Ontario is set to get rid of Eco Fees and put more pressure on producers/manufacturers to reduce waste and pay for the recycling fees that consumers have been charged for over the past years. While some manufacturers may build this into the price, since this only impacts Ontario, it will be hard to differentiate prices between provinces online so we may see some slight discounts after fees.
The stewardship eco fee, which ranges from $0.07 for a cellphone to $39.50 for a big-screen television, is set with input from industry so shoppers must pay the levy even if it costs less to recycle a particular product, leading to once greener companies to stop bothering with green initiatives. On top of this, some municipalities still charge for recycling these items, on top of the eco fee paid towards this, leading to complaints and less people recycling.
This will be a slow introduction, likely over two or more years so it will not impact our Black Friday or Christmas shopping this year.
Two issues here: 1) enviro fees aren’t disappearing – they are being hidden from the public’s eye (aka lack of transparency) 2) we will be charged tax on the embedded cost (which didn’t happen before).
Enviro fee was never a tax. it was an additional cost set by the stewardship agencies (each province is different with their stewardship programs and fees). We would be taxed on the product and have the fee added on top (at the end). Now, it seems, since it is embedded into the cost and we won’t see it – looks like we’re taxed on top of it.
Yes, we will be taxed on it, but since other provinces do not have the fees, it will be hard for them to charge more in Ontario when shopping online