Ontario to shift blue box program costs to producers
Transition to start in 2023; many questions remain unanswered
Ontario municipalities welcome a provincial plan to shift responsibility for blue-box recycling to companies that produce packaging and other waste — but some environmentalists are skeptical.
Environment Minister Jeff Yurek said Thursday that starting in 2023 — one year after the next provincial election — waste producers will start funding and operating some of Ontario’s 240 municipal blue-box programs, with provincewide implementation by the end of 2025.
“Transitioning the blue box program to full producer responsibility will promote innovation and increase Ontario’s recycling rates while saving taxpayers money,” Yurek said, stressing he wants a “seamless” transition so residents don’t notice any reduction in curbside service.
The timetable, guidelines and goals for a program similar to B.C.’s producer-pay model — industry run and funded, with provincewide blue-bin rules — were developed by Ontario special adviser David Lindsay who consulted local governments, waste producers and recycling companies.
Municipalities now pay about half of recycling costs. Companies pay the rest through Stewardship Ontario. Falling recycling revenues, after China closed the door to all but the most pristine materials, have sent collection costs soaring.
The province is launching consultations and starting to write regulations deciding thorny questions including targets for diverting waste from landfill, whether producers alone decide what is deemed recyclable, and what happens to recycling plants owned by municipalities.
The Association of Municipalities of Ontario, representing 444 local governments, applauded the move.
“We’re very happy to move forward with something we’ve been advocating for more than a decade,” said Dave Gordon, AMO’s senior adviser on waste diversion.
Canadian Beverage Association president Jim Goetz said his members, who produce soft drinks, among other things, “share the government of Ontario’s goals of reducing litter, increasing recycling and advancing innovation in the circular economy,” that aims to eliminate waste.
Emily Alfred, a senior campaigner at Toronto Environmental Alliance, said making producers bear the full cost of recycling is a sound principal.
“But we need to see the regulations because we’re concerned there will be loopholes,” to let businesses avoid costs, she said. “We can’t have producers just say there is no market for some materials so they don’t have to collect it — that would be an incentive to make hard-to-recyle packaging.”