[All] ENGO commentary on planned changes to BLUE Box program

[John Jackson]

Several ENGOs have been working for years on trying to improve Ontario's Blue Box programme and transition it to a system that the companies that make, sell and profit from selling products are responsible for paying for and operating and that they are forced to move beyond recycling to redesign for waste reduction, reuse and redesign of products.

Last week we released the attached declaration on this matter. GREN and a few other local groups were among the 52 environmental and civil society groups who endorsed the statement.

On Sunday, the Toronto Star's editorial board basically endorsed our position paper. 
https://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorials/2020/08/30/ontarios-blue-box-recycling-system-needs-a-fix.html

I have also pasted the editorial in below.

John


Ontario’s blue box recycling system needs a fix


By Star Editorial Board <https://www.thestar.com/authors.Star_Editorial_Board.html>
Sun., Aug. 30, 2020timer3 min. read
Ontario has had blue box recycling for more than two and half decades but it’s never lived up to its billing.

So the provincial government is doing the right thing by revamping the blue box and transferring the costs and responsibilities of recycling from municipalities to the producers who make the products.

This is the best hope of achieving the program’s true aims. Not just picking up recyclables at the curb and carting them out of sight, out of mind, but actually reducing the amount of packaging that’s thrown out in the first place and recycling the rest into new products.

But that necessary sea change won’t happen unless the province takes additional steps.

The province has to include the commercial and industrial sectors, not just the residential sector, in the revamped program. And it must craft its regulations and oversight so that product producers have strong incentives to innovate, reduce unnecessary packaging and use materials that are easier to recycle.

That’s what it will take to drive real change and finally create a recycling system that meaningfully reduces waste. Unfortunately, when it comes to those details the Ford government seems to be struggling.

Environment Minister Jeff Yurek has landed on the right destination for Ontario but his road map for how to get there is so vague that there’s a risk the province winds up somewhere else entirely.

This past week, a coalition of 52 environmental groups joined forces to try and get the government on track as it develops the regulatory framework for the multi-year blue box transition now underway.


They are rightly urging the government to bring all sectors, including the industrial, commercial and institutional sectors, which produce two-thirds of Ontario’s waste, into the revamped program. And ensuring that all residents have access to blue box collection, including those living in multi-residential buildings or small communities.

They’re raising good and reasonable points. Yurek would do well to listen.

It’s worrisome, though, that this is at least the third time environment and waste industry experts have publicly sounded the alarm.

A year ago, when the government released provincial adviser David Lindsay’s report on renewing the blue box, there were many concerns about all the unanswered questions. Those included who would decide on the standardized list of blue box items, what the diversion targets would be, and how they would be increased over time.

Then, this past January, there were concerns that the government was looking to weaken oversight, under its usual guise of reducing “red tape.” It did that through changes to the Resource Productivity and Recovery Authority (RPRA), which has the power to oversee and enforce producer responsibility requirements and advocate for recycling innovation.


Governments of all stripes have long talked about the need to make producers financially responsible for their products but have struggled to move past the concept stage. Ontario needs to get this right.

Recycling rates have been stalled for 15 years, while program costs keep rising. Currently when all the sectors, residential to industrial, are factored in less than seven per cent of Ontario’s waste is recycled through the blue box program, the coalition’s report <https://environmentaldefence.ca/ontario-recycling-is-the-last-resort/> states.

The Ford government was right to tackle the ailing system — but it needs to get the revamp right.

The province needs strong recycling regulations, and an equally strong regulatory regime to hold industry to account.


This revamped system must be robust enough to keep producers focused on the best of what’s possible in recycling, not what’s easiest or cheapest. The government can’t simply pass on the cost and responsibility to the private sector and walk away.

It’s the results for the environment that matter in the end, no matter who’s paying the bill.
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