The CBA has worked with Federal and Provincial regulatory agencies to help members understand and comply with a wide variety of Federal and Provincial regulations that apply to lead batteries. The following sections summarize the various Stewardship, Transportation and Collection and Storage requirements of Federal and Provincial regulations.
Stewardship Regulations:
Stewardship (or Extended Producers Responsibility (EPR)) regulations for lead batteries are expanding in Canada. Currently, the CBA provides compliance to the Stewardship Regulations in the following provinces:
1) Prince Edward Island’s Materials Stewardship and Recycling Regulation: More Regulatory Information PEI Stewardship Plan
2) Ontario’s Battery Regulation: More Regulatory Information
3) Manitoba’s Household Hazardous Material and Prescribed Materials Stewardship Regulation More information MB Stewardship Plan
4) British Columbia’s Recycling Regulation: More Regulatory Information BC Stewardship Plan
In addition, the CBA has a voluntary Stewardship Plan with the Provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Alberta, while the Province of Saskatchewan has chosen to exempt lead batteries from their Stewardship Regulation.
The Provincial Stewardship regulations require the first importer of a lead battery, regardless if they are embedded in a product or sold in the Aftermarket, to have a method of collecting the lead batteries at end of life. The CBA has approved stewardship plans in the above provinces and can provide regulatory compliance to importers of lead batteries. For more information, contact the CBA at executivedirector@canadianbatteryassociation.ca.
Transportation Regulations:
The transportation of new, used and waste lead batteries are subject to a variety of Federal and Provincial regulatory requirements. The Federal Transportation of Dangerous Goods (TDG) Act requires all shipments of lead batteries to conform to TDG and because lead batteries are a non-conforming dangerous good, all shipments of lead batteries must conform to an Equivalency Certificate (EC) issued by Transport Canada and the consignor, transporter and consignee must have TDG training and a valid TDG Certificate. Contact the CBA at tdg@canadianbatteryassocation.ca for a copy of Transport Canada’s EC or to enroll in the CBA’s TDG online training programs.
In addition to TDG, Environment Canada and each province have requirements for the shipment of waste lead batteries because they are considered hazardous waste. Please contact the CBA at tdg@canadianbatteryassocation.ca for more information on the transportation of lead batteries as hazardous waste.
Health and Safety Regulations:
Lead is a know carcinogen and a bio-accumulative toxin and Provincial Health and Safety regulations have been developed to protect workers from lead in the workplace. The CBA has worked with provincial regulators to develop WHMIS training and Blood Lead Exposure plans for use by CBA members. Contact the CBA at tdg@canadianbatteryassocation.ca if you would like to take the WHMIS 2015 training program or you would like more information on Blood Lead Exposure templates for distribution warehouses and retail operations.