Éco Entreprises Québec
Canada
Éco Entreprises Québec (ÉEQ) is a private, non-profit organization that represents companies with regard to their responsibility to financially compensate 100% of the net costs of municipal curbside recycling in a sustainable development perspective.
With company contributions, ÉEQ finances municipal services for the collection, transportation, sorting and conditioning of containers, packaging and printed matter put on Quebec’s market. Our contributors include retailers, distributors, food and consumer products manufacturers, durable goods manufacturers and services companies (i.e. financial and insurance services, accommodations, food services, government and para-government agencies, etc.).
As an organization founded by the industry, ÉEQ is naturally concerned by each step in the curbside recycling value chain. Along with our partners, we track and capitalize on every opportunity to enhance efficiency, optimize costs and recover increasing quantities of better quality materials. In 2013, EPR Canada, a private independent organization, ranked the province of Quebec first, along with British Columbia, for its commitment to the implementation of EPR programs. Also, as part of its benchmarking of Canadian EPR programs for containers, packaging and printed matter, the American Product Stewardship Institute (PSI), under the direction of the Packaging Association of Canada, ranked Quebec as having the “Highest Performing Program” with regard to the greatest number of indicators assessed.
System Description
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As for the fee structure, criteria used by ÉEQ to determine company contributions are legally required to evolve over the years to make targeted companies accountable for the environmental footprint of the products they manufacture, market, distribute or commercialize. A variety of factors are therefore considered:
- recycled content
- nature of materials used
- volume of residual materials produced
- potential for recovery, recycling or reclamation
In 2013, ÉEQ will introduce the first credit for post-consumer recycled content in some plastic and fiber containers and packaging to grant a 20% credit to companies who include 100% recycled content in their containers and packaging.
The organization has been certified by the Quebec government since 2005 to establish a fee structure and collect company contributions. Those obligations make the province of Quebec the most demanding legislative framework in Canada with regard to extended producer responsibility (EPR).
ÉEQ’s guiding principles of fairness, integrity, thoroughness and transparency as well as its innovative spirit and its entrepreneurial vision of curbside recycling are the reasons why its initiatives are gaining recognition throughout Canada and North America. In partnership with its stakeholders, ÉEQ has taken a leadership position to improve the performance of the recycling value chain by optimizing at the source materials generated by companies through eco-design, enhancing the curbside recycling system and promoting efforts to increase the quantities of recovered materials at the lowest possible cost. ÉEQ is also dedicated to improving materials sorting and conditioning and the economic value of recovered materials.
Communication activities
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More than 99% of residents have access to curbside recycling programs, which consist mostly in the collection of comingled materials using 360 L rolling carts. To ensure system efficiency continues to improve, ÉEQ gets involved in numerous communication activities intended for consumers and targeted companies, such as:
OptimEco.ca | http://Optimeco.ca
This interactive portal is the first packaging optimization portal to offer optimization strategies in a sustainable development perspective. It is specifically intended for companies in all sectors who do business in Canada and manufacture, design or distribute containers and packaging or packaged products. In keeping with internationally-recognized norms and standards, the suggested process is based on a life cycle approach, including materials’ potential for recycling. The portal also offers a tool called OptimAction, which enables companies to measure and promote the benefits of their initiative.
Bacs+ | http://www.bacsplus.ca/ (French only)
Founded by ÉEQ, bacs+ (acronym for bénéfices de l’augmentation de la collecte sélective, or benefits of improving curbside recycling) represents tens of thousands of companies, entrepreneurs and stakeholders from every sector. The group believes that curbside recycling is the system of choice to recover the greatest quantities of materials and meet the environmental objectives set in Quebec’s Residual Materials Management Policy.
Recycling is Remaking Awareness Campaign | http://www.recreer.ca/en/
Over the past ten years, more Quebecers have been participating in the recycling effort and are recycling more materials than ever before, but there is still room for improvement to reach the 70% target set in the government’s Policy. That is why Éco Entreprises Québec and RECYC-QUÉBEC (a government agency) launched a joint multimedia awareness campaign to encourage recycling and explain how we all benefit from doing so.
Away-from-home
ÉEQ co-founded the Table pour la récupération hors foyer (away-from-home recovery program), which it has been financing for more than six years. The program provides financial grants to municipalities to aquire recovery equipment for public spaces. ÉEQ has been the sole member of the Table since 2012 and co-finances the organization in cooperation with the government as part of a five-year commitment totalling Can$8 million. The most recent recovery program is intended exclusively for municipal organizations to provide equipment for indoor and outdoor public spaces.
Prevention
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The 2022 Schedule of Contributions (SoC) was published today July 13, 2022 in the Gazette officielle du Québec by Order of the minister. This publication marks the official opening of the 60-day reporting period.
Targeted companies have until September 13, 2022 to report the containers, packaging and printed matter marketed during the 2021 calendar year in Quebec.
For full payment calendar details, see the deadlines for your obligations.
Retirement of Eco-D
After many years of loyal service, our Eco-D reporting portal took a well-deserved retirement on April 29 2022.
After a short transition period, a breath of fresh air allowed ÉEQ to better meet the needs of contributing companies. A brand-new reporting portal is now fully functional and ready to take over.
You will receive an email with an invitation code and instructions on how to log in to the new reporting portal. Since your Eco-D access code is no longer valid, you will need to create a new user account.
News
New terms and conditions apply for the 2022 SoC, including:
- Obligation of operators of transactional websites, with or without a place of business in Quebec and whose products are acquired by e-commerce
- Containers and packaging of wood and cork must now be reported
- Polypropylene containers (plastic #5), which must now be reported separately from other plastics and polymers
Renewal of the bonus
The ecodesign incentive bonus pilot project is back! Launched in 2021 to recognize and reward companies’ efforts in the ecodesign of containers and packaging, the 2022 edition has been improved. The application form has been simplified to facilitate the process and the available bonus has been revised upwards. Companies that have put ecodesigned containers and packaging on the market in 2021 could therefore benefit from a credit of up to $60,000 on their annual contribution. Other terms and conditions apply. Visit the bonus page to see if your process is eligible.
Contact
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Eco Entreprises Québec
1600, René-Lévesque Blvd. West
Suite 600
Montréal (Québec) H3H 1P9
CANADA
Phone: 1-514-987-1491
E-mail: service@ecoentreprises.qc.ca
Web: www.ecoentreprises.qc.ca