The British Columbia Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy is conducting targeted engagement with select stakeholders and partners in the implementation of its Extended Producer Responsibility Five-Year Action Plan 2021-2026. The plan outlines a phased approach to regulating more products through extended producer responsibility.
Product categories that will be added to the Recycling Regulation in 2023 include ‘refillable propane canisters under 100lbs’. Extended producer responsibility programs are expected to be fully operational by 2025/2026.
While Cylinders up to 100lbs are included in the intended expansion of this plan, details are sparce on how this will be executed. The CPA will meet with the ministry to discuss the exclusion of propane from these requirements as the industry already recycles at a rate of about 95% and has a long-standing circular system that recycles, reuses, and disposes these cylinders. The CPA will advocate that excluding propane cylinders is the best approach to avoid excessive burden on an already functional recycling system and will be discussing options for their exclusion with the ministry.