Photo Karen Graham.
This week begins a transition period for Cavan Monaghan as its agreement with Circular Materials Ontario to begin hauling and disposing blue box materials received at the Transfer Station for the next two years comes into effect.
Circular Materials is a national not-for-profit organization that establishes and manages recycling systems where materials are collected, recycled and returned to producers to use as recycled content in new packaging and paper. It is the sole administrator of Ontario’s common collection system, responsible for operating the new system for blue box materials for municipalities across the province. Its goal is to increase recycling rates across Ontario and ensure more materials are looped into the circular economy, reducing waste and extending the life of existing landfills.
This is the first step in the transition to passing the burden of recyclable waste generated by products and their packaging to the companies that produce and distribute those products. Until now, recycling costs have been shared equally by the producers and municipal governments. The objective of the new policy is to shift the entire burden of funding and operating recycling programs to producers in order to incentivize them to create products and packaging with less waste, using more materials that are easier to recycle. Producers will also be motivated to reintegrate any recovered materials into new products and packaging as they will have reliable streams of recovered materials. By January 2026, industries that produce these products will be completely financially and operationally responsible for managing all materials in recycling bins across the province.
Residents will not be affected by the changes in their recycling activities, as the only change is who is responsible for running and paying for the new program. The program will also eliminate inconsistencies across municipalities about what materials can be recycled. Property taxes will no longer include the cost of recycling programs, but producers will likely incorporate any extra costs into their own prices.
Peterborough County operates the blue box program on behalf of its member municipalities. Emterra collects recyclables at the curbside and until now, materials dropped off at local depots. Under the new contract, Circular Materials will be responsible for the haulage and disposal of blue box materials received at the Cavan Monaghan transfer station for the next two years. The new agreement is expected to generate roughly $35,000 in revenue from the contract which will help offset the operational costs of operating the Cavan Transfer Station.
More waste management changes are expected over the next few years as municipalities work out the details of the new recycling system and will be managed primarily through Peterborough County on behalf of its member municipalities. KG
