Municipalities to bear costs of paint program changes
The Alberta Recycling Management Authority (Alberta Recycling) announced that it would reduce processors’ incentives for the Alberta Paint Stewardship Program for the next program year. The upcoming changes will likely force paint processors to pass the loss through an increase in fees charged to collection sites.
Many municipal transfer stations and landfills are collection sites for the program.
AUMA has raised several issues regarding recycling programs with the Minister of Environment and Parks since 2017 and financial viability is one of our key concerns. Recently, the AUMA President sent another letter to the Minister highlighting our solutions. All the changes we want to see from the provincial government do not require additional funding, just regulatory amendments. It is problematic that provincial programs constantly download costs onto municipalities while the province has the tools to make these programs financially viable.
Many AUMA members have already shared their frustration with their Members of the Legislative Assembly. We hope more municipalities will do the same, and we have a template letter for you to adapt. Our Waste Management Hub has more information regarding AUMA’s advocacy on recycling, including advocating for an Extended Producer Responsibility paper and packaging program.
If you have any questions about the changes to the paint recycling program, please contact Alberta Recycling directly at Collection.Sites [at] albertarecycling.ca (Collection[dot]Sites[at]albertarecycling[dot]ca).
