C-393 – An Act to amend the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 (electronic products recycling program) – blocks manufacturing and importing electronics that contain a toxic substance unless a recycling program is in place for them.
So first up, what are “toxic substances”? For this Act toxic substances are listed in the Canadian Environmental Protection Act and are generally substances that can cause environmental damage. This includes things like lead, asbestos, or mercury.
Under this Act the feds will be responsible for keeping a list of electronic products that contain these substances, adding or removing products from the list when appropriate. Before a product on this list can be manufactured or imported in Canada a recycling program will need to be in place to safely dispose of the toxic substances in the product. This program will need to include the collection of the products when they need to be recycled, how to dispose of the collected products, and a public education strategy to make sure people know about the program.
The feds will have the ability to designate which organizations are allowed to handle recycling electronic devices, as well as set regulations on how different substances will need to be handled. They’ll also be able to exempt a province from this Act if the province has created its own system for recycling electronic devices.
Progress of C-393
C-393 is currently outside of the Order of Precedence.