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VOL. 100 NO. 45
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BUSINESS
Recycling regs ammended to help small businesses AUTUMN MacDONALD Observer Reporter
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Mom and pop businesses are benefiting from an amendment to the provincial government’s recycling regulations. “This is a huge relief to our local business community,” Quesnel and District Chamber of Commerce President Graeme Armstrong said. This change exempts the majority of our local businesses, including all of our mom and pop shops, from new costs and red tape.” The regulation targets packaging and printed paper (PPP) and is slated to go into force in May. Under the original regulation, any business that produces packaging and printed paper (PPP) as defined in the Recycling Regulation was required to either register with Multi Material BC (MMBC) or produce its own stewardship plan. The criteria exemptions include any of the following: • annual revenues of less than $1 million; • less than 1 tonne of packaging and printed paper produced annually and/or; • a single point of retail sale (and not supplied by or operated as part of a franchise, chain or under a banner). Breaking those digits down means less than 3,000 businesses in the province will be effected by the regulation, out of more than 385,000. Armstrong voiced the chamber’s support, in principle, of the extended producer responsibility (EPR) but stated the programs needed to be implemented carefully in an effort to avoid issues. “This exemption correctly balances environmental goals with business needs,” Armstrong said. “We applaud the B.C. government for responding to businesses’ concerns and
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limiting the scope of the program, appropriately, to B.C.’s largest PPP producers.” The Quesnel & District Chamber of Commerce raised concerns about the regulation last summer after B.C. businesses were contacted regarding the impending regulations and fees by Multi Material BC (MMBC), the agency charged with producing a stewardship plan under the regulation. “It became clear this regulation would have unintended fallout for businesses, and particularly small businesses, across B.C.,” Armstrong said. “As a chamber network, we knew we needed to roll up our sleeves, get to work and fix this.” Backed by local chambers, the BC Chamber of Commerce worked extensively with the B.C. government and MMBC to hammer out a way forward that avoided a “one-sizefits-all” approach. “Today’s announcement is the fruit of those labours: a re-tooled regulation that achieves B.C.’s environmental goals, while protecting the vast majority of B.C. businesses from new costs and red tape,” BC Chamber President and CEO John Winter said. Winter commended the provincial government for listening to, and responding to, businesses’ needs. “This exemption is a testament to a responsive government that’s serious about its commitment to businesses and to cutting red tape,” Winter said. Winter also commended local chambers throughout B.C. for helping drive the solution. “Our local chambers have worked heroically on this file, pushing hard for the on-the-ground needs of B.C. businesses,” Winter said. “Our partnership with local Chambers, such as the Quesnel & District Chamber of Commerce, has been crucial to achieving this victory.”
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