Danny Kelly, Manager of Marketing and Customer Service at Mohawk Lubricants, reported that the 1992 enactment of the Return of Used Lubricating Oil Regulation (http://www.qp.gov.bc.ca/stat_reg/regs/elp/r64_92.htm) did not substantially increase oil recovery in British Columbia (B.C.) as recovery programs were already well established(23). B.C. industry had been recovering used oil well before the 1992 regulation. Since 1978, Mohawk Lubricants has operated the province's only used oil re-refinery in North Vancouver. The facility handles 28 million liters of used oil each year. Two other companies collect oil to be processed outside of B.C.

In April 2000, British Columbia's Ministry of Environment, Land and Parks (MELP, http://www.gov.bc.ca/elp/) reported that the province's used oil collection and recycling program diverts about 40 million liters of used oil every year. This represents approximately 80% of the estimated 50 million liters of lubricating oil available for recovery each year.

From 1994 through June 1999, Paint and Product Care Association (PPC) and the Tree-Marking Paint Stewardship Association (TSA) collected nearly 12 million equivalent liter containers of paint. In 1998 PPC reported that 76% of paint returns were recycled, 8% reused, and 16% blended with fuel. TSA contracts with a private company to manage the collected paint.

In 1998, B.C. residents delivered nearly 130,000 equivalent liter containers of product residuals covered by the regulation to Consumer Product Stewardship Program (CPSP) collection points. CPSP disposes domestic pesticides at licensed hazardous waste facilities and uses a contractor that blends flammable materials for industrial fuel use. CPSP hopes to identify better end-use recycling markets in the future.

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