Automotive Materials Stewardship (AMS) is a not-for-profit organization that enables producers of used antifreeze and antifreeze containers, oil filters and empty oil containers to meet their regulatory recycling obligations.

AMS was established by industry, for industry, in anticipation of Ontario’s move to individual producer responsibility under the  Resource Recovery and Circular Economy Act, 2016. The AMS Industry Stewardship Plan (ISP)  was approved by the Resource Productivity and Recovery Authority (RPRA) on August 10, 2016. The program launched April 1, 2017.

AMS is governed by volunteer directors who represent producers of antifreeze, oil containers and oil filters. Our structure has enabled board members to focus on doing what’s right for producers and the environment, seeking to make neither a profit nor a loss.

AMS producers pay fees based on the quantities of oil filters, empty oil containers, antifreeze and antifreeze containers they sell in Ontario. AMS uses these fees to pay for collection, transportation and recycling of these automotive materials — managing convenient, environmentally sustainable ways to divert materials from landfills and helping businesses contribute to a circular economy by taking responsibility for the automotive waste materials they sell in the province.

When the Ontario government directed the wind up of the Municipal Hazardous or Special Waste (MHSW) Program, AMS advanced its preparations during 2020 for assisting producers under the new regulatory framework.  Following the introduction of the Hazardous and Special Products (HSP) Regulation in June 2021, AMS completed the work to wind up its ISP and launch its Producer Responsibility Organization (PRO). AMS began its PRO operations on October 1, 2021.