The Ucluelet Chamber applauded the B.C. government for listening to B.C.'s Chamber network and amending a recycling regulation that was causing substantial concern among businesses so that it will impact less that 1% of B.C.'s businesses.
"This is a huge relief to our local business community," said Dian McCreary, President of the Ucluelet Chamber "This change exempts the majority of our smaller locally owned businesses, from new costs and red tape."
The regulation targets packaging and printed paper (PPP) and is slated to go into force in May.
The B.C. government has announced that it will enshrine in regulation an exemption for any B.C. business that meets any of the following criteria: annual revenues of less than $1 million; less than 1 tonne of packaging and printed paper produced annually and/or a single point of retail sale (and not supplied by or operated as part of a franchise, chain or under a banner).
Fewer than 3,000 businesses in the province will be captured by the regulation, out of 385,000.
McCreary noted that the Ucluelet Chamber supports the principle of extended producer responsibility (EPR), which aligns with B.C. business values, but cautioned that EPR programs need to be implemented carefully to avoid unintended consequences.
"This exemption correctly balances environmental goals with business needs McCreary said. "We applaud the B.C. government for responding to businesses' concerns and limiting the scope of the program, appropriately, to B.C.'s largest PPP producers."
The Chamber network throughout B.C. raised the alarm about the regulation last summer after businesses across the province were contacted about coming new obligations and fees by Multi Material BC (MMBC), the agency charged with producing a stewardship plan under the regulation.
"It became clear that this regulation would have unintended fallout for businesses, and particularly small businesses, across B.C.," said McCreary. "As a Chamber network, we knew we needed to roll up our sleeves, get to work and fix this thing."