Proposed Roadmap to Extend the Life of Plastics in End-of-Use Electronics: Consultation document

Purpose

The Government of Canada is seeking input, through national consultations, on a Roadmap to extend the life of plastics in end-of use-electronics.

The purpose of this document is to highlight elements of a potential roadmap to extend the life of plastics in electronics, through repair and reuse of these products. This roadmap will identify priority action areas to shape the foundation of an effective approach in Canada, as part of the Government's comprehensive zero plastic waste agenda.

The Government of Canada is committed to providing interested or affected parties with the opportunity to take part in consultations at all stages of the roadmap's development process. All parties may comment in writing by email to the address provided at the end of this document.

All written responses received during the consultation period will be considered prior to drafting and publishing the final roadmap. A summary of the comments received will also be published concurrently with the roadmap.

We welcome the distribution of this document to other potential stakeholders.

Overview

Plastics are an integral part of many products we use in our day-to-day lives, including electronics. While plastics are a low-cost and durable material that have a wide range of useful applications, plastic pollution has become a growing concern due to the adverse environmental impacts that may result from improper waste management practices. With Canada's electronic waste steadily increasing and expected to reach 1.2 million tonnes by 2030 – a “six-fold increase within 30 years”^{Footnote 1} -, there is a clear need to improve our practices.

Product life extension solutions have a role to play in addressing this issue, as they preserve the inherent value of materials through repairability and reuse. It also provides an opportunity for the development of an improved infrastructure to manage the materials, helps address the premature and final disposal of products at the end of their use (i.e., recycling and landfilling), and consequently reduces the accumulation of waste in our environment.

In continuity with the work initiated under the Government of Canada's comprehensive zero plastic waste agenda, Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) committed in the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment (CCME)'s 2019 Canada-Wide Action Plan on Zero Plastic Waste– Phase 1 to develop an overall strategy to establish targets for specific sectors for repair, reuse, remanufacture and refurbishment of products. This roadmap will be part of the ongoing efforts by ECCC to develop an overarching framework to encourage better management of plastics in Canada through a circular economy approach. This will help to enable a future where products are made to last longer and where end-of-use products and waste are recovered to create loops in the circulation of materials.

As a first step, ECCC commissioned, in 2019, a baseline study on remanufacturing, refurbishment, repair and reuse activities (often called value-retention processes or VRPs) in Canada. This study also considered the potential opportunities for growth among these activities across a range of industry sectors. The study, which was published in June 2021, found that prolonging the useful life of a product or its components through VRPs has the potential to create significant and demonstrable environmental and socio-economic benefits in Canada. Such benefits include waste reduction, plastic and other material savings, greenhouse gas reductions, and the creation of skilled employment opportunities. Notably, the study highlighted that the electronics sector presents one of the best opportunities to retain more plastic in the economy (and keep it out of the environment) due to the high plastic content, short lifespans, and fast replacement cycles typical of electronic products.^{Footnote 2}

In 2021, ECCC commissioned a follow-up study to further explore opportunities to improve the recovery of plastics in end-of-use information and communication technology (ICT) products (e.g.: monitors, laptops, phones). The study found that while the Canadian ICT sector is growing rapidly, only 8% of used ICT products are estimated to undergo life extension strategies, while over 60% are recycled or landfilled. This is despite findings that life extension strategies would generate the benefits mentioned earlier. This further highlighted the need to take action towards prolonging the useful lives of ICT products in order to more effectively reuse and divert plastics from landfills, while also seizing the socio-economic opportunities that these activities present.^{Footnote 3}

Lastly, data released in 2024 as part of Statistics Canada's Pilot physical flow account for plastic material show that, in 2020, electrical and electronic equipment in Canada made up the fourth-largest category of plastic waste in absolute numbers discarded (Figure 1) – after plastic packaging, other products^{Footnote 4} and vehicles.^{Footnote 5}

Figure 1: Sector breakdown of plastics discarded in Canada in 2020 (Statistics Canada)

Building on the findings of these studies and on the comments received, a proposed roadmap to extend the life of plastics through repair and reuse of electronics was developed as a step towards promoting responsible plastic waste management in Canada.

Figure 2: Steps leading up to the development of a roadmap to extend the life of plastics in electronics

Desired outcomes and scope

The objective of the proposed roadmap will be to inform Canada's zero plastic waste goal. Through promoting product life extension solutions, the roadmap will seek to encourage changes that effectively extend the life of plastics in electronics in order to reduce the quantity of plastics sent to recycling facilities and landfills. To that end, the focus will be placed on industrial and consumer electronics with high plastic content or high plastic retention potential.

A foundational path to encourage plastic reuse in end-of-use electronics

Product life extension solutions are preferable to lower ranking end-of-life waste management options on the waste hierarchy (like recycling and landfilling), because they extend the useful lives of products and their materials, maintain the inherent value of goods in the economy, and contribute to preventing pollution at its source.

