Recycle BC is excited to confirm the approval of its Packaging and Paper Product Extended Producer Responsibility Plan from the Ministry of Environment and Parks on September 17, 2025. We look forward to continuing to evolve BC’s leading Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) program for residential packaging and paper. Recycle BC was the first full EPR program for packaging and paper in North America, recently completing 11 years of operations.
Approval came after originally submitting the new Program Plan in April 2023. In summer 2024, we received initial feedback from the Ministry on the plan and additional dialogue, discussion and revisions occurred between Recycle BC and the Ministry until the final revised version submitted in August 2025 was approved. The new Program Plan is effective immediately and supports a path to continuous improvement and strong program performance.
In 2024, Recycle BC achieved an overall program recovery rate of 83%, provided recycling service to over 99% of BC residents. The program also managed over 200,000 tonnes, or over 90%, of material by recycling with 80% going to recycling end markets within North America. In addition, 99% of the plastic sent for recycling was sent to a local Metro Vancouver end market to be made into raw materials that will be used to manufacture new products.
The newly approved Program Plan includes extremely ambitious material category performance targets which include a recovery rate of 75% for rigid plastics and 50% for flexible plastics by 2027. We will build on the program’s success to date to further increase resident participation and material capture to achieve the new program targets.
Other changes included in the new Program Plan, compared to the last, include:
- Annual commitments pertaining to the types of packaging and paper not currently accepted for collection.
- Detailed community eligibility criteria to identify priorities for future onboarding.
- A commitment to develop and submit a formal onboarding strategy to the Ministry for eligible communities.
- A commitment to establish an Indigenous Advisory Committee and to continue to expand First Nations collection access annually under a number of onboarding initiatives.
- A Pathway for continued onboarding into the program’s Streetscape collection program.
- Additional annual reporting commitments.
We look forward to continuing to work with our producers, collectors, First Nation communities, industry partners, and BC residents to continue to lead packaging and paper solutions for better environmental outcomes. View more details, including the full Program Plan.