D. Topics in Computer Science · Topics in Computer Science: Sustainability, Ethics, Emerging Technologies and Careers

Investigating Sustainability Initiatives: Governments, Companies and Communities

D1.2About 70 minutes

Learning goals

I can classify sustainability initiatives as rules, money, information or community initiatives.
I can describe current initiatives in Ontario, Canada and elsewhere, including producer responsibility and right-to-repair laws, with dates.
I can evaluate an initiative with evidence using criteria such as effectiveness, reach, cost and equity.
I can investigate a local initiative and write a structured report.

Words to know

extended producer responsibility (EPR)
A policy that makes producers responsible for their products at end of life, usually by paying for collection and recycling.

right to repair
The idea, now partly in law, that owners and independent shops should be able to fix devices.

technological protection measure (TPM)
A digital lock that controls access to or use of software or a device.

interoperability
The ability of programs, devices or components to work together.

planned obsolescence
Designing a product to stop working or become outdated sooner than it needs to.

circular economy
An economy that keeps products and materials in use through design, repair, reuse, refurbishing and recycling.

collection rate
The amount of a product collected for proper management, as a percentage of a stated reference amount.

Who is doing something about it?

In Grade 11 (ICS3U, Where Old Computers Go) you met Ontario's producer-responsibility rules for electronics, the regulator RPRA, Computers for Schools Plus, battery and cartridge programs, and the Basel Convention. Expectation D1.2 asks you to investigate and report on government and community initiatives. That is more than listing them: an investigator asks what kind of initiative it is, whether it works, who it reaches and what it costs, and backs each answer with evidence.

Initiatives fall into four broad kinds. Many real programs mix several kinds (for example a regulation that requires producers to pay for collection).

Recent government initiatives (as of October 2026)

Ontario: producer responsibility. Under the Electrical and Electronic Equipment (EEE) Regulation (O. Reg. 522/20, made under the Resource Recovery and Circular Economy Act, 2016), producers of information technology, telecommunications and audio-visual equipment have been responsible for collecting and managing their products at end of life since January 1, 2021. The Resource Productivity and Recovery Authority (RPRA) registers producers and enforces the rules. This is called extended producer responsibility (EPR): because producers pay to deal with their products, they have a reason to design them to be easier to recycle.

Canada: right to repair. On November 7, 2024, two federal bills amending the Copyright Act received Royal Assent:

Bill C-244 allows people to get around a technological protection measure (a digital lock) when the purpose is only to diagnose, maintain or repair a product.
Bill C-294 allows getting around a digital lock to make a program or device interoperable (able to work) with other programs, devices or components.

Before these changes, a digital lock could legally block an independent repair shop from fixing a device even if the owner wanted it fixed.

Québec: planned obsolescence. Québec's Bill 29, which received assent on October 5, 2023, bans selling goods designed to become obsolete, and phases in requirements that make repair easier, require spare parts to be available for a reasonable time, and add a warranty of good working order for certain goods.

Elsewhere. The European Union requires a USB-C charging port on many portable electronics sold there (for most devices since December 28, 2024), so one charger fits many devices and fewer chargers are made and thrown away.

In a circular economy, devices are designed to be repaired, kept in use, refurbished, and finally recycled so their materials return to making new products. The repair and refurbish steps (green boxes, with dashed arrows) put devices back in use and keep the most value.

Community initiatives

Municipal depots and collection events accept electronics, batteries and cartridges.
Refurbishers: Computers for Schools Plus refurbishes donated devices for schools, libraries, not-for-profits, Indigenous communities and eligible low-income Canadians; private companies refurbish and resell with warranties.
Repair cafés and community repair events: volunteers help people fix electronics, clothes and household items for free, teaching repair skills.
Printer cartridge return programs run by manufacturers and some retailers.
School initiatives: eco-clubs, device lending libraries, and student IT teams that repair school equipment.

How to evaluate an initiative

Use evidence for each criterion:

Effectiveness: what measurable result does it produce? (tonnes collected, devices refurbished, a percentage collected or recovered)
Reach and access: who can use it? Is it available in rural and northern communities, and to people without a car?
Cost and who pays: taxpayers, producers, or consumers through fees?
Equity: does it help people who most need devices or face the most pollution?
Unintended consequences: for example, collected e-waste shipped to places without safe recycling.
Accountability: are results published and checked by someone independent?

A useful measure is the collection rate: the mass collected as a percentage of a reference amount (for example, the mass of products sold in earlier years, or the amount of e-waste generated). Always say which reference was used, because different choices give different percentages.

Worked example

Example 1: Comparing two initiatives with a weighted score

A student compares a municipal e-waste depot and a community refurbishing program. Scores (1 to 5): depot: effectiveness 4, reach 3, cost 4, equity 2; refurbisher: effectiveness 3, reach 2, cost 3, equity 5. Weights: effectiveness 0.4, reach 0.2, cost 0.2, equity 0.2. Which scores higher?

Depot: 0.4 × 4 + 0.2 × 3 + 0.2 × 4 + 0.2 × 2 = 1.6 + 0.6 + 0.8 + 0.4 = 3.4.
Refurbisher: 0.4 × 3 + 0.2 × 2 + 0.2 × 3 + 0.2 × 5 = 1.2 + 0.4 + 0.6 + 1.0 = 3.2.
The depot scores slightly higher with these weights.
If equity were weighted more heavily (say 0.4, with effectiveness 0.2), the refurbisher would win: depot 0.8 + 0.6 + 0.8 + 0.8 = 3.0; refurbisher 0.6 + 0.4 + 0.6 + 2.0 = 3.6.

