Loopholes - Electronics Environmental Fee

Well then - I guess we now know why the Electronic Products Recycling Association needs a contingency fund.

If you go online to Future Shop of Best Buy as examples - you can buy a "refurbished" TV without being charged the fee.

Refurbished is described as by Best Buy:

What do refurbished, refreshed and recertified mean?

A refurbished, refreshed or recertified item found on bestbuy.ca is a product that has been returned, repaired and/or tested as necessary, and restocked for sale at a lower-than-retail price. Products that are returned to either Best Buy or the original manufacturer are sent to a facility where they are repaired (if needed) tested, repackaged, and sent back to our store or put online for sale at a lower-than-retail price. A refurbished item is something that (but is not limited to):

• had a cosmetic defect such as a scratch, blemish, or dent
• did not work to customer’s expectations
• was of older or used stock that was restored and tested 

Below is an example of a check-in online for "refurbished" TV's

Your Order

Best Buy

Enter postal code to update local taxes and fees

Calculate

Scheduled Delivery - $49.99

One of your larger items requires a scheduled delivery from our Home Delivery Service.Learn More

Add a promotional code

• Product Total $989.85
• Scheduled Delivery Charge: $49.99
• Subtotal $1,039.84
• Estimated NL HST $135.18
• Total$1,175.02 

now below find a check-in online for a "new" TV

Your Order

Enter postal code to update local taxes and fees

Calculate

Scheduled Delivery - $49.99

One of your larger items requires a scheduled delivery from our Home Delivery Service.Learn More

Add a promotional code

• Product Total $689.98
• Scheduled Delivery Charge: $49.99
• Subtotal $739.97
• Environmental Handling Fees:Details $42.50 (emphasis added)
• Estimated NL HST $101.72
• Total$884.19

So then I ask if I buy a new TV and return it for reasons above - do I get my fee back - the answer is yes.

That TV can then be sold as refurbished without the fee - and an environmental fee would never have been paid.

Clearly there are loopholes in the system and thereby those paying higher fees for new products are probably covering the cost of refurbished TV recycling as a fee would never have been paid on it.

Lobby in March - Deal by April - Electronics Recycling Fee

So the Government and the MMSB are showing that EPRA the Electronics Products Recycling Association were listed under the Province's Lobbyist Registry in March of 2013 - and by April of 2013 - they had a deal.

So in the Department of Environment's News Release in April of this year - one quote:

“We have been working with electronics manufacturers to help them take a leadership role in handling the treatment of their products after their useful life,” said Mike Samson, Chief Executive Officer of the MMSB. “By having manufacturers take responsibility for their products – from development to disposal – they will increasingly think of ways to redesign their products to be more environmentally friendly, more cost efficient and easier to recycle.”

The approved plan was submitted by Electronic Products Recycling Association (EPRA), an electronics industry organization that currently is operational in six provinces across Canada.

When was the Plan submitted? Where's the approved Plan? Did anybody else submit a plan? Was anybody else asked? What did the Plan call for? How much would it cost consumers? Who monitors the fee? How many drop-off locations were promised and where? How would EPRA choose the drop-off locations and the consolidation location? How would they work to see some recycling done in this province?

We need some answers now.

We have 60 year old Newfoundland and Labrador companies that can't get a meeting with any Minister in government yet - this company in and out in a month with a deal.
 

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