplier’s costs, you should contact your supplier directly. A supplier may itemize EHFs on invoices to their customers (e.g. a retail store) as long as the customer is not the end-user of the product.

No. The product definitions currently used for pesticides, solvents and fertilizers in the SO MHSW program will continue to be used by Product Care for the PSF ISP.

Yes. Tar and bitumen based products including roof and driveway sealers and coatings, currently in the paints and coatings definition in Ontario, will continue to be included in the Product Care Paint ISP program, although they are not currently included in other Product Care programs in other provinces. Accordingly, stewards that join the Product Care Paint ISP will be required to report to Product Care based on the expanded range of program products. A detailed list of product inclusions and exclusions is available on the Ontario Member Support page in the Accepted Products & Fee Rates dropdown.

To be consistent with all other Product Care paint programs in Canada, the Product Care Paint ISP expands the definition of paints and coatings to include non-pesticide marine coatings and all aerosol paint. The Paint ISP definition of aerosol paint is not limited to architectural paint but also includes all types of aerosol paints such as automobile spray paint. In addition, the maximum container size is reduced from 30 L to 25 L.

The presentations and audio recordings from Product Care’s Ontario ISP Steward Webinars are available on the Ontario Member Support page in Presentations & Webinars.