Caledon Propane, Ontario's largest recycler of used propane tanks, has threatened to quit this spring if Stewardship Ontario doesn't change its pricing system.
The companies responsible for hauling and recycling hazardous waste in Ontario say they still haven't received instructions on how to bill Stewardship Ontario for their services, more than two months after the not-for-profit corporation changed its pricing regime.
Stewardship Ontario runs the province's blue-box and hazardous-waste recycling programs, and reports to the provincially mandated Waste Diversion Ontario. It collects fees from producers and importers of hazardous materials, and uses the money to pay service providers to recycle them.
In January, the corporation changed the way those service providers are paid. Instead of entering into contracts with municipalities, haulers and recyclers are now subject to a flat rate, set by Stewardship Ontario, which many have argued is too low for them to make a profit.
The province's largest paint recycler, Hotz Environmental Services, has already left the program as a result of the change, and the largest propane-tank recycler says it will quit this spring if prices aren't increased.
Speaking to service providers last week at the annual general meeting for the Ontario Waste Management Association, a representative from Stewardship Ontario said the changes will make the industry more competitive and attract new service providers.
Lyle Clarke, vice-president of innovation and the blue-box program at Stewardship Ontario, said the corporation has introduced flat-rate payments on other recycling programs in the past without any significant problems.
"The pattern in the past has been that when we introduce an incentive [flat-rate]program, new players, new operators recognize it as a business opportunity, they enter the marketplace, [and]collection and diversion goes up," Mr. Clarke said. "Success speaks for itself, and I believe we're having that success today."
But industry members say the new rates are simply too low for them to adjust. They say they still haven't received the guidance they need to adapt to the changes, including instructions on how to weigh the waste they are responsible for transporting and how Stewardship Ontario is calculating payments.
"They still haven't told us, what are the terms of payment for the services we're providing," said Stephen Huza, a manager at Ottawa-based waste management company Drain-All. He said Stewardship Ontario had promised to provide a new guidebook by January, 2012, when the changes came into effect.
Mr. Huza said haulers and transporters are aware of the new flat rates, but need clarification on the protocol Stewardship Ontario expects them to follow when calculating the amount of hazardous waste they are working with, as well as guidance on billing the corporation.
"It's supposed to describe how the whole program operates," said George Rankin, an environmental administrator from Buckham Transport in Peterborough. "I think that's pretty poor business, to not give people something in writing."
A spokeswoman for Stewardship Ontario said the corporation held off on sending the guidelines to service providers at the request of the Ontario Waste Management Association, a suggestion the association disputes.
The OWMA says it asked Stewardship to wait before introducing the new pricing incentive, but not to hold back guidelines describing how the new system will work.
However, Stewardship Ontario said it was asked not to overwhelm people with information.
"But if there's anyone that works with us who is unclear about the guidelines, we invite them to call us any time," said spokeswoman Rula Sharkawi.
Last month, Environment Minister Jim Bradley asked Waste Diversion Ontario to review Stewardship Ontario's pricing plan and examine its finances. The pricing review is due later this month.
In the meantime, municipal waste managers are watching the controversy closely, with some expressing concerns that their services could be disrupted as a result of large hauling and processing companies pulling out of the program.
Vince Sferrazza, manager of solid-waste management services for the City of Toronto, said the city managed to find a new processor for used paint after the recycler it was using left the Stewardship program earlier this year. But he said the upheaval in the industry has added stress for municipalities, with some left scrambling for alternatives after the companies they had worked with for years announced they would opt out of the program.
"In order to maintain service reliability, [municipalities]had to go out and search for new processors," Mr. Sferrazza said. "That's something that I'm sure was not intended, but it's something that should be understood."