Region transferring management of Blue Box program
The Region of Waterloo officially transfers management of the Blue Box program on Saturday as part of a provincewide initiative to shift the burden of processing recyclables onto producers.
Most residents shouldn’t be impacted during the transition period that runs through 2025, municipal officials said. Collection days, items put into blue boxes (two-box sorting) and green bin, garbage and bulky item collection won’t change.
The only thing changing for residents is a new contact for blue box issues or concerns, according to a media advisory sent out earlier this week.
City residents must contact Miller Waste Systems at area22@millerwaste.ca or call 1888-852-3450. Township residents should contact Emterra Environmental at customercareont@emterra.ca or call 1-888587-1541.
“We look forward to delivering a seamless transition of recycling services for the residents of Waterloo Region,” said Allen Langdon, CEO of Circular Materials, a producer-controlled, non-profit organization responsible for implementing the new recycling program across Ontario.
The region’s 2024 budget for waste management includes a net levy reduction of $1.9 million related to the transition of the program, according to a report going to the region’s planning and public works committee. This consists of a net reduction of approximately $3.3 million related to collection, processing, and marketing, partially offset by expenses to keep the region’s public drop-off facilities open and provide Blue Box collection for sites that currently receive collection but aren’t eligible for it under new regulations.
Examples of noneligible sites include municipal facilities, shelters, daycares and places of worship, with the majority being commercial establishments within in downtown areas of local municipalities (approximately 1,500 to 2,000 locations). Regional staff will be considering options to manage noneligible locations in 2026. A downtown service review for waste management is currently underway.
New provincial legislation also does not cover service at the Cambridge and Waterloo public drop-off locations; however, the region has entered into a short-term agreement with Circular Materials to continue to provide the services during the transition period.
The region is finalizing an agreement so that the materials will continue to be dropped-off status quo by curbside contractors at both the Cambridge and Waterloo waste sites and, in turn, sent off-site for processing at producer-designated processing facilities.
“The Waterloo recycling (sorting) facility will no longer be operational and our contract with our external service provider that operated the facility is now over,” said Jon Arsenault, the region’s director of waste management. “Instead of processing recyclables on-site, we now will be loading/transferring blue box materials offsite to external processing sites as directed by the producers.”
No regional jobs are impacted, Arsenault said.
Transition to have little impact on residents initially; the municipality will save millions of dollars