<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div class=""><br class=""><div class=""><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><div class=""><div class="c-article-header" data-lpos="article|header"><header class="c-article-headline c-article-header__headline"><h1 class="c-article-headline__heading c-article-headline__heading--long">Ontario’s blue box recycling system needs a fix</h1><h1 class="c-article-headline__heading c-article-headline__heading--long"><div class="c-article-header" data-lpos="article|header"><header class="c-article-headline c-article-header__headline"></header><div class="article__byline-container-author-withphoto article__byline__font c-article-header__byline" data-lpos="article|author"><div class="article__img-container"><div class="article-byline__author-badge c-author-badge"><img class="c-author-badge__img" src="https://images.thestar.com/QOdozKePdNCtTXdJ_7JrXYrQebI=/100x100/smart/https://www.thestar.com/content/dam/thestar/columnist_logos/Toronto%20Star.JPG" alt="Star Editorial Board"></div></div><div class="article__byline"><span class="article__author-by">By </span><span class="article__author"><span class="article__author-name"><a href="https://www.thestar.com/authors.Star_Editorial_Board.html" class="">Star Editorial Board</a></span></span><div class="article__time-container"><span class="">Sun., Aug. 30, 2020</span><span class="published-date-border"></span><span class="article__readtime"><i class="c-material-icon--article-readtime-clock material-icons c-material-icon" role="img" pointer-events="none" focusable="false" aria-hidden="true">timer</i>3 min. read</span></div></div></div></div><div class="c-article-body" data-lpos="article|body"><div class="c-article-body__content"><p class="text-block-container">Ontario has had blue box recycling for more than two and half decades but it’s never lived up to its billing.</p><p class="text-block-container">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.</p><p class="text-block-container">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.</p><div class="undefined seo-media-query"></div><p class="text-block-container">But that necessary sea change won’t happen unless the province takes additional steps. </p><p class="text-block-container">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. </p><p class="text-block-container">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.</p><p class="text-block-container">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.</p><div class="undefined seo-media-query"></div><p class="text-block-container">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.</p></div></div></h1><h2 class="article-list-heading"><div class="article-list-heading-text article-list-heading-text--small">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.</div></h2><h1 class="c-article-headline__heading c-article-headline__heading--long"><div class="c-article-body" data-lpos="article|body"><div class="c-article-body__content"><p class="text-block-container">They’re raising good and reasonable points. Yurek would do well to listen.</p><p class="text-block-container">It’s
worrisome, though, that this is at least the third time environment and
waste industry experts have publicly sounded the alarm.</p><p class="text-block-container">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. </p><p class="text-block-container">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.</p></div></div></h1><h1 class="c-article-headline__heading c-article-headline__heading--long"><div class="c-article-body" data-lpos="article|body"><div class="c-article-body__content"><p class="text-block-container">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.</p><p class="text-block-container">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, <a class="text-block__link" href="https://environmentaldefence.ca/ontario-recycling-is-the-last-resort/">the coalition’s report</a> states. </p><div class="article-related-inline"></div><p class="text-block-container">The Ford government was right to tackle the ailing system — but it needs to get the revamp right. </p><p class="text-block-container">The province needs strong recycling regulations, and an equally strong regulatory regime to hold industry to account.</p></div></div></h1><h1 class="c-article-headline__heading c-article-headline__heading--long"><div class="c-article-body" data-lpos="article|body"><div class="c-article-body__content"><div data-lpos="in-article-messaging" id="end-of-article" class="css-1988v4o"><div class="MuiGrid-spacing-xs-1 MuiGrid-root MuiGrid-container"><div class="MuiGrid-grid-xs-6 MuiGrid-root MuiGrid-item"></div></div></div></div></div><div class="MuiGrid-grid-xs-6 MuiGrid-root MuiGrid-item MuiGrid-justify-xs-flex-end MuiGrid-container"></div><p class="text-block-container">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.</p><span style="display:block" id="contentEndBreakPoint" class=""></span><p class="text-block-container">It’s the results for the environment that matter in the end, no matter who’s paying the bill.</p></h1></header></div></div></div></body></html>