In response to new Ministerial direction, Stewardship Ontario will be consulting on amendments to the management of surplus funds during the wind up of the MHSW program. These proposed amendments to the Wind Up Plan will be of interest to all MHSW stakeholders given the potential financial implications for the MHSW program and individual stewards.
The Minister of the Environment, Conservation and Parks recently sent Stewardship Ontario a letter directing the organization to develop amendments to the approved MHSW Wind Up Plan which would return 100% of material-specific surplus funds to Industry Stewardship Organizations (ISOs) in one lump sum transfer.
In a second letter received this week, the Minister granted an extension for submitting the amendments to the Resource Productivity and Recovery Authority (RPRA) to June 5, 2020 in order to allow sufficient meaningful consultation with stakeholders given the current situation with the COVID-19 pandemic.
Consultation on Amendments for All MHSW Stakeholders
We will be holding two consultation webinars during which Stewardship Ontario will review its proposal for disbursing existing surplus funds to ISOs pursuant to surplus fund transfer agreements that:
- Outline how ISOs are to return surplus funds to Industry Stewardship Plan (ISP) stewards “in the form of fee reductions for the maximum benefit of consumers” and;
- In the case that there is a delay in the transition of the MHSW program under the Resource Recovery and Circular Economy Act, 2016, allow Stewardship Ontario to recover “reasonable unexpected costs related to the materials managed by the ISOs.”
The content will be the same for both webinars.
Feedback
We invite stakeholders to submit feedback on the content discussed during the consultation webinars up until Friday, May 22, 2020.
We will then finalize the proposed amendments and submit to RPRA by the June 5, 2020 deadline for approval. The Minister expects RPRA will approve the amendments no later than June 25, 2020.
If you have any questions, please contact us at mhswwindup@stewardshipontario.ca.