FAQ

Multi-Material Stewardship Manitoba (MMSM) was established in 2006 in anticipation of the Packaging and Printed Paper Stewardship Regulation. MMSM is a Stewardship Responsibility Organization (SRO) that was formed by representatives of obligated parties. MMSM was tasked to design and implement a program to fund 80% of the net costs of the Manitoba waste reduction and prevention program. The resulting program is laid out in the Packaging and Printed Paper (PPP) Program Plan.

The Manitoba Waste Reduction and Prevention (WRAP) Act, 2008 requires companies who are designated as "Stewards" of residential packaging and printed paper to share in funding up to 80% of the net cost of Manitoba's municipal waste reduction and preventions programs. Considering the questions below will help you determine if your company is likely to be classified as a Steward.

1. Is your company resident in Manitoba? For more information about carrying on business in Manitoba and how this concept is applied under the PPP Program Plan, please see Appendix A of the 2012 Rules. A company that is not resident in Manitoba is not obligated under the WRAP Act but may choose to volunteer to become a Steward.
2. Are you/is your company a Brand Owner, First Importer, or Franchisor of one or more consumer products and /or printed paper sold/distributed in Manitoba?
3. If you answered yes to question 2, does your company or organization's products or printed paper generate "Designated Packaging and Printed Paper" (DPPP)? DPPP is defined as Packaging and/or Printed Paper that consists of one or a combination of glass, metal, paper, or and plastic that is potentially disposed in the Manitoba municipal residential waste system.
4. Was your company's gross Manitoba revenue for 2011 greater than $750,000? Gross Revenue in Manitoba includes the combined gross revenues from the sale of all products and services in Manitoba by your company and all of its affiliates. If your company is a franchise, gross Manitoba revenue refers to the combined sales from all of your franchisees' products and services.

If you answered YES the questions above, your company is obligated to file a Steward's Report with MMSM. If you answered NO to any question, you are not obligated under the Packaging and Printed Paper Stewardship Regulation. However, MMSM requires you to register and declare your non-obligation status to us so that we reduce future contact with you.

DPPP stands for Designated Packaging and Printed Paper. It is defined as Packaging and/or Printed Paper that consists of one or a combination of glass, metal, paper, or and plastic that is potentially disposed in the Manitoba municipal residential waste system.

This program commenced on April 1, 2010.

For a detailed list of DPPP, review the document entitled Material Category Table.

All companies are encouraged to register and report with MMSM no later than March 30, 2012 for the 2012 Obligation year. For first time Stewards that are resident in Manitoba you must submit your 2010 and 2011 reports prior to submitting your 2012 report. Please note that outstanding 2010 and 2011 reports are subject to penalties and interest.

To register with Multi-Material Stewardship Manitoba click on the following link: https://mmsmdatasystem.ca/registration/

This process will require detailed company information about your Company and Primary Contact. Once all mandatory fields are completed and submitted, obligated Stewards will receive an email with a Steward number, login ID and password that will enable them to file a Steward's Report online.

Companies who are registered and not obligated to file a Steward's Report will be sent an email by MMSM confirming they have declared that they are not obligated to file a Steward's Report.

If you wish to view a list of registered companies and approved Voluntary Stewards please go to the Steward List on the Registration & Reporting tab of the MMSM website. Stewards can use these lists to identify if their Manitoba based vendors are compliant with the WRAP Act and/or if out of province brand owners have volunteered to become the Obligated Steward on behalf of the First Importer in Manitoba. This list will be regularly updated.

To file a Steward’s report with Multi-Material Stewardship Manitoba click on the following link: https://mmsmdatasystem.ca/reporting/.

This will require the use of the Steward number, login and password. This information would have been provided to you either during the registration process or in an email from Customer Service in January 2012. If you are having difficulty finding this information contact Customer Service at 1-877-883-5828.

MMSM applies a sales-based and a fee-based exemption threshold to determine if a Steward is required to register with MMSM and to pay fees.

1. Stewards are exempt from filing a Steward’s Report and paying the fees if during the Data Year, the Steward, its Affiliates, and Franchisees had combined Gross Revenues from the sale of all products and services in Manitoba which was less than $750,000;
2. After a Steward files a Steward’s Report they will be exempt from payment of fees if, during the Data Year, the Steward, its Affiliates and Franchisees Supplied DPPP in an aggregate quantity of kilograms that generated annualized fees of less than $250.00.

Designated Packaging and Printed Paper (DPPP) materials that are not managed in the residential waste system need not be included in the Steward’s Report. (I.e. something that is strictly used for agricultural purposes is exempted) All quantities of DPPP not managed through a private waste management program should be considered obligated under the program.

