This project is intended to support the work of the National Task Force on Packaging and its members by providing an inventory and preliminary analysis of the wide range of stewardship programs to support waste diversion currently underway in Canada.

In 1989, the CCME commissioned a National Task Force on Packaging to develop a national program for the management of packaging. The Task Force is a multi-stakeholder advisory group, chaired by Environment Canada, composed of representatives from government, industry, consumers and environmental groups. Its mandate is to manage packaging through source reduction, reuse and recycling, and to develop a voluntary approach for reducing the total amount of packaging waste.

In 1990, CCME endorsed the National Packaging Protocol (NaPP) which was developed by the Packaging Task Force. The NaPP contains a commitment to six packaging policies and three milestone targets. Using 1988 as a baseline, the targets for the reduction of packaging waste are: 20% by 1992; 35% by 1996, and; 50% by the year 2000. Although the primary goal of the Protocol is to reduce the amount of packaging sent for disposal, its first policy stipulates that "All packaging should have a minimal effect on the environment".

Since the establishment of NaPP, the Task Force has coordinated a variety of activities aimed at supporting its implementation, including the 1996 adoption by CCME of a set of Guiding Principles for Packaging Stewardship. In 1999, the CCME sponsored a preliminary inventory to identify the range of waste diversion stewardship programs operating within the Canadian public domain. This inventory reflects the outcome of that effort. The inventory will be updated and grow as existing programs evolve and new programs emerge.

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