FESTIVAL NEWS
July 2008: The Ontario Ministry of the Environment approves the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Program
As films like the Eighth Annual Media That Matters Film Festival short, E-Waste, and other media outlets educate the population about the hazards of E-Waste, more and more organizations have started to take action. In early July, the Ontario Ministry of the Environment approved the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Program. This program was originally developed under the Waste Diversion Act. It proposes to reduce the amount of E-Waste across the province by placing the financial responsibility for that E-Waste on the companies that produce it. The program also aims to increase the percentage of E-Waste in Ontario that is either reused or recycled. Lastly, it will ensure that the number of drop-off locations for responsible E-Waste recycling and refurbishment is increased by the end of the year. Waste Diversion Ontario and the Ontario Electronic Stewardship are collectively responsible for overseeing the implementation of this plan.
With WEEE, OES anticipates the diversion of approximately 17,000 tons of the 91,000 tons of E-Waste that Ontario resident and businesses dispopse of each year from landfills within the first year of this program. The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Program contains two phases. The first phase involves the recycling of products like computers, printers, monitors, keyboards, fax machines and televisions. The second phase addresses the recycling of other electronics like cell phones. The WEEE plan aims to set an environmentally-conscious standard for E-Waste diversion throughout the rest of Canada. It incorporates the most successful components of other current E-Waste dversion programs in Nova Scotia, Saskatchewan, and British Colombia.
Several computer manufacturers have taken steps to curb the environment problem of improper E-Waste disposal with recycling initiatives of their own, but these sorts of programs tend to both require that consumers pay a fee and place restrictions the types of products that are eligible. On the contrary, the WEEE will accept E-Waste materials and products of all makes and models, old or new. This provincial program will recycle industry, commercial, and consumer waste. Businesses will be responsible for transporting materials to drop-off locations and OES will be responsible for handing the recyclables once they reach the drop-off locations. However, the brand owners of the electronics industry (e.g. importers and assemblers) will have to foot the bill for the program. The program costs are estimated at $62 million for the first year. If these brand owners choose to pass along the expenses to consumers, the cost of the average desktop computer could increase by $13 and the cost of the average television could increase by $10.
By, Christina Capatides
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