Stewards are required to report actual or measured quantities of Designated Packaging and Printed Paper (DPPP) waste in kilograms that accompany products for which they are the Brand Owner and/or First Importer, and printed papers that were sold and distributed to Manitoba and that are managed in the province’s municipal residential waste system.

For further information on how to complete your Steward's Report, please download Guidebook 2: Get Ready to File a Steward’s Report.

MMSM has developed sector-specific calculators that are designed to assist Stewards who may not have access to packaging data as they are the first importer or distributor. Stewards are required to request approval from MMSM to use any of these tools. The approved calculators are made available only to authorized Stewards through the Steward Reporting System and Excel spreadsheets provided at the time of approval.

Calculators are not for use by Stewards who sell a focused or limited variety of goods in a particular 'calculator' sector. Stewards who are not approved to use calculators are obligated to calculate and file their Steward's Report based on actual or measured tonnage.

To apply to use a calculator, please open and save a copy of our Calculator Application Form. Once you have completed this form, please email the file as an attachment along with your request, to: customerservice@stewardshipmanitoba.org.

There is no single answer to this. It depends on how your company is structured and where the information is stored. As a general rule, it is best if the head office can coordinate all division/subsidiary reports on behalf of the entire organization by registering as the prime Steward contact. The Steward Reporting System is flexible enough to handle most organizational needs (see Guidebook 3: How to File a Steward's Report). Additional contacts (secondary contacts) from unique divisions and subsidiaries may be given passwords by the primary contact (from head office) to access the head office's Steward account and to file packaging and printed paper obligations as secondary contacts within the head office account.

Ultimately, the responsibility for the entire organization's; aggregate obligations resides with the head office or holding company.

If the company as a whole is above the thresholds of:

• $750,000 in Gross Manitoba revenue and
• $250.00 in fees,

and the company/organization has divisions/subsidiaries which generated less below either threshold, then the company must consolidate its reports for divisions and/or subsidiaries reports under one Steward number. The Steward Reporting System will allow Stewards to break out these divisions for internal cost allocation purposes as necessary.

How does the printed paper category apply to companies that manufacture products and are reporting on their packaging?

Any Printed Paper that accompanies your product and that is or may be managed through Manitoba's residential municipal waste stream must be included in your Steward's Report. Please see the material category table for definitions and examples.

Any Printed Paper that accompanies your product and that is or may be managed through Manitoba's residential municipal waste stream must be included in your Steward's Report. Please see the material category table for definitions and examples.

Enhanced fees paid by Stewards contribute to the development of sustainable and effective programs relating to beverage container recovery and plastic bag recovery. This developmental process will include specific baseline work to establish baseline volume, public opinion data, and research best practices in other jurisdictions. These recovery programs have been mandated by the Manitoba government and can be found in the WRAP Guidelines as well as the Program Enhancements section of the Packaging and Printed Paper (PPP) Program Plan.

NOTE: From 2011 onwards, enhanced fees will not be charged to beverage containers. Stewards are still required to provide weight data on beverage containers and will be charge the corresponding base fee for these materials.

MMSM is unable to grant Stewards extensions to their filing deadlines. The Rules for each obligation year clearly outline the filing deadlines. Outstanding Steward fees are subject to penalties and interests.

The reporting and payment schedule for the 2012 obligation year can be found in Appendix C of the 2012 Rules.

Companies that file Steward’s Reports and make full payments as outlined in the Rules for each obligation year are considered to be members in good standing with MMSM.

If a company fails to file a Steward’s Report by the specified date and make appropriate payment according to the payment schedule as defined by the Rules, it is a ‘non-compliant’ Steward. Non-compliant Stewards may be subject to enforcement actions prescribed under Sections 17-21 of the WRAP Act.

MMSM will assess one-time penalties of 10% on fees owing and interest charges of prime plus 3% daily on balances owing to Stewards who fail to pay fees by the timelines defined in Rules for each obligation year.

A The new HHW program is due to launch in May 2012. Containers of HHW, which are currently part of the MMSM program, may become obligated under the HHW program instead. The goal is to help ensure that stewards will pay fees for designated products, only once and under the correct program in the correct time period.

These materials will be covered under a different program, thus, MMSM is unable to identify exact containers to be included. For more information: http://www.productcare.org/Manitoba

MMSM’s goal is to help as a proactive initiative to prepare affected Stewards to identify product packaging that may be obligated under the HHW program, which is expected to come into effect in May 2012. When the HHW program comes into effect, the packaging for some of the products that are included in the HHW program may no longer be obligated under MMSM’s PPP program. By separating these materials now in the MMSM system, we seek to help affected stewards be aware of future potential obligations and facilitate the process of separating out HHW products from non-HHW products.

