Deep River is coming to grips with to how to deal with “non-eligible sources” of recyclable material as Ontario moves to full producer responsibility for Blue Box collection by 2026.
Legislation introduced by the province in 2022 will see producers of recyclable items become fully responsible for the operating and financial management of the Blue Box program in Ontario.
With waste diversion rates dropping and municipal recycling costs rising, it was determined that a regulatory approach was needed to place the responsibility for Blue Box collection to companies for the waste generated from their products and packaging.
Those companies are called “producers” under the legislation, and they encompass a large list of big companies ranging from KraftHeinz to Loblaw Companies Limited.
The Blue Box legislation allows organizations called Producer Responsibility Organizations (PROs) to represent the producers of paper products and packaging and most of the big companies have opted to be represented by a PRO called Circular Materials (CM).
Municipalities will be making the transition to the new Blue Box collection system at the beginning of next year, with the full switch to the producer-pay model happening in 2026.
During the transition year municipalities can choose to “opt in” to the program and continue to manage their own Blue Box collection, or “opt out” and let the onus fall on CM instead…
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