Helping You Manage Stewardship Compliance – Effectively and Efficiently
HDCPA and its network firms have been involved with stewardship and EPR compliance reviews/audits and other similar assurance engagements since 2011, both in Ontario under the HDCPA umbrella and in other Canadian provinces under the IntegriServ umbrella. The team has performed compliance reviews in various recycling programs across the country, including tires, electronic products, batteries and used oil. Our familiarity with stewardship programs prevalent in the industry in general, as well as the Ontario EPR regulations and RPRA guidelines in particular, greatly help us with effective and efficient audits and verifications.
We have in-depth knowledge of the requirements of various recycling programs across the country, and have resources with experience in compliance reviews and audits for many provincial stewardship and government agencies. We are also in regular communication with RPRA and other regulators to stay current on the regulatory requirements in Ontario and other provinces, especially as they relate to what the producers and stewards are responsible for. We work with various large and medium producers on supply data audits under the Ontario tire regulation, and directly with various provincial and national agencies who manage other similar programs i.e. Used Oil or Hazardous and Special Products. Given our niche service offering in this area, our specialization/familiarity with these regulations allows us to achieve significant efficiencies for us and our clients.
Drawing on local and national resources, we assist our clients in solving challenging regulatory issues; anticipate changes that can impact their compliance, and keep them apprised of local regulations as they pertain to their operations. We develop an understanding of their business, products, customers and suppliers so that we are in a position to best handle any requests or situations that arise. We have solid understanding of the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) and Circular Economy laws, regulations and practices. Specifically with respect to EPR regulations in Ontario, we have extensive knowledge and experience in reporting requirements for various producer responsibility programs as well as related procedures and guidelines from RPRA, and are well equipped to assist producers with their compliance obligations. This assistance can take the form of independent audit and verification services or assisting companies through internal audit and consulting services.
There are numerous stewardship programs in effect across Canada – which ones do you need to comply with? As your environmental compliance partner, we can do the following:
Process design and implementation
Setting up new compliance programs, addressing the requirements of applicable jurisdictions and regulations, including initial impact assessment, data/systems analysis, reporting setup and operationalization.
Process improvement
Review, strengthening and streamlining of current process and underlying data.
Compliance assessment
Determining your compliance obligations under the full spectrum of Canadian stewardship regulations.
Staff Training
Ensuring that your key staff and other stakeholders understand and are able to effectively manage all applicable stewardship regulations and reporting requirements.
Audit Support
We can assist with external audits conducted by various stewardship agencies and audit firms, ranging from advice and support for your staff, to managing the entire audit process, depending on what best fits your organization’s needs.
Registrant Audits
We also offer compliance audits to be conducted on behalf of provincial and national stewardship associations and regulators, in order to ensure compliance by registrants/members with the requirements of their membership agreement, as well as applicable regulations and by-laws.
How can we help?
All businesses strive to be environmentally responsible and deliver on their stewardship responsibilities. Environmental regulations can however be complex and resource intensive.
We help businesses of all sizes understand, manage and comply with the various stewardship programs across Canada, that are applicable to them. We integrate requirements of all applicable jurisdictions in one well-structured solution, that aligns with your current systems, processes and teams. Our goal is to take the pain out of your compliance process, making it fully managed and efficient. With our experienced team of professionals, we deliver solutions that are easy to implement, and deliver long-term operational compliance. We are detail oriented yet cost effective. We use automated data modeling and reporting techniques to make complex and cumbersome tasks extremely transparent and well-managed.
Let us assist you with your compliance programs and activities, whether it be a past compliance issue, new system, process or program changes, ongoing management and reporting or periodic audits.
Call today to learn more.