By Don Urquhart, Times Chronicle
The inclusion of landfills in the federal government’s plastics registry has raised concerns from the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen (RDOS) around safety, operational and cost implications of the proposed reporting requirements.
In a report to the RDOS Board of Directors, staff highlighted that the reporting requirements only became known during engagement sessions hosted by Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) in 2025.
They learned at that time that landfills were being added as “downstream service providers” under the Federal Plastics Registry (FPR). As such, landfills would be required to report annually on plastics disposal at a “highly detailed level” beginning in 2026.
RDOS staff noted that landfills were not included in earlier drafts of the FPR circulated for consultation, and the RDOS was not invited to participate in prior engagement opportunities. Further, it was noted that several other regional districts across the province have expressed similar concerns.
ECCC staff have indicated that annual waste audits will be required to meet the reporting requirements expectations, but have not provided guidance on the methodology expected for collecting and reporting this information.
RDOS staff noted that waste audits are “costly, labour-intensive, and not designed to capture the level of detail currently proposed (e.g., plastic resin code).
“Conducting audits at this level of granularity raises safety concerns for field personnel and would require significant new resources,” it said.
The RDOS report went on to state that while it supports “transparent, evidence-based policy development to address plastic waste and pollution . . . the proposed reporting requirements shift substantial costs and responsibilities from plastics producers to local governments and taxpayers, contrary to the principles of extended producer responsibility (EPR).”
Among the points raised In its letter to the federal department, the RDOS cited the example of a waste composition study it undertook in 2020–2021 at Campbell Mountain Landfill, one of four landfills and transfer stations operated by the RDOS.
This study found that nearly 15 per cent of the mixed waste stream consisted of plastics (over 3,900 tonnes), meaning the RDOS will remain above the FPR reporting threshold even with a strong regional recycling program.
Further, the study cost $68,000 and did not include the level of material‑specific detail – such as resin type – now being proposed under the FPR.
“Waste composition audits require manual sorting of landfill waste samples, and auditing the granularity envisioned by the FPR is neither practical nor safe for field personnel,” the RDOS continued in its letter.
In its letter, the RDOS also requested that the reporting obligations be postponed until “full and meaningful consultation” is undertaken; that plastics producers and generators be required to fund any waste audits; and that resin type, source, and quantity be removed from the mandatory data set, in order to protect worker safety and ensure reporting expectations are operationally achievable. The Board approved the letter.