MMSM advised Stewards last year during the November 10th Consultation that changes would be forthcoming due to the commencement of the HHW Program. At that time, we committed to providing additional information as it was made available by the HHW Program Administrator.

As soon as was practically possible, after the Minister confirmed the HHW program, MMSM established new features in the Reporting System to facilitate any transition, for MMSM stewards. We have also conveyed information about upcoming changes through the MMSM Website and in an email communiqué sent out late December 2011. We will continue to provide updates as more information is made available.

It is understood that this request may be time intensive for some Stewards. We are committed to working with Stewards to arrive at the most accurate and complete submissions. Please follow these steps in filing your 2012 Stewards Report:

• Step 1: Confirm your potential HHW obligation on the Confirm Obligation Screen in your MMSM Steward Report.
• Step 2: On the Enter Data Screen enter the weight for each material category, separating out all HHW product packaging where possible.
• Step 3: If you are unable to segregate your HHW product packaging, please report as you normally would and MMSM may follow-up at a later date.

Stewards do not now, and will not report and pay fees to both programs. By identifying packaging associated with HHW in MMSM system, on behalf of Stewards, we will be prepared to distinguish the total obligation associated with HHW product packaging and to redirect those funds if required.

The Voluntary Steward process provides an opportunity for a company to accept reporting responsibilities and make payments on behalf of a Steward in order to reduce the administrative burden on the Steward.

The Voluntary Steward registration Process is a two step process:

1. Voluntary Steward Registration – go to the following link to register online with Multi-Material Stewardship Manitoba: https://mmsmdatasystem.ca/registration/
2. Voluntary Steward Agreement – Sign and return a copy of the completed application and accompanying schedules to MMSM within 14 calendar days of registering by email a scanned copy to customerservice@stewardshipmanitoba.org.

Invoices are not mailed through Canada Post. They are posted on the web and accessed through the online Steward Reporting System.

Once the Steward’s Report is submitted, an email notification is sent to both the primary and billing contacts advising that the invoices are available and ready for processing by the Steward.

1. Navigate to MMSM Steward Data System
2. Enter your Steward number, login ID, and password.
3. From the Main Menu, billing contacts should proceed to Step #4, and Primary contacts Step #7 - Summary Reports and Invoices.
4. Select the appropriate obligation year from the drop down box.
5. Click on the grey tab titled - Generate Reports and Invoices.
6. A table will appear at the bottom of the screen with all the invoices
7. Click on the five-digit invoice number (hyperlink) to download and print the PDF file.

All company address change requests must be sent in writing to customerservice@stewardshipmanitoba.org with your company’s previous/current address and your company’s new address.  Please ensure you include suite/unit number and postal code.

Also, include any change in phone/fax numbers, if there is no change to phone numbers please indicate this in the email.

Requests must be in writing and should be requested by the primary or billing contact.  Changes will be completed within 48 hours and a confirmation will be sent (by email) to requestor.

Company name changes must be in writing and requested by the primary contact, or by a senior officer of the company who has the authority to sign on behalf of the company.

A copy of the legal documentation notarizing the company name change must be included with your request.  Some examples are:

• Article of Amendment
• Certificate of Amalgamation
• Article of Incorporation
• Business Registration

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Primary contacts have the authority and ability to make changes to the billing contact through the online Steward Reporting System.

1. Navigate to the MMSM Steward Reporting System
2. Login using your Steward number, login id, and password
3. Click on Step 2 - Confirm/Update Contact Information
4. The contacts screen will appear
5. Make the necessary changes and click on save
6. Advise your company’s Billing Contact of their login id and password.

All primary contact changes must be requested in writing. If your primary contact is no longer with the company, please provide authorization in the form of an email with a completed primary contact change form signed by a senior officer. If the current primary contact is still with the company then the primary contact can request the changes themselves.

• Once MMSM receives your request, your primary contact change will be processed within one to two business days.
• We will notify the new primary contact of their Steward number, login ID and password once the changes are complete and send a confirmation to the individual requesting the change.

MMSM has included a "Forgot Password" feature to the Steward Reporting System login page.

1. Navigate to the MMSM Steward Reporting System
2. Type in your company’s Steward number
3. Type in your login id
4. Click on Forgot Password button (with red background)
5. Your password will be sent to the email address you used when registering with MMSM.