AMS announces material fee reductions Automotive Materials Stewardship has received $18.6 million from Stewardship Ontario as its share of MHSW Program reserves and is introducing fee reductions for all material categories to distribute the funds to members. (See Fee Reduction Schedules below.) Under the Industry Stewardship Organization Surplus Fund Transfer Addendum to the MHSW Wind Up Plan recently approved by the Resource Productivity and Recovery Authority, the following surplus amounts have been received by AMS for each material category: Antifreeze $1.9 Million Oil Filters $8.7 Million Oil Containers $8.0 Million AMS members will begin to receive fee reduction notices with the distribution of the Q3 invoices (for Q2 sales volumes) on August 4, 2020 (due to August 1 occurring on the holiday weekend). The reductions will continue through the first two invoices issued in 2021. If any residual MHSW surplus funds remain after the fee reduction period, these funds will be distributed to AMS members in accordance with their market share. Oil container fee changes The AMS Board has approved a change to 2020 fees for Oil Containers, primarily to address a current operating deficit for the material. Before the application of the fee reduction, with the November 1, 2020, invoice (Q3 sales volumes) the fee rate for Oil Containers will increase to $0.23 per litre from the current rate of $0.14 per litre. With the fee reduction, the net fee rate for Oil Containers will be $0.04 per litre. The portion of the fee increase attributable to current operating costs will be fully offset by the fee reduction, as detailed in the table below. Members will only be required to pay the portion of the fee that relates to reserve accumulation. This change is necessary to address moderately higher costs resulting from managing increasing volumes of material and will also address a one-time extraordinary expense resulting from a timing issue with 2019 reporting. The increase will also enable reserve accumulation for the category. Fee reduction schedules The fee reductions for the first three quarters have been determined and are detailed in the tables below. The AMS Board will consider 2021 fees at its September meeting which could affect the rates for the final quarter of fee reductions for the Q1 2021 data period. A reminder the AMS reporting and invoice schedule is as follows: Antifreeze Oil Filters Oil Containers Consumer benefit acknowledgment As a requirement of the MHSW Wind Up Plan, any AMS member receiving a fee reduction must acknowledge the Minister’s intent that the fee reductions will benefit consumers. Members will see the following statement on their August 4 fee reduction notice and subsequent notices: “By accepting this fee reduction notice, you acknowledge the expectation of the Minister of Environment, Conservation and Parks that this fee reduction will benefit consumers.”
