Eco fee program needs improvement, environment commissioner says
Posted July 27, 2010 1:08 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
TORONTO, Ont. – The province’s environment watchdog doesn’t want the eco-fee controversy to threaten what he perceives as a crucial program.
The fees go to an industry-run program that’s designed to properly dispose of, or recycle, hazardous products.
Environmental Commissioner Gord Miller, who is blaming retailers, not government for the confusion, said the program needs to be improved, not scrapped.
He said the fees created confusion and anger that’s threatening a good program.
“These eco fees were created by retailers and are not a component of or required by the MHSW [Municipal Special or Hazardous Waste] plan,” Miller said
The NDP’s environment critic Peter Tabuns agrees.
“People have to see that it’s not something that’s going to be dumped on them, and if they don’t see that, they’re going to be completely distrustful of this process,” Tabuns said.
Miller does note the waste diversion program needs a tweak, giving manufacturers an incentive to dispose or recycle hazardous products when people are done with them.
