We divert post-consumer products from North America’s landfills and waterways, ensuring they are managed responsibly at their end-of-life.

We are a federally incorporated not-for-profit organization, and we provide recycling services across nine Canadian provinces as well as the US. Product Care encourages individuals and businesses to reduce their waste and reuse when possible, and we provide recycling solutions for post-consumer products.

What we do…

Provide recycling locations

for end users to drop off their recyclable products

Develop transportation systems

to remove recyclable waste safely and efficiently

Educate
communities

about available recycling programs and where to take their recyclable products at end-of-life

Work with recycling experts

to ensure industry-leading material processing and recycling occurs

How we’re funded

Product Care is funded by its membership, a group of more than 700 producers of products that are regulated under the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) model. We are not a government body. Our recycling programs are free for all to use and are funded by the fees that we collect from our members.

The history of Product Care Recycling

In 1994, the province of British Columbia introduced Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) regulations for paint, obligating paint producers (retailers, manufacturers, etc.) to develop recycling processes for their end-of-life products. The regulations were stringent and comprehensive, requiring producers to create collection networks, product transportation systems, processing standards, reporting and auditing practices, public awareness and education strategies, and more.

In response, paint producers united to form Product Care (then called Paint Care), a not-for-profit organization that would manage every aspect of the provincial EPR requirements on their behalf, ensuring that its members (aka paint producers) were compliant.

Paint Care was a tremendous success, capturing significant volumes of paint in its recycling program. In subsequent years, the company was renamed to Product Care when it expanded throughout Canada and the United States and added more products to its purview. Today, Product Care manages four different product groups. These products include paint, household hazardous waste (pesticides, flammable liquids, corrosives, toxics, solvents and more), light bulbs, and smoke and CO alarms, which were all added in response to EPR regulations around these products.

Our vision, mission and values

Our vision

Our vision is to establish Product Care as a leader in the development and management of innovative product stewardship solutions.

Our mission

Our mission is to provide product stewardship solutions that advance the efficiency and effectiveness of program delivery for our members, while caring for the environment, our consumers and our employees.