Statement on New Regulation for Financing Waste Diversion

TORONTO, Feb. 9, 2012 /CNW/ - Stewardship Ontario was notified of a regulation today that prescribes a new methodology for recovering costs under the Municipal Hazardous or Special Waste (MHSW) Program that we operate from Ontario businesses -the producers and retailers of designated products.

Stewardship Ontario shares the government's commitment to waste diversion and we intend to build on the success of our Blue Box and MHSW programs, which have made Ontario a global leader in waste diversion. Since 2009, Stewardship Ontario has not only met but actually exceeded its annual targets to keep hazardous materials out of Ontario's landfills and waterways.

Stewardship Ontario's performance on MHSW program to date

Year	Provincial Hazardous Waste   Collection Targets	Actual Collection Achieved
2009	19.6 million kg	20.0 million kg
2010	22.7 million kg	26.5 million kg
2011	25.5 million kg	Year End Estimate: 28.0  million kg

Our success in exceeding annual overall collection targets has created additional costs, as reported in our 2010 Audited Financial Statements in our Annual Report.  At the request of the government, we deferred increases to our fee schedule while the government considered changes to the way in which we recover operating costs from Ontario businesses. Stewardship Ontario is now in receipt of the regulation and is considering how to implement it.

Stewardship Ontario has always operated on the principle of openness.  Under the Waste Diversion Act, Stewardship Ontario's annual budget and expenditures are reviewed and approved by Waste Diversion Ontario and we are required to submit third party audited financial statements to the Minister of Environment by April 1 of every year.

Furthermore, we look forward to the review of our incentive programs which were designed to divert the maximum amount of waste in a financially responsible way.