In June 2021, the Province of Ontario released new recycling legislation to shift the financial and operational responsibility of recycling from municipalities to the organizations that produce packaging, paper and packaging–like products.
The objective was to move towards a more thorough recycling process, where materials are collected, recycled and returned to producers who use it as recycled content in new products and packaging. It was believed that by moving costs directly to producers, they would be more incentivized to make decisions that led to less packaging and more careful selection of packaging materials. Nice concept, difficult to implement.
This January, the transition to this new producer-based system was complete. The recycling process has been expanded and streamlined and eligible materials are consistent across the province. Recycling is now managed by not-for-profit organizations created to operate the nation’s new common collection system, managing the waste associated with their products and packaging. These organizations, called Producer-Responsibility Organizations (PRO’S), have been created by producers to design and implement their recycling programs, create, maintain and manage procurement frameworks and set models to determine what producers pay to finance provincial recycling programs.
Circular Materials is a national, not-for-profit producer responsibility organization helping producers meet their obligations under new responsibility legislation across Canada and is the entity managing our local recycling efforts. It was founded by 17 of Canada’s leading food, beverage and consumer products manufacturers, restaurants and retailers, including household names such as the four grocery chain owners, Kraft, McDonalds, Restaurant Brands, Proctor and Gamble, Pepsico and CocaCola.
Recycled materials are collected at the curb or a depot, then transported to a facility where they are sorted, baled, and sold to end markets. The purchased products are converted into new products or packaging to start the process over. There is now an expanded list of materials that are eligible for recycling, made possible by the integration of advanced sorting technologies that use scanners and optical sorters in the sorting process. This is happening in large centres established by PRO’s across the country, including two new Circular Materials’ centres in Cambridge and Napanee.
Items continue to be sorted into two streams: Paper/fibres and containers. Broad guidelines are available in the poster below. Some of the new items that are now recycled are black plastic containers, hot and cold beverage cups and frozen juice containers.
In the paper and fibre recycling stream are spiral paper laminate containers, ice cream tubs, soup, juice and milk cartons with lids, coffee creamer containers and beverage cups without lids.
The containers stream includes Plastic and foam products such as cleaning and food containers, as well as personal care containers like hand sanitizer and medicine bottles, toothpaste and hand cream tubes, deodorant containers. Foam packaging in meat trays (remove absorbent pads), takeout containers, cups, plates bowls and foam packing from products is also recyclable. All containers should be clean and free of residue, and alcoholic beverage containers are not included in regular recycling as they have their own recycling stream.
This new legislation pressures firms to develop and implement effective and efficient recycling programs that will reduce the environmental impact of waste from consumption, but it only works if consumers do their part and put those items into their blue bins.