Figure 3: Waste management hierarchy

Despite these benefits, many electronics are predominately recycled or sent to landfills at the end of their conventional uses, resulting in the loss of economic opportunity and the growth of plastic waste and pollution. To lay the groundwork towards a more sustainable management of end-of-use electronics, ECCC proposes to focus on three priority action areas that could be leveraged by the federal government, in collaboration with key partners:

1. Data Collection
2. Collaboration
3. Innovation

Figure 4: Overview of the proposed roadmap's priority action areas

1) Data Collection

There is sufficient evidence available to demonstrate the environmental benefits of product life extension in the electronics sector and to justify the need for further action. However, some knowledge gaps remain and need to be addressed to enable the development of measures that are tailored to the specific context and challenges faced by Canadian industry. As a result, to support evidence-based decision-making, ECCC intends to work in collaboration with relevant federal departments, CCME partners and industry players to establish a baseline to measure progress, close knowledge gaps and strengthen research and data collection efforts in the electronics sector. Work under this action area may draw from existing initiatives, such as the Federal Plastics Registry, and may also look more in-depth at:

• mapping the flow of electronics that undergo life extension processes in Canada, using a lifecycle approach
• quantifying more precisely the plastic content of various key products
• analyzing the challenges and opportunities for plastic reuse in Canada at the product level, from both an environmental and socio-economic perspective and
• identifying which electronic products present the greatest plastic retention potential

Furthermore, to the extent possible, ECCC will remain committed to ensuring that the data collected is shared and made publicly available to Canadians, provinces and territories, and supply chain actors. This will contribute to building a common knowledge base and baseline that all can benefit from and build upon.

2) Collaboration

Continued collaboration and engagement with the electronics sector will be critical in identifying Canadian sectoral challenges and opportunities as they emerge. Ongoing efforts to understand sector-specific and product-specific nuances will be essential in improving measures, policies and targets that effectively increase the life of plastics through repair and reuse in electronics. Therefore, ECCC intends to share and promote this proposed roadmap in relevant ECCC-industry working groups looking at electronics and waste in Canada to:

• foster information exchange between industry and government to help establish a baseline, and better support data collection and decision-making
• identify and promote, where possible, best practices, public guidance or aspirational targets and
• identify barriers and look for cooperative solutions

In addition, recognizing the potential for shared synergies and interests between the federal government and the provinces and territories (F/P/T), ECCC will also maintain its engagement with CCME partners and explore additional opportunities to enhance collaboration and information sharing. This could include assessing the benefits of establishing a complementary forum or sub-group focusing specifically on extending the life of plastics and other materials in end-of-use electronics.

3) Innovation

Extending the life of electronics in Canada will require changes in the way we manufacture, use and manage products. Working towards achieving a more circular economy could be a powerful driver for innovation. Considering the integrated nature of plastic pollution, ECCC proposes, as a longer-term measure, to extend its efforts beyond the realm of the Zero Plastic Waste Agenda and explore broader elements of a circular economy approach to encourage product life extension solutions in Canada. Expanding the scope of action to a wider range of materials and across multiple Canadian industry sectors would help accelerate systems change and yield additional benefits. This could include investigating the development of measures aimed at:

• improving policy coherence in existing regulations and policies at the federal level
• harmonizing definitions through standards, certifications or labelling
• developing “blueprints” for sustainable procurement criteria
• supporting sector-specific education and skills development
• enhancing awareness of product life extension strategies among the public and industry sectors and/or
• supporting national and international efforts and maintaining key collaborations with other jurisdictions on, for example, eco-design, product life extension, plastic retention or trade of sustainable products

Figure 5: At-a-glance summary of the proposed roadmap

Next step: We want to hear from you

ECCC is seeking your views and comments on this proposed roadmap to inform the development of a final approach. ECCC also welcomes any additional information or data on the Canadian electronics sector that should be taken into consideration.

Stakeholders are invited to provide written feedback on this document during a 75-day consultation period, which will end on February 14, 2025. Comments can be sent by email to: Produits-Products@ec.gc.ca. Please put “Consultation – Roadmap on plastics in electronics” in the subject line of your message.

ECCC will consider all comments received within the consultation period when developing the final roadmap. ECCC may also engage in bilateral discussions with stakeholders, including provinces and territories, as part of this consultation process.

Other sector-oriented initiatives to curb plastic waste and pollution

As Canadians are demanding that plastic waste and pollution be addressed, ECCC continues to explore and support solutions that could be implemented in other sectors. ECCC is also engaging all actors in the textile and apparel sector in Canada and has prepared a consultation document to solicit feedback on the key elements of a draft roadmap for addressing plastic waste and pollution.

The consultation document outlines the current knowledge of the sector, identifies the range of actors and their ongoing work, and explores potential additional actions that could eliminate waste and pollution and advance circularity in the textile and apparel sector.

Stakeholders had until September 1, 2024 to submit their written feedback on the consultation document. A “what-we-heard report” summarizing the consultation process is forthcoming. A draft roadmap will be released for comment prior to the final roadmap that is expected to be published in 2025.