The sheer volume of waste management that needs to be addressed by civic decision in cities all over North America is one thing, but what is increasingly being seen is massive upticks in the volume of hazmat waste that needs to be processed safely and responsibly too. It will be different depending on the type of waste we are talking about, and some of it is dealt with more easily than others. There are many HAZMAT certified waste disposal providers here in Trenton and Colborne Ontario, including us here at Load n’ Lift, but current consumer product trends are meaning there is a lot of waste that is much more complicated in its handling and disposal.
One of those consumer product trends that is obviously very much at the forefront today is electric vehicles, and the way sales of these vehicles has really taken off is a reflection of how consumers realize the need to move away from ICE vehicles to curb global warming as best we can. But these vehicles require super batteries that are not cannot be responsibly disposed of easily, and while we have the best dumpster rentals in Colborne and Trenton too these batteries are definitely NOT the type of item that anyone will be just tossing out when they’ve reached the end of their working lifespan.
EPR in Canada
So what exactly is EPR, and what is the immediate relevance of it when it comes to electric vehicle battery disposal. The issue with these batteries is they contain many components that would pose very serious contamination risks if they were disposed of in conventional ways. EPR is a waste management model created to incentivize producers to have environmental considerations incorporated into the design, manufacturing and management of their products.
The aim is to reduce waste in landfills and promote a more sustainable life cycle for products. Provincial legislation determines the program, so there isn’t a standardized system across Canada. Provinces are implementing their own EPR systems, although they tend to be a work in progress at this point. This certainly is a positive step towards sustainable waste management, but with a patchy approach comes complications with what makes up compliance, and this is very true for proper disposal of EV batteries.
Legislation Varies Depending on Location
Anyone who takes interest in this subject and looks will find that provincial legislation regulating the collection, processing, recycling and disposal of used batteries across Canada varies quite considerably. Let’s start with looking at Quebec. In October 2021, the Province announced its intention to have minimum rates for recovery and recycling for the producers of electric vehicle batteries, small batteries and lead-acid batteries. If passed it would make QUE the first jurisdiction in North America to put regulations in place for the recycling of electric vehicle batteries.
Quebec is already a national leader when it comes to residents moving to an electric vehicle, so it may well makes sense that they take the lead with electric vehicle battery recycling. Their enhanced battery EPR is part of the plan to promote electrification while protecting the environment and resources by increasing recovery and enhancement of these products once they reach the end of their working life.
British Columbia introduced similar EPR legislation in September of last year, their EPR Five-Year Action Plan for the province. There are many noteworthy details to it, but we’ll just look at one – it is stipulating that by 2040 all new light-duty cars and trucks sold in British Columbia will need to be zero-emission vehicles. It also includes concrete plans to better repurpose and recycle these hybrid and electric vehicle batteries.
But most importantly it contains specific language that says producers of electric and hybrid vehicles will have to factor in the cost and responsibility for the full life cycle of their electric vehicles and the batteries in them. Will this mean that eventually automakers will need to factor end-of-life collection and recycling costs for the batteries into the initial purchase price? Quite likely.
So how about our Province, Ontario? There is nothing similar coming from the current Provincial government yet, but we will probably see them get onboard with greater EPR requirements themselves in the near future. It is an important step if Ontario is to be accommodating consumer product trends that will mean this type of waste is going to grow in volume exponentially.
Call us here at Load n’ Lift first for waste pickup in Trenton and Colborne or for disposal bin rentals. Not only are we able to have your bins on site the same day usually, but timely pick up and responsible disposal is guaranteed here and we always put a 100% emphasis on full customer satisfaction. Plus, everyone who gets a dumpster rental here will be automatically entered in our draw to win $250 that happens every 3 months. Need trash disposal or job site cleanup? We are your guys.
