ONTARIO-The Ontario government is proposing legislative and regulatory changes that it says would help bring down costs for producers of packaging and paper products.
“Our government is committed to a Blue Box system that ensures Ontario’s small- and medium-sized businesses have the tools they need to forecast and manage their costs more effectively,” said Todd McCarthy, Minister of the Environment, Conservation and Parks. “By bringing greater transparency and accountability to the program, these measures will help deliver more predictability and more sustainability for the long term — while ensuring that producers, and not taxpayers, remain responsible for the waste they create.”
Ontario has transitioned to a provincewide Blue Box program that is funded and run by producers, including multiple producer responsibility organizations (PROs) that compete to deliver collection and recycling services for producers. The system is facing rising costs during a time of economic uncertainty and action is needed to drive greater transparency, accountability and efficiency to help contain costs and support the system’s long-term sustainability.
Proposed legislative changes to the Resource Recovery and Circular Economy Act, if passed, would give the province the ability to regulate contract terms between PROs and producers, including the fees paid by producers for the collection and processing of recyclable materials, to ensure stable and predictable producer fees, consistent and fair contract terms and clear and transparent insight into the Blue Box operations and costs. This will ensure that producers pay their fair share of Blue Box costs while avoiding surprise fees, costs or changes that could impact their business.
The ministry will also be consulting with recycling sector stakeholders, including producers and PROs, and the public on proposed regulatory changes that would help producers better plan for the future and help PROs find ways to streamline operations and contain costs by:
- creating stronger transparency requirements so PROs provide clearer reporting on producer fees and the costs of running the provincewide recycling system
- setting service requirements, including the allocation of recycling carts and bins, to improve resident accessibility and operational efficiency
- exploring the future collection of hard-to-recycle flexible plastic materials and other opportunities to make collection services more efficient
The ministry is also exploring future governance changes to strengthen accountability and minimize any potential conflict of interest, including replacing the current administrator with a new independent administrator.
