Changes to the way Northumberland County and the City and County of Peterborough manage recycling collection began on January 1, but the municipalities expect residents won’t have disruptions at the curbside.
The changes are part of Ontario’s plan to transition responsibility for the provincial recycling system from municipalities and First Nations to the producers that supply packaging and paper to consumers, with industry eventually assuming full responsibility for all residential recycling. Under the previous system, blue box programs were operated by municipalities that were responsible for paying about half of the costs of the program, with producers responsible for the other half.
In 2021, Ontario released its new Blue Box Regulation under the 2016 Resource Recovery and Circular Economy Act, which makes Canadian producers fully financially and operationally responsible for their products and packaging at the end of life. Starting in July 2023, communities across the province began transitioning to the new system, which will be fully implemented by 2026.
In Ontario, Circular Materials operates as a producer responsibility organization and is also the administrator of the common collection system on behalf of all other producer responsibility organizations operating in Ontario. The national not-for-profit organization was founded by 17 of Canada’s leading brands, including Nestlé, Kraft Heinz, Maple Leaf, Coca-Cola Canada, MacDonald’s, Costco, Metro, and Loblaw Companies.
Effective January 1, Northumberland County has entered into an agreement with Circular Materials for the county to continue to provide recycling collection services until the end of 2025, after which services would be provided by a private contractor.
“We have secured a fee-for-service contract, ensuring that Northumberland County remains the sole provider for the collection of recyclable materials during this transition,” said Adam McCue, Northumberland County associate director of operations for public works, in a media release.
“With the county continuing to have accountability for management of waste services, county council agreed that pursuing a contract with (Circular Materials) to manage all collection during this period made the most sense for residents. With this contract in place, residents will not notice any changes to the curbside collection program for waste and recycling during this period. It will be a seamless transition to producer responsibility.”
At the end of 2025, although Northumberland County will continue to provide collection of waste materials, responsibility for curbside collection of recyclables will shift to the private sector. For that reason, the county no longer owns or operates its recycling processing facility in Grafton, having sold the facility to Emterra Environmental.
“With this transition, Northumberland County will no longer directly offer blue/grey box recycling services,” the media release states. “This required the county to wind down its operation of the material recovery facility recycling plant in Grafton.”
With Emterra Environmental taking ownership of the material recovery facility recycling plant as of January 5, residents who previously visited the facility to exchange or purchase blue bins, bag tags, or pick up the annual waste management calendar will no longer be able to do so.
Under the terms of the contract with Circular Materials, Northumberland County will continue promoting and educating residents about recycling practices, provide accessible support via telephone and web channels, and facilitate curbside pickup of recyclable materials, as well as collect and transfer of recyclable materials at all county community recycling centres.
More information about the transition is available on the county’s website at northumberland.ca/producerresponsibility.
Meanwhile, for both the City and County of Peterborough, Circular Materials has assumed responsibility for recycling collection and processing services as of January 1. However, there will be no change in recycling collection services for residents, either in the recycling schedule or in the materials that can be recycled.
“Residents will continue to place their blue box recyclables curbside weekly, exactly as they do now, on their same collection day, separating container items and fibre (paper) items into separate boxes for collection,” the City of Peterborough noted in a media release.
For recycling collection and processing services in the city and county, Circular Materials has hired Emterra Environmental, which is the same company that was previously hired by the city and county for recycling curbside collection and processing.
“Using the same company that currently delivers the service will help ensure a smooth transition for residents,” the City of Peterborough noted.
For more information about recycling collection in the City of Peterborough and the County of Peterborough (including individual townships), visit the Circular Materials website at www.circularmaterials.ca/resident-provinces/ontario/.
