New Designated Materials Regulation in New Brunswick
The Government of New Brunswick has recently replaced the prior Designated Materials Regulation under the Clean Environment Act with a new version. This new version has a number of structural changes. Most of the changes do not impact brand owners, with the exception of one notable change: responsibilities imposed on “producers”. The old Regulation imposed annual reporting and certain other obligations on “brand owners”, whereas the new Regulation imposes such obligations on “producers”:
(i) The new Regulation provides that a producer of a beverage container is a person with a permanent establishment in Canada who owns or licences a brand, or who otherwise has rights to market a product under that brand (a brand holder).
(ii) If there is not a brand holder with a permanent establishment in Canada, then the importer of the beverage container who has a permanent establishment in New Brunswick is considered to be the producer. If there is no such importer, then the retailer of the beverage container is considered to be the producer.
(iii) If there is no such importer, then the retailer of the beverage container is considered to be the producer.
Under the old Regulation, some brand owner responsibilities could have previously been fulfilled by other distributors or importers in the supply chain. In light of the terminology under the new Regulation, this is no longer permitted if the brand holder has a permanent establishment in Canada.
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Encorp expects that the majority of beverage container brand owners are both “brand owners” (under the old Regulation) and “producers” (under the new Regulation) and have already appointed Encorp as agent to carry out obligations under the Regulation. Due to the changes, beverage container brand owners who have already signed up with Encorp will be required to sign a short amendment to the current brand owner agreements, to reflect the changes to the Regulation. The amending agreement and execution instructions will be provided for all registered brand owners in due course.
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New Prince Edward Island Beverage Container Program – For Your Information
Encorp has been in discussions with the PEI government in connection with their introduction of a new EPR program. Ultimately, Encorp aims to enter into brand owner/producer agreements with all producers operating in PEI
Under the new PEI regulation, the definition of a “beverage container producer” is:
(i) a manufacturer of the beverage container,
(ii) a distributor of the beverage container in or into the province, or
(iii) where the beverage container is imported into the province, the first person to sell the beverage container in or into the province.
The PEI EPR program will be implemented as of April 2026.
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ALL BRAND OWNERS CURRENTLY REGISTERED WITH ENCORP MUST TAKE NOTE OF THE FOLLOWING COMMUNICATIONS.
(A RESPONSE TO ENCORP IS REQUIRED.)
- Read letter from Encorp regarding upcoming changes to NB and introduction of EPR in PEI
- View letter from Recycle NB regarding changes to Designated Materials Regulation.
Please respond to Encorp and provide the following information:
- Do you fit the new definition of “producer” in New Brunswick?
- Are you aware of any party in your supply chain who would fall under the new definition of “producer” and who is not already registered with Encorp?
- Do you intend to sell beverage containers in PEI?
a. If yes, do you fit the definition of “producer” in PEI and wish to appoint Encorp as your agent for the PEI EPR program?
 + New EPR Program in PEI for Beverage Containers (April 2026)){kind=link}