On 1 January 2025, Québec became the first Canadian province to operate a fully producer-responsible curbside system, with ÉEQ as the designated management organisation.
In its 2025 review, published in March 2026, ÉEQ reported around 791,000 tonnes of material recovered and roughly 607,000 tonnes sent to recycling, with paper and cardboard making up more than half of the volumes collected.
The provincial government provided CAD 27 million to support producers through the transition and adjusted the recovery and recycling targets, extending the timeline to 2030.
ÉEQ has also become the first EPR organisation in North America to publish guidelines for the ecodesign and recyclability of packaging, and is working towards nationally harmonised guidelines by the end of 2026, alongside Circular Materials in other provinces.
The guidelines are destined to producers in various sectors, such as food, cosmetics, hardware and pharmaceuticals, as well as retailers and manufacturers.
The lauching took place during the event L’industrie alimentaire à table : l’aliment, l’emballage et la lutte au gaspillage, co-organized by ÉEQ with the Conseil de la transformation alimentaire du Québec (CTAQ) and the Retail Council of Canada (RCC).
“We are pleased to have made available APR’s technical expertise and plastics design guidance to support Éco Entreprises Québec’s recyclability guidelines. Collaboration in our space eliminates confusion and betters plastic packaging design which, in turn, improves plastics recycling and enhances the efficiency of the entire recycling process.”
— Curt Cozart, Chief Operating Officer, for the Association of Plastic Recyclers (APR)
A useful tool for all producers
These guidelines, drawn up by Éco Entreprises Québec, represent a significant step towards the ecodesign and recyclability of packaging in Quebec. Their main purpose is to:
- Enable producers to carry out independent diagnosis of their packaging to identify ecodesign opportunities and improve recyclability
- Ensure a better match between marketed materials and recycling channels
- Increase the quality and value of recovered materials
The ecodesign guidelines include:
- A complete definition and a list of ecodesign benefits
- Basic concepts of packaging functions and systems, as well as usage scenarios
- Ecodesign strategies: reduction, supply and recyclability
- A setting up approach in business
The recyclability guidelines include:
- A definition of recyclability aligned with international organizations
- An explanation of the sorting, packaging and recycling stages and the main issues associated with packaging
- Specific guidelines for various materials (plastics, paper/cardboard, metals and glass)
Classification of recyclability statements
The Éco Entreprises Québec team has detailed recyclability guidelines by packaging material type, packaging characteristic and material combination. These design statements are classified as preferable if they do not cause a problem during sorting, packaging and recycling, or disruptive if they affect recyclability or make the packaging non-recyclable.
“We are pleased to have made available APR’s technical expertise and plastics design guidance to support Éco Entreprises Québec’s recyclability guidelines. Collaboration in our space eliminates confusion and betters plastic packaging design which, in turn, improves plastics recycling and enhances the efficiency of the entire recycling process.”
— Curt Cozart, Chief Operating Officer, for the Association of Plastic Recyclers (APR)
Contributing to a circular economy
The modernization of curbside recycling is possible because producers – as members of ÉEQ financing the entire system – are responsible for the management of their materials, from design to end-of-life cycle.
For EXPRA, the Québec experience shows industry-led EPR delivering results in a North American context and offers valuable transatlantic lessons on transition financing, ecodesign and cross-jurisdiction harmonisation.
You can read the annual report here
Éco Entreprises Québec: ecodesign & recyclability guidelines
Resource Recycling: Québec reflects on its first year of packaging EPR