1.5 What are the provincial stewardship plans?
In each province, the applicable regulation requires that stewards either:
- prepare and operate a stewardship plan for the management of their material; or
- join an approved stewardship plan where applicable.
Typically, in each province, the stewardship organizations prepare stewardship plans on behalf of their members/stewards and consult on their plans with stakeholders. After incorporating stakeholder feedback, plans are submitted to the Minister of Environment for approval. In order to be approved by the Minister, the plans must meet criteria set out in provincial regulation and published guidelines.
This criteria may include any or all of the following:
- Definition of a steward
- Definition of designated materials
- Consultation conducted on the stewardship plan with stakeholders
- Guidelines for dispute resolution
- Consumer awareness programs
- How recovery/recycling targets will be achieved (in those provinces that have set targets)
- How collection and management of materials will be carried out
- The formula used to determine how municipalities will be reimbursed for industry’s portion of the cost of operating recycling programs for SK, MB and ON
- The formula used to calculate steward fees
Once the stewardship plan is approved, the stewardship organization operates on behalf of stewards to discharge their obligations under the regulation. If you need more information about the requirements of each province’s stewardship plan, please visit links to the stewardship organizations provided in the table in Section 1.3: What is the legislative framework?
What is Circular Materials’s role?
Circular Materials is a shared service provider to the provincial stewardship organizations. One of its crucial roles is to support administrative harmonization amongst provincial PPP reporting obligations and to harness economies of scale for the efficient operation of the provincial programs for the benefit of local and national stewards.