Rethinking Lifestyle

When we talk about recycling, very few of us have a clear understanding of the system we’re talking about.

In Manitoba, the Waste Reduction and Prevention Act names a category of materials called Packaging & Printed Paper. In 2008, a regulation was passed that made the producers and distributors of these materials (called Stewards) financially responsible for recycling them. They’re required to pay fees for all the packaging that they create and distribute. The less recyclable it is, the higher the fees.

Here’s how it works: ‘Stewards’ pay a certain amount into a common fund (managed by Multimaterial Stewardship Manitoba, or MMSM) for every kg of packaging they produce. The less recyclable it is, the more they pay. That money is paid to municipalities’ recycling programs, and also used to advertise recycling to the public. Although this is meant to discourage Stewards from producing excessive and harmful packaging, it’s hard to say that it has. Perhaps the reason is that the fees for environmentally destructive packaging are laughably low. In 2012, Stewards were required to pay between $0.008 and $0.034/kg for the packaging they distributed. That means that if it wanted to, a manufacturer could wrap a 2-gram memory stick in half a pound (227g) of the worst, most harmful kind of packaging – for under eight cents’ penalty. That’s the highest fee.

The fees remain low in part because of the efforts of MMSM, who collect and dispense the fees on the Stewards’ behalf. Their program does not link fees to the actual cost of recycling everything Stewards produce. Instead, they’re linked to however much recycling ends up being done. (You may need to read that twice). The plan specifies that recycling operations that spend less money recycling should get more of their costs reimbursed. This means that a recycling depot that spends money recycling something like polystyrene may be considered less efficient than one that landfills it, and would get less money. MMSM’s definition of Efficiency is: “lowering or controlling costs”. As a result, our own Eastman Recycling doesn’t receive enough funding from the Stewards of styrofoam and difficult-to-sort PET packaging to recycle it. It is landfilled – and landfilled materials cost Stewards nothing.

So what needs to change?

Our government: Politicians address issues in response to public concern – and we don’t seem concerned. Even so, our Waste Reduction and Prevention Act acknowledges the importance of these issues:

• Whereas the volume of waste generated in Manitoba is a threat to the environment;
• And whereas action is required to reduce and prevent waste;
• And whereas governments, government agencies and all members of society are responsible for reducing and preventing waste;
• And whereas that responsibility includes contributing toward the cost of waste reduction and prevention.

We need to tell our Provincial government to stop wasteful, non-cyclical packaging materials from ever being allowed on our store shelves. We need to tell our local Municipal governments that very recyclable materials such as paper, aluminum, glass, and #1 & #2 plastics should not be accepted as landfill – and support them in carrying out the change.

Industry: Manufacturers and distributors of packaging often say that “it’s what the consumer wants”, and “everyone should have free choice”. But in order for consumers to avoid unrecyclable packaging, we can buy almost nothing, or must pay a premium for whatever we can buy with less packaging. That is not a fair choice, and it doesn’t reflect our values. Manufacturers and distributors do not deliberately wish to cause pollution – but they don’t seem motivated enough to stop producing it, either.

Us: We consumers are very content to enjoy the benefits and sparkle of excessive packaging. We gladly accept the garbage our goods are wrapped in, and say nothing to our politicians or to industry. Worse, in 2012, 60,475,000kg (46.9%) of packaging material was not recovered for recycling in Manitoba. We have the greatest power and responsibility to act, since government and industry literally survive or perish by our word – we also have the most to lose for saying nothing.

Manitoba’s recycling system is not perfect, but it must continue to improve. As consumers, we need to understand our system, and act on our own behalf. We need to support our municipalities’ efforts, and advocate change that will benefit recyclers.