Depot 3.4, refurbisher 3.2. The ranking depends on the weights, so a good report states its weights and explains why it chose them.

weights = {"effectiveness": 0.4, "reach": 0.2, "cost": 0.2, "equity": 0.2}

programs = {

"Municipal depot": {"effectiveness": 4, "reach": 3, "cost": 4, "equity": 2},

"Refurbisher": {"effectiveness": 3, "reach": 2, "cost": 3, "equity": 5},

}

def score(ratings, weights):

return sum(weights[c] * ratings[c] for c in weights)

for name, ratings in programs.items():

print(f"{name}: {score(ratings, weights):.1f}")

weights["equity"], weights["effectiveness"] = 0.4, 0.2

print("With equity weighted 0.4:")

for name, ratings in programs.items():

print(f"{name}: {score(ratings, weights):.1f}")

A weighted decision matrix as dictionaries. Changing the weights changes the ranking.

Municipal depot: 3.4

Refurbisher: 3.2

With equity weighted 0.4:

Municipal depot: 3.0

Refurbisher: 3.6

Output of the program above (what Python prints).

Writing your investigation report

A strong report on an initiative has: a summary; background (the problem it addresses); how it works (who runs it, who pays, who can use it); evidence of results with sources and dates; an evaluation using the criteria above; recommendations; and a reference list. Use the organization's own reports, government web pages and news sources, and note when a source has an interest in looking good.

Just for fun

Why did the old phone charger feel left out after the USB-C rule?

It just couldn't find a connection anymore.

Hands-on activity

Investigate a local initiative

You need: internet access, a phone or email (optional), and a word processor or paper.

Choose one initiative you could use: your municipality's e-waste program, a retailer take-back program, a refurbisher, a repair café, or a cartridge return program.
Find out: who runs it, who pays, what it accepts, where and when, and what happens to the items. If the website doesn't say, write or call with polite questions (with a parent's permission).
Look for evidence of results (annual reports, numbers collected or refurbished) and note the date of each figure.
Score it on the six criteria and run the weighted-score program with your own weights.
Write a one-page report using the structure in the tip, with at least two recommendations.

What to look for: facts with sources and dates, a clear statement of who pays and who is reached, weights explained, and recommendations that follow from the evaluation.

Your turn

What is extended producer responsibility (EPR)?

What did Bill C-244 change, and when did it receive Royal Assent?

Name the four kinds of initiatives in this lesson and give one example of each.

Which agency enforces Ontario's EEE Regulation?

Why is repair and reuse preferred over recycling in a circular economy?

A program collected 450 tonnes of electronics when 1500 tonnes of similar products were sold three years earlier. What is the collection rate measured against those sales?

Name two questions about reach or equity you would ask about a municipal depot.

More practice: warm-up

What does RPRA stand for?

What is a repair café?

What does Bill C-294 allow?

In which year did Québec adopt its planned-obsolescence law (Bill 29)?

Give one community initiative that supports sustainability with printers.

More practice: on your own

Using the weighted-score program's original weights, a third program has effectiveness 5, reach 4, cost 2, equity 3. What is its score, and how does it rank?

Why might a collection rate measured against products sold three years earlier differ from one measured against all e-waste generated?

Explain how EPR gives producers a reason to change product design.

An organization's own annual report says it 'diverted 10 000 devices from landfill.' What two follow-up questions should an investigator ask?

Before Bill C-244, how could a digital lock stop a repair, even with the owner's permission?

Challenge

Modify the weighted-score program so it prints the programs sorted from highest to lowest score. Show the key line.

A province collects 30% of e-waste and sends half of what it collects to recyclers in countries without safe facilities. A second province collects 20% and processes all of it safely at home. Which is better environmentally? Explain why a single 'collection rate' can mislead.

Design an initiative for your school that combines at least two of the four kinds (rules, money, information, community). Describe how you would measure its success.

Check your understanding

Quiz

Under Ontario's EEE Regulation, who is responsible for collecting and managing electronics at end of life?

What did Bill C-244 (Royal Assent November 7, 2024) allow?

Which is an information initiative?

In a circular economy, which option usually keeps the most value from a working laptop?

A program collected 200 tonnes against a reference of 800 tonnes. What is the collection rate?

Why must a report state the weights it uses in a decision matrix?

For parents and teachers

Big idea: D1.2 asks students to investigate and report on government and community initiatives that encourage environmental stewardship. Grade 11 introduced Ontario's programs; this lesson adds recent laws (federal right-to-repair amendments of 2024, Québec's 2023 planned-obsolescence law) and, most importantly, how to evaluate an initiative with evidence.

How to help: Help your teen choose a local program you could actually use, and, if they contact it, review their message for politeness and clarity first. Ask "Who pays for this?" and "How do they know it works?"

Common difficulties:

Listing programs without evaluating them.
Quoting figures without dates or sources, or trusting an organization's own claims without checking.
Confusing recycling (recovering materials) with reuse and refurbishing (keeping the device working).
Laws and programs change; the facts here are current as of October 2026.