Below is an important member update from Product Care Association (“PCA”), on changes to the BC LightRecycle Program fee structure, effective April 1, 2015.
BC LightRecycle Fee Changes:
After consultation with BC LightRecycle members and the BC LightRecycle Industry Advisory Committee, the PCA board of directors has approved the following fee reductions for the fixtures and ballast categories, effective April 1, 2015. Revised fixture and ballast fee rates are summarized in the chart below. There is no change to the Lamps categories fee rates.
Tubes include linear, U-shape and circ-line. Their length is the length of the tube if straightened.
To view a full list of products and fees, please click here. For information on other policies relating to the BC LightRecycle program, visit lightrecycle.ca.
Effective Date
The effective date of the fee changes is April 1, 2015 to allow program members sufficient time to update their systems.
Basis for Fee reductions
The current fee rates were established at the time that the BC LightRecycle program expanded in July 2012 to include commercial use lamps, and, for the first time, fixtures and ballasts. At that time that the fee rates for these categories were announced, there was limited information available regarding quantities sold (which impacts revenue) and the program delivery options were still being developed. A number of factors enabled PCA to operate the fixtures and ballasts part of the program at substantially lower cost:
- Utilization of steel recycling businesses for the commercial fixtures collection system due to the inherent scrap metal value in most commercial fixtures
- Utilization of the collection system of the BC small appliances program (CESA – ElectroRecycle) for residential fixtures – avoiding the need to set up and administer a separate collection system.
- The quantity of PCB containing ballasts has been much lower than anticipated (this type of ballast has not been manufactured since the late 1970’s, when sales of PCB were banned).
This has resulted in the accumulation of a significant surplus for the program, which will be gradually diminished over future program years. The lamps sector of the program has also generated a surplus, however due to revenue uncertainties arising from the significant technological change expected over the short term, no change is proposed at this time.
Important Question re reporting categories:
You will note that, as of April 1, 2015, the fee rate will be the same for all fixture categories (categories 9, 10, 11 and 12 above). While there is some statistical value to PCA in continuing to require from members a breakdown of units sold by these categories, the fact of a common fee rate raises the option of “collapsing” those four fixture categories into one category for reporting purposes.
In preliminary discussions with some PCA members, this simplification is favoured by some but not by others. It is also possible, but not anticipated at this time, that in the future, it may be necessary to vary fee rates by fixture type again.
PCA would like to hear from BC LightRecycle program members whether their preference is to:
- Maintain fixture categories 9-12 for unit reporting purposes, or
- Collapse all fixture categories into a single category
Please let PCA know your preference by January 16, 2015, and we will announce the decision in late January.
For more information, contact Lauren Kulokas, Senior Program Manager at 778.328.4981 or 1-888-772-9772 ext. 215 or by email at lauren@productcare.org.