Consultations on the 2021 Schedule of Contributions: Our second online edition and a first against the background of a pandemic

On Tuesday, November 24, nearly 240 persons representing 185 contributing companies participated in the online consultation meeting on the 2021 Schedule of Contributions organized by Éco Entreprises Québec. Every year, targeted companies are invited to take part in a special consultation, provided for by law, ahead of the adoption of the next Schedule of Contributions by the board of directors and its approval by the government of Quebec. Business associations and consultants also joined in on the event.

Furthermore, the meeting, held in French and English, aims to help companies better understand the factors that influence their contribution used to finance curbside recycling in Quebec. Besides, it is an opportunity to ask questions on those topics.

In a context of recycling crisis and a pandemic, Marie Julie Bégin, Vice-President, Compensation Plan, Isabelle Laflèche, Director, Company Services, and Geneviève Dionne, Director, Eco-design and Circular Economy, gave an overview of the context and its impacts on companies’ contributions. They presented the updated parameters, the rates and the rules for the 2021 Schedule. A part of this consultation focused on ecomodulation, including the related vision statement approved by ÉEQ board of directors in order to move from a fee structure where the weight and type of materials are dominant to a fee structure more in line with the impact of the material throughout the value chain. The three resulting measures introduced in the 2021 Schedule were also presented to them, including the eco-design incentive bonus. To support these measures, the brand-new ÉEQ packaging eco-design portal was unveiled for companies interested in taking this step. It was also an opportunity to discuss the modernization of Quebec’s curbside recycling system, which will lead to extended producer responsibility (EPR) and which will allow producer companies to have control over the system they finance.

The consultation period continues until December 11, and companies are invited to complete the survey and submit their comments to service@eeq.ca.

All documentation related to the consultations and the development of the 2021 Schedule of Contributions is available here.