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by Jay Arthur
Back in the summer, when the Ministry of the Environment (MOE) held its information sessions about the Waste Diversion Act (WDA) and associated goodies, there were questions about the potential for unnecessary bureaucracy.
Some of those attending had visions of a sprawling secretariat with staff, consultants and subcommittees and a payroll to match.
The chief architect of the WDA and its associated goodies is Keith West, the big cheese of the waste management policy branch.
In theory, of course, the whole thing is the minister's handiwork but let us not kid ourselves. We have seen five ministers of the environment (some with, some without energy) since the latest round of stewardship discussions began in the late 1990s.
So, whatever we have ended up with after all these years of promises, obfuscation and false starts is a product of the bureaucrats. I'm sure the lawyers got their hands on it too but the meat and potatoes work has come from the staff.
There is inevitably a bureaucratic flavour, then, and you can understand that there would be a concern that Waste Diversion Ontario (WDO) and the Industry Funding Organizations (IFOs) which will be established by it will end up as some huge unwieldy megalith.
The concern has been doubly enforced by the inclusion in the WDA of a little clause that says the Province would not be on the hook for the administrative costs. Not only would monies raised from industry be used to support recycling, they would also cover "a reasonable share" of the cost of running the machinery of the WDO, and "a reasonable share" of any costs incurred by the Province would be on their tab, too. Nice work if you can get it. Other than the expenses for the board members, the time put in by municipalities, industry and organizations who comprise this multi-stakeholder initiative would not be covered, however.
At the summer information session where the administration question was raised, assurances were given that the WDO "does not have to be a huge bureaucracy".
This no doubt was a relief to many, but the way this thing
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is being set up, we either end up with the much-feared bureaucracy or we let others do the work and, in effect, write the rule book. And remember, bureaucracy is not necessarily on the public payroll, not directly anyway.
With the WDO, we have a board of directors playing a primarily symbolic role. The representatives are mostly politicians or heads of companies, so would know little of the nuts and bolts of esoteric things like recycling. Sure, they can make decisions, but with no background knowledge about the issues, they have no basis on which to make a decision.
So a committee (a "working group") was set up to look after the real work, and that committee will make recommendations for the board to rubber stamp. Enter the bureaucrats.
The working group has people who have a better sense of the everyday recycling world. They also have, God bless 'em, eager staff from various associations, including the one who just happens to be chairing the WDO board, who bring to the table policies and structures for the working group members to rubber stamp.
This working group then engages consultants to set up an operating agreement and more consultants to find staff.
And of course all this hinges on the delivery of a letter from the minister (written by MOE staff), which will ask the WDO board to provide him a plan for the establishment of a blue box program.
Part of that plan will be the establishment of an IFO, either from scratch or based on an existing body.
Meanwhile, we already have a blue box program. All we need is cash from industry to support it.
Whatever may make sense for establishing other waste diversion programs, the priority right now is to set up the funding mechanism for the blue box. That would show that the Province and industry were taking this effort seriously.
Or does all this machinery merely allow the opportunity for someone to throw a wrench in the works and to put off yet again the day that municipalities see money for their recycling programs?
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