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Changes to the Hazardous Waste Regulation for moderate risk waste

Last updated on December 6, 2024

Changes have been made to the Hazardous Waste Regulation for return collection facilities and transporters that collect, store and transport moderate risk waste.

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Moderate risk waste

Moderate risk waste is hazardous waste that's:

  1. In a Recycling Regulation product category, such as:
    • Lead-acid batteries
    • Waste oil
    • Oil-based paint, or
  2. Generated from the following products sold by a retailer and designed for use in domestic activities at residences:
  • Pressurized refillable propane cylinders with a water capacity of less than 109 litres
  • Pressurized, non-refillable cylinders less than 455 grams
  • Pressurized, non-refillable helium cylinders
  • Handheld fire extinguishers
  • Animal deterrents containing capsaicin
  • Aerosols
  • Household cleaners and disinfectant products
  • Diesel fuel

Moderate risk waste can be generated from:

  • Households
  • Institutions
  • Commercial businesses

Moderate risk waste does not include e-waste or pharmaceutical waste.

Changes to the regulation

The regulation was updated to:

  • Facilitate the collection, diversion and recycling of moderate risk waste and Extended Producer Responsibility
  • Make it more practical and financially viable for northern and remote communities, including Indigenous communities to collect, transport and dispose of moderate risk waste
  • Protect the environment by reducing illegal dumping or unlawful disposal and by supporting access to return collection facilities
  • Protect human health by reducing risks of fire and chemical exposures for workers in rural and remote communities

Highlights

The new regulatory requirements will:

  • Enable temporary collection events previously not enabled in the Hazardous Waste Regulation
  • Enable the collection of moderate risk waste not captured by Extended Producer Responsibility, further supporting waste diversion and a circular economy
  • Exempt (with conditions) requirements to use licensed transporters, to facilitate transport out of remote and northern communities, including Indigenous communities
  • Exempt (with conditions) requirements to use manifests when transporting moderate risk waste

Requirements for collecting moderate risk waste

Return collection facilities(RCFs)

RCFs are facilities that collect moderate risk waste from generators such as members of the public.

There are two types of RCFs: return to retail collection facilities which are located at retail stores where products are sold, and other RCFs (not located at retail locations).

Under the Hazardous Waste Regulation, all RCFs are required to:

  1. Register with the Ministry as an RCF
  2. Store according to requirements
  3. Ship waste according to requirements

Requirements for return to retail collection facilities and other RCFs are outlined in more detail in the guidance below:

Requirements for temporary collection events

Temporary collection events are events where moderate risk waste is temporarily collected from generators and stored. Under the Hazardous Waste Regulation, temporary collection events must:

  1. Store according to requirements
  2. Ship waste according to requirements

Note that registration is not required for these facilities.

Requirements for temporary collection events are outlined in this guidance:

Consolidation site facilities

Consolidation site facilities are facilities that store moderate risk waste, for the purposes of consolidation and transport to an authorized hazardous waste management facility. These facilities do not accept any wastes directly from generators such as members of the public.

Under the Hazardous Waste Regulation, consolidation site facilities must: 

  1. Register as a consolidation site facility
  2. Store according to requirements
  3. Ship waste according to requirements

Requirements for consolidation site facilities are outlined in this guidance:

Operational plans

Effective February 1, 2024, return collection facilities will be required to develop, implement, and submit an operational plan to the Ministry when choosing to collect hazardous waste that is not moderate risk waste or e-waste.

Examples of hazardous waste that would require an operational plan include:

  • pool chemicals
  • brake fluid
  • automotive paint

A template to support the development of an operational plan for return collection facilities is available below:

Feedback on the proposed changes to the regulation (2021)

In 2021, the ministry pursued feedback on the proposed changes to the regulation from:

  • Indigenous peoples
  • Local governments
  • Other key participants

Intentions paper

The intentions paper was released in June 2021.

To learn more about what changes were proposed, review the Hazardous Waste Regulation Intentions Paper (PDF, 1.2MB).

Summary of feedback

The ministry reviewed all feedback in response to the intentions paper.

This feedback guided the amendments to the regulation.

To learn more, review the Feedback Summary of the Hazardous Waste Regulation Intentions Paper (PDF, 379KB).

Return collection facilities

The Hazardous Waste Regulation requirements for a return collection facility are largely unchanged. Many of the changes align with the ministry’s existing policies that were not reflected in the regulation.

The amendments enable a return collection facility to collect and store more types of moderate risk waste not captured by existing Extended Producer Responsibility programs.

To collect hazardous waste from households that's not moderate risk waste, an operational plan needs to be developed and submitted to the director. The ministry intents to produce guidance to help direct the development of these plans.

There are no changes to the amount of waste that can be stored at a return collection facility:

  • Return collection facilities may collect moderate risk waste from institutional and commercial sources to better support waste diversion
  • A return collection facility must service residential users
    • It cannot only collect moderate risk waste from institutional and commercial sources
  • A return collection facility cannot collect hazardous waste, including moderate risk waste from industrial sources

Specific exemptions (with conditions) are provided for small return collection facilities that only collect waste, such as:

  • Lead-acid batteries
  • Waste oil

Requirements are in Part 6 and 6.1 of the Hazardous Waste Regulation.

Temporary collection events

Temporary collection events were not previously enabled in the Hazardous Waste Regulation.

Under the new regulation, there are signage, storage, and training requirements for temporary collection events.

These requirements have been in place at temporary collection events, despite not having been explicitly required under the regulation:

  • Requirements can be found in 42.7 – 42.74 of the Hazardous Waste Regulation

Details and important dates

The amendments to the Hazardous Waste Regulation are detailed in Order in Council No. 417, approved on July 7, 2023.

The majority of the changes to the regulation are outlined in Appendix 1 of the Order in Council and will be effective on August 1, 2023.

Operational plan requirements for return collection facilities are outlined in Appendix 2 of the Order in Council and will be effective on February 1, 2024.