Ontario's Blue Box Transition - What it means for SDG Counties

Changes are coming to recycling collection activities in SDG Counties.

But fear not, we have presented all the details here to help residents and property owners navigate the changing landscape. Don't worry - for the vast majority of individuals the changes are taking place in the background. Your household waste, and recycling, will continue to be collected on the same day.

So let's take a deep dive into the changes, and explain some details

Ontario is shifting the responsibility for the collection of recycled materials to producers instead of municipalities, thanks to the province’s Individual Producer Responsibility (IPR) Plan. The change is effective in SDG Counties on Jan. 1, 2025.

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This does not mean that Blue Box programming will cease on that date. In fact, the collection and processing of recycled materials will continue – but municipalities will no longer provide the service.

Instead, the Blue Box recycling program for local municipalities in SDG Counties will be managed by Circular Materials. Circular Materials is a not-for-profit organization "committed to building an efficient and effective recycling system in Ontario."

Click here to visit the Circular Materials website

So...what does this mean for residents in SDG Counties?

When it comes to your residential pick-up day, and the collection of your residential recycled materials NOTHING CHANGES. Your recycling materials will still be picked up, and removed. The only difference you may notice is that a separate truck will be picking up your recycling material

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The IPR changes are being made to create a more efficient and effective recycling system, incentivize producers to use more sustainable packaging and reduce the burden on municipalities to collect and dispose of these recyclables.

Under the IPR Plan, producers will be fully responsible for the management and cost of the residential Blue Box program, including the collection, processing, and marketing of recyclable materials. This is a significant shift from the current system, where municipalities are responsible for most of these tasks.

As part of this change, municipalities had to decide whether they wanted to continue to provide Blue-Box services through a competitive process or hand over the responsibility of collection and processing altogether.  Every municipality in SDG Counties has confirmed that they will ‘opt-out’ and allow private industry to assume this responsibility.

The decision by local municipalities to ‘opt-out’ of the Blue Box program was made after careful consideration of the added responsibility, current costs, challenges, increased risk and the need to support a more sustainable and cost-effective approach to waste management within our region. 

Industrial, Commercial and Institutional property owners

Things are a little different for Industrial, Commercial and Institutional (IC&I) property owners. As of Jan. 1, 2025, the onus will be on IC&I locations to set up and cover costs for their own recycling systems by self-hauling recycling to a waste drop-off or obtaining private collection. These new provisions do not impact residential property owners. IC&I locations include:

• All private sector businesses
• Places of worship
• Daycares
• Campgrounds (without permanent or seasonal households)
• Public facing and internal areas of municipal buildings/facilities (e.g., libraries, arenas)
• Not-for-profit organizations, (e.g., shelters, food-banks)

Waste collection from IC&I locations has never been mandated for municipalities in Ontario. Many municipalities have collected waste from businesses as a value-added service to further support the community.

All municipalities in Ontario, including those in SDG Counties, will no longer be responsible for managing recycling when the transition is complete.

SDG Counties and its local municipalities are working with our partners at the Ontario Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks and our MPP to ensure they are aware of the potential environmental and service-related concerns that come with collection at IC&I locations.

Information about the legislation and changes to producer responsibility

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The Made-in-Ontario Environment Plan commits to moving Ontario’s existing waste diversion programs to a producer responsibility model. This means producers (the companies that design, create and market products and packaging) will be responsible for managing and paying for the full life-cycle of their products to make recycling easier and more accessible across the province.

Cick here for details