Dear Industry Members,
As communicated in our bulletin last month, the Government of Alberta announced amendments on May 7, 2026 to move windshield washer fluid (WWF), diesel exhaust fluid (DEF), antifreeze, and their containers from the HSP Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) program to the Used Oil Materials Recycling Program administered by ARMA.
The Used Oil amendment, O.C. 141/2026 (A.R. 92/2026), was filed under the Regulations Act on May 7, 2026. As the Regulation comes into force 90 days after filing, the effective date of the changes is August 5, 2026. For more information, please refer to A.R. 92/2026 HERE.
Product Care held discussions with ARMA regarding the transition of these products from Product Care’s Alberta HSP program to ARMA’s used oil program to allow for a smooth transition. Initial discussions were around an October 1, 2026 transition date that would reduce administrative burden for members, in particular quarterly remitters and allow ample time for members to transition. However, we have been recently informed by ARMA that moving off the August 5, 2026 would require a regulatory amendment and that is not possible at this point. ARMA has indicated that they have limited flexibility on when their eco-fees would be in effect and has provided some options for their eco-fee implementation. We are now left with the following options:
| Option A | Option B | Option C | |
| EHFs reporting to Product care – End date | 31-Jul-26 | 04-Aug-26 | 31-Jul-26 |
| Eco fees reporting to ARMA – Start date | 05-Aug-26 | 05-Aug-26 | 01-Sept-26 |
Option A provides a clean reporting cut-off at the end of July and avoids the need to allocate August sales between two reporting programs. This would leave a gap of 4 days without EHFs applied to sales of these products.
Option B aligns directly with the transition date communicated by the Ministry and would require August sales to be allocated between the two programs based on the applicable reporting periods.
Option C provides for month end stoppage of EHFs and the implementation of ARMA’s eco-fees at the beginning of the month. This creates a gap of 31 days, where there will be no EHFs or eco-fees applied to these products.
Given the short timeline for implementation and upcoming stakeholder communications, we would appreciate receiving your preference among Options A, B, and C by the end of Wednesday, June 3, 2026.
Please feel free to contact us at alberta@productcare.org if you have any questions.