Whereas access to used oil, used oil filters and used oil container recycling services in BC is very inadequate particularly in rural areas; And whereas the British Columbia Used Oil Management Association BCUOMA is required by provincial statute to provide used oil, used oil filters and used oil container recycling services to all citizens of British Columbia; And whereas the British Columbia Used Oil Management Association must submit a Stewardship Plan to the provincial Ministry of Environment for approval: Therefore be it resolved that the provincial Ministry of Environment require that the British Columbia Used Oil Manufacturing Association BCUOMA Stewardship Plan include minimum requirements for public drop-off depots that will insure that there is access to public recycling facilities no more than 10 kilometres from where BCUOMA recycling program materials are sold.
Ministry of Environment Climate Change Strategy The Ministry of Environment and Climate Action Strategy recognizes that many used oil collection facilitiesservices have shut down in recent years due to the decline in the inherent value of oil that has made voluntary collection costly for operators. Oil and other hazardous waste products dropped-off after hours with contaminants e.g. PCBs pose a significant liability for retailers causing many Canadian Tire locations to stop collection. British Columbia Used Oil Management Association BCUOMA now desires its contracted facilities to meet the requirements of the Hazardous Waste Regulation which requires capital infrastructure investment. The Ministry has therefore been pressing BCUOMA into aggressively working to understand and resolve the issues with return collection facilities RCFs. BCUOMA has undertaken a significant service-gap analysisstudy and is now working on the implementation of: an increased return collection incentive rate; a new minimum service level standard; expanding the community collection event program; implementing an infrastructure grant program for RCFs; adding new multi-material depot return options; and providing a new advertising tool-kit to drive consumer awareness. BCUOMA is intending to revise and consult on their stewardship plan in its entirety this spring. Ministry staff will be monitoring this process and feedback closely and local governments are encouraged to participate. BCUOMA is actively working in several key areas of the Province, including Kootenay Boundary Regional District to resolve service level concerns. In January 2018 BCUOMA issued an RFP to contract services for mobile community collection events to supplement the depotfacility network and to fill temporary service gaps as they arise.
BC Used Oil Management Association BCUOMA is currently in the process of revisiting its consumer program. in 2017, BCUOMA completed a study to asses the generation of used oil materials at the community level, from which a new minimum service level standard has been developed see below. The new minimum service level, once fully implemented, would provide 99 of the population of BC with access to a recycling facility. Also in 2017, BCUOMA developed a new infrastructure grant program, completed a pilot collection program with multi-material depots and enhanced existing community collection events. in 2018, BCUOMA intends to modify the standard based on the comments received to date, re-assess the service levels in a second study and then incorporate these findings into BCUOMAs 2018-2022 Stewardship Plan, which is intended to be released for consultation in the Spring of 2018. In the interim, BCUOMA intends to continue to invest and build its consumer collection network in areas of need, including launching a new Community Collection Event mobile program. Importantly, in BCUOMAs consumer collection program, the proposed location of consumer collection facilities is based on where the used material is generated versus sold. For consumer oil products, because of the long and unique characteristics of the use life-cycle stage, the used product is rarely generated where the product is sold. Further, many consumers sales points large retailers, gas bars are not designed for, or have the training necessary, for the collection and handling of used hazardous waste materials. BC Used Oil Management Association Proposed Minimum Service Levels for Consumer Products from a chart in the letter Community Type: City High Industrial; Population: 5,000; Minimum Service Level: One facility per 100,000 people; SABC Accessibility Standard Footnote 1: One facility within 30 min drive Community Type: City Low Industrial; Population: 5,000; Minimum Service Level: One facility within 30 min drive; SABC Accessibility Standard: One facility within 30 min drive. Community Type: Town High Industrial; Population: 2,500-5,000; Minimum Service Level: One facility; SABC Accessibility Standard: One facility within 45 min driveFootnote 2. Community Type: Town Low Industrial; Population: 2,500-5,000; Minimum Service Level: One facility within 30 min drive; SABC Accessibility Standard: One facility within 45 min drive. Community Type: Village; Population: 2,500; Minimum Service Level: One facility within 45 min drive or Community Collection Event; SABC Accessibility Standard: No service standard. Footnote 1: Stewardship Association of BC have developed a minimum accessibility standard for approved product stewardship plans. Footnote 2: Only applies for communities over 4,000 people. There is no SABC service standard for communities under 4,000 people.