ONTARIO—As the calendar turns to a new year, Ontario has a new recycling program, the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), which shifts recycling costs and management to producers, standardizes accepted materials province-wide (like black plastics, coffee cups) and introduces a few new collection managers. The province contends the new system will provide simplified recycling for residents in the province where you can recycle more items.
For most residents on the ground, the changes will not really seem all that different as they can still use their blue box and set out their recycling for pickup, where such programs are in place, but for municipalities, the changes herald some concerning expenses.
The new program aligns what can be recycled, a change from the patchwork system that was in place under the old programs, and that alignment means more items that can be placed in your blue box. Under the new regime, black plastic containers, hot and cold drink cups (ie. takeout coffee cups), frozen food containers such as juice boxes and ice cream tubs as well as deodorant and toothpaste tubes can now be included in your residential recycling.
Some municipalities have expressed concerns that the shift from weekly to bi-weekly collection, with larger carts may affect resident participation and overall waste diversion rates. Residents might put recyclables in the regular garbage if their bins are full, increasing municipal waste disposal costs and shortening the lifespan of municipal landfills.
Also of concern is the introduction of a standardized list of accepted materials, including some hard-to-recycle items like certain black plastics and flexible packaging (like the aforementioned toothpaste tubes) that could increase contamination in the blue bin stream. High contamination lowers the quality of sorted materials, making them less valuable for resale and reuse.
Municipalities have also reported initial confusion during the transition, with some areas experiencing missed pickups or lack of service in the initial days of the new system.
The exclusion of industrial, commercial and institutional properties under the new system such as businesses, schools and long-term care homes that previously received municipal collection are no longer covered by the producer program. Municipalities are also concerned those exclusions will lead to a huge increase in extra waste winding up in their landfills, for which they remain responsible—or vastly increased costs to collect and dispose of the material.
The province’s decision to remove the requirement for producers to expand collection in public spaces means municipalities will retain the cost and responsibility for public bins, in contrast to initial expectations that those costs would be lifted from their budgets.
Municipal and environmental advocates have criticized the government for delaying and reducing performance targets for producers, particularly for flexible plastics, arguing that lets producers off the hook and undermines waste diversion efforts.
There are also concerns about the lack of data transparency and the complexity of the new system which can hinder planning and investment in better processing infrastructure.
Larger municipalities are also no longer the primary contact for recycling issues such as missed pickups and broken bins, which can lead to resident confusion and a higher volume of inquiries to municipal 311 lines that must then be redirected, while experts warn that Ontario lacks the current infrastructure to meet the new high-performance targets which could lead to an erosion of recycling programs.
Currently, the “jury” is still out on what the final cost breakdowns will be with the new program—and with the closure of many Beer Store locations across the province (including Manitoulin’s only location in Little Current) (alcohol containers are excluded from many municipal recycling pickups), there are challenges.
