Toronto Wants To Charge A Deposit Fee On Batteries, Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs, And Paint Cans

This spring a report will be submitted to city council to recommend that a refundable deposit system be put in place for all batteries, compact fluorescent light bulbs, and paint cans sold in Toronto. An Environment Canada study showed that in 2004, 347 million batteries weighing 11,623 tonnes were discarded in Canada. It is estimated that battery discards are growing by approximately 494 million per year and by 2010 they could amount to nearly 16,000 tonnes.

In Toronto:

• 36 million batteries are disposed of annually
• 1,079 tonnes of batteries are sold annually
• 34 batteries per household are disposed of annually
• 9 % of batteries are recycled

Batteries, bulbs and paint cans release toxins into the environment. Batteries contain toxic chemicals and heavy metals, compact fluorescent light bulbs contain mercury, and paint contains a range of chemicals. The City of Toronto could require that stores selling these products operate deposit/return systems as a condition of getting and keeping a retail license. Home Depot already recycles batteries for power tools with no deposit/refund system and they recently launched a compact fluorescent bulb recycling program.

Unfortunately the City of Toronto has thought up this plan but as usual has no idea how to implement it, or how to control it. What would stop someone from purchasing product in a store outside the Toronto city limits where no deposit/refund system is in place and then returning the product for recycling and collecting the refund in Toronto? How much would the deposit fees be? Who would collect and administer the program? Who would be responsible for the costs incurred in shipping the product back to the manufacturer for recycling? Is this program actually viable at this point in time or is this another cash grab opportunity by the city?