Blue Box

Beyond the Headlines: Context on Ontario’s Proposed Blue Box Changes

Blue Box, Extended Producer Responsibility, Ontario Government / By

The Ontario government recently proposed amendments to the province’s Blue Box Regulation, triggering swift reactions from stakeholders. As the environmental voice of Canada’s paper packaging industry, the Paper and Paperboard Packaging Environmental Council (PPEC) believes it’s important to move beyond reactionary narratives and look at the facts. Instead of pointing fingers or pitting stakeholders against […]

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Navigating Ontario’s Blue Box Transition and the Importance of the Entire Recycling Value Chain

Blue Box, Extended Producer Responsibility, Recycling / By

Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) – a policy approach which makes producers financially and physically responsible for managing the recycling of their packaging – is at a pivotal moment in Canada. By the end of this year, most provinces will have adopted full producer responsibility models for residential packaging recycling programs, which represents a major shift in how

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The Recyclability of Paper Bags Should Not Be Controversial

Blue Box, Paper Bags, Paper Recycling, Recycled Content / By

Paper bags have been back in the news recently due to a decision by the Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) on their new bag supplier. In April 2023, the LCBO announced they would ban paper bags from their stores for environmental reasons, which PPEC and others challenged. A year later, the Premier directed Ontario’s

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Ontario Blue Box program falls below 60% recycling target

Blue Box, Targets, Waste Diversion, Waste Strategy / By

Stewardship Ontario’s new 2020 Annual Report provides the most recent data on the performance of the Ontario Blue Box program. Over 729,000 tonnes of packaging and printed paper were recycled in 2019, the most recent year for which data is available, resulting in a 57.3% recycling rate, down from 60.2% in 2018. The Ontario government’s

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Ontario Blue Box Update: GFL acquisition of CSSA and new PROs established

Blue Box, Industry News, Recycling, Targets / By

In June, the Ontario government released the final Blue Box regulation, which sets out the framework to transition to producer responsibility, and transfer the full operational and financial management of the Ontario Blue Box program to producers – the businesses that make and sell obligated materials into the Ontario marketplace – with implementation beginning in

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Providing Clarity on The Ottawa Citizen’s Cardboard Recycling Article

1 Comment / Blue Box, Circular Economy, Paper Recycling / By

Last week, The Ottawa Citizen’s Kelly Egan wrote an article about cardboard recycling in Canada. In Thinking inside the box — pandemic creates crush of new cardboard, Egan provides some stats about paper packaging recycling and the consumption of trees — some of which are correct, and some of which are confusing. Egan reached out

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Ontario Blue Box will struggle to make 60% diversion, and none of the ministry’s proposed new targets will be reached

Blue Box, Recycling, Targets, Waste Diversion / By

Green visions, aspirational goals, and political grandstanding are all very well in their place. But at some point, we have to be realistic. The fact of the matter is that the overall waste diversion rate of Ontario’s Blue Box is unlikely to improve much over the next ten years, and the new diversion targets proposed

Ontario Blue Box will struggle to make 60% diversion, and none of the ministry’s proposed new targets will be reached Read More »

How about a different approach to recycled content and the circular economy?

1 Comment / Blue Box, Circular Economy, Paper Recycling, Recycled Content / By

Recycled content is the key component in the creation of a circular economy. It keeps raw materials flowing within the economy longer, reduces the pressure to extract more virgin materials from the earth, and delays their eventual disposal as waste. Recovering more materials for further use also creates jobs. A circular economy is something that

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Almost 80,000 more tonnes of plastic in Ontario homes than 10 years ago

Blue Box, Circular Economy, Household Waste Generation / By

An analysis of the last 10 years of data on Blue Box-type materials generated by Ontario households shows a 34% increase in the amount of plastic packaging ending up in the home. And most of it (70%) did not get sent on for recycling. The major increase is in the catch-all category of “other” plastics,

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