For First Sellers:

What does electronics recycling have to do with me?

The Government of Saskatchewan has issued a Waste Electronics Equipment Regulation requiring all "first sellers" of designated electronics to be part of an approved industry take-back and recycling program.  SWEEP is an approved program.

Does this affect my company?

Yes, if you sell, distribute, manufacture or import electronic equipment within the scope of SWEEP's recyclable product list into Saskatchewan (including online sales), you must be part of an approved program.

What specific products are subject to the program?

As of April 1 SWEEP has expanded its recycling program to include a broader range of electronic products. For a complete list please "click here".

Is there an approved program I can join?

Yes, leading electronics manufacturers and retailers have formed SWEEP, the Saskatchewan Waste Electronic Equipment Program Inc. There are no other approved programs at this time.

How can I join the SWEEP program?

Click here for more information, or call us at 1 888 350 6555, ext. 200. The registration process will require you to complete a membership agreement and provide required information.

What happens if I choose not to join SWEEP?

Unless you are part of an approved program, you will not be permitted to sell obligated products in the province.

How does the SWEEP program work?

The program utilizes the province wide SARCAN system of collection depots where consumers can drop off unwanted computer equipment and televisions without charge. The collected equipment will then be recycled in an environmentally sound manner. SWEEP will pay all of the costs of the program.

Is Lloydminster included in this program?

No, Lloydminster is part of the Alberta program.

About Environmental Handling Fees (EHFs).

How is the program funded?

Members of the SWEEP program will pay Environmental Handling Fees (EHF) to SWEEP based on the numbers of units sold in Saskatchewan.

What about GST and PST?

GST applies to EHFs remitted by program members to SWEEP.

If the EHFs are shown separately on the sales receipt by the retailer, PST does not apply to the EHFs. If the EHF is included in the price of the product, both the PST and GST applies.

Can I recover the fees?

It is expected that SWEEP program members will recover the EHFs they pay SWEEP by charging the EHFs to their customers, whether wholesale or retail.

Will my suppliers and customers also have to pay EHFs?

SWEEP will only receive one EHF for each unit sold in SK. Generally, the "first seller" in Saskatchewan, as defined in the Regulation, must be a member of SWEEP.

If all your suppliers (of the regulated products) are SWEEP members and they have paid SWEEP the EHFs, you must still register with SWEEP, but you do not have to remit EHFs to SWEEP. Instead, your supplier will charge you the EHF at the time of invoicing.

If some of your suppliers are SWEEP members and some are not, you must join SWEEP and report and pay EHFs on products you buy from non-SWEEP members. EHF online reporting system is available on this website.

Do fees apply to used equipment?

There are no EHFs applicable to used or refurbished equipment.

I don't have direct sales into Saskatchewan but sell through a distributor, who in turn sells into Saskatchewan. Do I have to register?

Yes, the definition of First Seller obligates you and therefore you are required to register. You do not have to remit EHFs to SWEEP if all of your distributors are registered and remitting EHFs to SWEEP on sales of your products.

What kind of fee reporting is required by SWEEP?

SWEEP remitter members are required to report the number of units sold of each obligated product during the reporting period and remit the applicable fees. Interest and administrative fees apply to late reports (see EHF Remittance Policy). You will need to use the online reporting system to submit your reports.

Do remitters of EHFs receive compensation for collecting and remitting fees?

No, under the SWEEP program, there is no compensation from the program to SWEEP members for collecting and remitting the fees.

We have online sales that allow people to buy and pay in Saskatchewan but pick up the product in another province. Do we charge the fee?

The EHF applies to all products sold in or into the province.

Is the EHF charged on each component of a desktop computer that is sold separately (i.e.: mother board, cables and computer speakers)?

No, there are EHFs for the CPU, monitor, keyboards and mice, however, no EHF is charged on items such as cables, speakers, hard drives or motherboards whether included as a package or sold separately.

About Products Included/Excluded from the SWEEP program:

Floor standing printers are excluded but what about the monitor on a floor standing printer?

Monitors integrated into floor standing printers are excluded; however, the EHF does apply to detachable monitors. 

Are audio-visual projectors included under the category of "monitors" because they are a display device?

No, projectors without an integrated display screen are not included in the program.

Most plasma displays do not have embedded tuners. How is a plasma display without a TV tuner classified?

Any display device without the tuner should be charged the "Display Device" fee based on their screen size.

Are the EHFs applicable to computers/laptops that are a part of industrial equipment or analytical equipment?

The EHF does not include physically integrated industrial or analytical equipment.

What specific products are covered in the new Computer Peripherals section?

“Computer peripherals” refer only to selected manual input devices such as keyboards and/or pointing devices such as mice and trackballs. Both wired and wireless technologies apply. Joysticks and graphic tablets are not obligated.

Environmental Handling Fees (EHFs) will be attached to the sale of these products only when they are purchased separately (e.g. not part of a bundled computer package - see below for more details on how to treat EHFs for bundled systems), either individually or together such as a pre-packaged keyboard and mouse set.

With regard to reporting these products, remitters should be prepared to report on “aftermarket” sales of mice, keyboard and combined mice/keyboard products as “computer peripherals”. Packaged mice & keyboard combos sold under a single SKU would attract a single EHF only. Separate reporting of mice and keyboards in “bundles” or all-in-ones is not required.

What is the definition of a “display device”?

Display devices include all flat panel and tube technologies (CRT, Plasma, LCD, etc) used for televisions, computer monitors and professional displays.

How do we handle the EHFs related to All-in-one desktop/monitor combo machines?

All-in-One computer products such as the Apple iMac will be considered a Display Device under 30”, and would attract only that associated EHF.

How do we handle the assignment of EHFs to bundled computer systems (i.e. where a retailer may offer a single price for a CPU, monitor, keyboard and mouse)?

A single EHF will be charged for each obligated product SKU. Where products from more than one category are sold within a single SKU, the single highest applicable EHF will be charged. (note: this does not apply to All-in-One, or integrated products – see above for those specific products).

How do registered POP stewards handle the revenue related to EHFs from existing inventory prior to August 1st?

SWEEP has issued a guideline for Pay-on-Purchase (POP) reimbursement here.

Claims for any EHF adjustments will need to made directly to the supplying entity (manufacturer, distributor, etc), and POPs will be audited by SWEEP as part of the on-going compliance audit approach. The Credit Request form can be downloaded here. Deadline for submission is August 21, 2009.