Extended producer responsibility

Background and objectives

Regulatory amendments are proposed to the following regulations developed based on an extended producer responsibility (EPR) approach:

• the Regulation respecting the development, implementation and financial support of a deposit‑refund system for certain containers (hereinafter the Deposit-Refund Regulation);
• the Regulation respecting a system of selective collection of certain residual materials (hereinafter the Selective Collection Regulation);
• the Regulation respecting the recovery and reclamation of products by enterprises (hereinafter the RRRPE).

The proposed amendments seek, among other things, to:

• establish conditions that are conducive to the successful rollout of the modernized selective collection system;
• reduce the financial burden on producers subject to the RRRPE and Selective Collection Regulation, and stabilize selective collection costs in the short term;
• provide additional time for the rollout of the selective collection system and for achieving prescribed performance rates;
• provide additional time for the development of recovery and reclamation streams for agricultural plastics used primarily in the market-gardening and horticultural sectors;
• encourage the reuse of products subject to EPR;
• facilitate the participation of social economy enterprises;
• maintain the competitiveness of redeemable containers (RCs) compared with single‑use containers;
• support the maintenance of Québec’s established capabilities regarding sorting, conditioning and reclamation service providers;
• establish a regulatory framework that is better adapted to operational realities;
• improve consistency in regulatory requirements across all existing EPR systems and programs;
• strengthen stakeholder buy-in.