Alberta Collaborative Extended Producer Responsibility Study
EPR for Packaging and Paper Products (PPP) Study
ABmunis advocated for EPR to be implemented in Alberta. In 2019, ABmunis, with our partners (the Cities of Edmonton and Calgary, producer representatives, and the Canadian Stewardship Services Alliance), commissioned the “Extended Producer Responsibility for Residential Packaging and Paper Products: Alberta Collaborative Extended Producer Responsibility Study.”
The study confirmed that a made-in-Alberta solution to EPR for packaging and paper products would bring substantial and immediate benefits to Albertans.
Read the news release and backgrounder
Review the frequently asked questions
About EPR for Packaging and Paper Products
Currently, as the only province in Western Canada without an EPR program, Alberta’s municipalities carry the financial burden and operating risks of recycling and disposing of consumer waste. EPR for packaging and paper products would empower producers of consumer PPP to manage and pay for the recycling of the materials they distribute. More than 80 percent of Canadians are already benefiting from EPR programs while Albertans forego millions of dollars in cost savings, economic opportunities, and jobs, as well as multiple environmental and social benefits every year.
The benefits expected from a made-in-Alberta solution to EPR for packaging and paper products include:
- Reduce the recycling collection services costs that municipalities charge their residents each year by up to $105 million; this is Albertans’ money and it can be reinvested in other municipal services or provided as a cost-saving to municipal residents.
- Add $16 million to the Alberta economy every year.
- Gain approximately 220 new jobs in Alberta’s recycling industry.
- Recycle an additional 21,000 tonnes of packaging and paper products each year.
- Reduce CO2 emissions by 72,000 tonnes each year–the equivalent of removing 15,000 cars from the road annually.
- Increase recycling opportunities for rural Alberta and people who live in multi-dwelling residences.
- Make recycling more convenient for Albertans by collecting the same materials province-wide.
- Incentivize the industry to design products that are more efficient to collect and recycle.
- Incentivize the industry to invest in recycling innovations and infrastructure.