Ontario Environment Minister John Gerretsen has confirmed that the province's controversial eco fees have been discontinued and will never return. “Eco fees are not returning,” Gerretsen told CBC Toronto, July 21.

Gerretsen had stated as recently as July 20 that the province was halting the program in response to public outrage over how the fees were introduced. He said then that the province would take three months to re-evaluate the program, but did not specifically say if consumers could end up paying eco fees down the road. It appears the Minister has reversed that stance in response to the outcry over the confusing and inequitable approach to collecting the tax.

The fees, which went into effect July 1, were imposed on manufacturers and retailers to help fund a recycling program that diverts potentially hazardous items from landfills. Stewardship Ontario, an industry-led organization appointed by the government to oversee the program, collected the fees from retailers and manufacturers. Retailers were allowed to pass the cost on to consumers, and many did.

The significance of the decision is that no longer will consumers be obliged to pay an eco-tax on any of the potentially thousands of products identified at the July 1 start of the program. The only items upon which retailers may continue to levy the eco-tax are:

• Household paints and containers
• Solvents (thinner, lacquer, contact cement, paint stripper, degreasers, etc.
• Used oil filters
• Oil containers of 30 litres or less
• Single use dry cell batteries
• Automotive antifreeze and related containers
• Pressurized containers (propane tanks and cylinders)
• Fertilizers and their containers
• Pesticides, fungicides, herbicides and containers

Should retailers attempt to charge for any other products, the province has a hot-line to call at 1-877-666-6545.