Page 11 - CFCM May-June 2021_Neat

CPCA CORNER

CURRENT PAINT

AND COATINGS ISSUES

IN CANADA

By Peter Mirtchev

CPCA Challenges Aspects of Ontario’s producers and consumers. CPCA’s recommendations to amend the
Upcoming Paint Recycling Regulations draft HSP regulation for paint will help Ontarians retain a world-class
The new regulation managing hazardous and special products paint recycling program; one that has consistently delivered strong
(HSP) in Ontario is coming into force on July 1, 2021. This will have paint waste recovery in Ontario and one which has been a model used
implications for the paint recycling program in the province, which by other countries, such as the United States and Australia, to develop
has been a huge success to date collecting more than 53,800 tonnes their own successful paint recycling models. We remain hopeful that
under Product Care over the past five years, ending 2020. The Ontario will live up to commitments made in drafting the current HSP
proposed HSP regulation replaces the current Municipal and regulation, that is, the new regulation “is expected to moderately
Hazardous and Special Waste program and will rely exclusively reduce costs” in Ontario. Only time will tell.
on “individual producer responsibility” where producers must
manage their own obligations or join an industry stewardship CPCA Submits Comments on the
program such as Product Care. Proposed Code of Practice for Benzophenone
Working closely with Product Care to review the draft regula- In January, Health Canada published a final screening assessment
tions, CPCA identified several issues of concern for the coatings report and a risk management approach for Benzophenone. The
industry and submitted official comments to the Ministry in late report concluded that Benzophenone is toxic for human health
March. Updated definitions for paint could mean that more materi- based on dermal and inhalation exposure from several sources
als might be obligated under the new proposal in future, including including interior and exterior consumer paint products. The
industrial paint and coatings. New accessibility requirements could proposed risk management actions included a measure to reduce the
also result in many more new collection sites/events being required concentration of Benzophenone to a maximum of 0.1 percent by
at substantial cost to industry, while offering little or no environ - weight in interior and exterior paint sold in Canada.
mental benefit with much lower recovery in the less populated areas CPCA consulted members for feedback and submitted an
of the province. And, it ignores the fact that most consumers use up official letter of response with industry’s formal position at the end
all the paint product they purchase. of March. Members are generally in agreement with the adoption
Since there is no credible evidence that reveals how much “waste” of a Code of Practice for the substance but suggested a more
is generated in Ontario related to paint and as such, how can a regu- collaborative approach that would support “informed substitution”
lation be established for recovery rates when it’s not known how to and joint work between Health Canada regulators, producers of
accurately calculate them? For example, if consumers use up 100 raw materials (resins) and manufacturers throughout the duration
percent of the product, as most do in the case of paint, there is very of the Code. CPCA hopes to avoid the challenges encountered with
little waste paint left to recover, but a new regulation wants more previous Codes where government erroneously assumed a library
sites, more events, more costs to recover existing levels. There is no of alternatives were available for the substance in question at a
data showing more is in fact more and in fact the reverse is more moment’s notice.
likely. Currently events across Ontario only account for 15 percent Benzophenone has largely been phased out of formulations but
of the total recovery and there has been no demand for additional there are still several hundred products implicated on the market. As
collection events from municipalities. a result, CPCA cautioned that the typical five-year duration for a
All that only means more costs, not more recovery. No regulation Code of Practice may still be problematic. To reformulate such a
can compel residents to return leftover product they intend to use in large number of products cannot be done without significant invest-
future and no metric is provided as to how much waste is generated. ment in R&D and performance testing, which takes several years.
It’s unclear how a rational eco fee can be established precisely in the Some members are certain that it will take longer than three years
regulation and it generally means more costs for Ontario consumers even if a suitable replacement is identified early enough in the
and less or the same recovery for waste in Ontario. process. This would not auger well for the paint manufacturing
The current collection system for paint has proven immensely industry and the hundreds of SKUs on the market today.
effective over the past number of years with 77 percent of the collec-
tion costs actually paid to municipalities for operating sites and events. CPCA Joins Other Industry Associations in Opposition
Luckily, there are no such costs for return-to-retail outlets and that is to Health Canada Consumer Product Exclusion Survey
the system program operators must expand to reduce eco fees for both In early February, Health Canada released a public survey seeking
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