July 4, 2019

Stewardship Ontario Receives Further
Direction o n MHSW Wind Up
 
Following up on communications from earlier this week, Stewardship Ontario has recently received further direction from the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks (MECP) regarding the wind up of the MHSW Program.
 
The new direction letter has been posted on the MHSW Wind Up webpage here.
 
Below is a summary of the Minister's new direction:
  • The program to manage all designated materials except single-use batteries will now cease operation on June 30, 2021 instead of December 31, 2020.
  • The program to manage single-use batteries will continue to cease operation on June 30, 2020.
  • Stewardship Ontario is to develop a proposal to return surplus funds to Ontario consumers of MHSM in its proposed Wind Up Plan:
    • For MHSM categories whose recovery is managed by Stewardship Ontario, the plan will set out rules governing a fee elimination during the wind up period;
    • For MHSM categories that are managed through industry stewardship plans, the plan will include options to return surplus funds to MHSM consumers, for example, through a consumer rebate program.
  • Stewardship Ontario is to submit a revised Wind Up Plan to RPRA by September 30, 2019.
  • The Minister anticipates RPRA will approve the Plan no later than December 31, 2019.
Stewardship Ontario will be consulting with MHSW stakeholders on proposals related to the new Ministerial direction later this summer. Please stay tuned for details.
 
Thank you for your ongoing participation and support during this process. Any questions can be directed to mhswwindup@stewardshipontario.ca.
 
Kind regards,
Stewardship Ontario