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, […]
Almost 80,000 more tonnes of plastic in Ontario homes than 10 years ago Read More »
The current debate over what to do about Ontario’s Blue Box frequently confuses at least four distinct but interrelated issues: waste management in general; the recycling option; the relative roles of industry and householders; and the nature of the Blue Box program itself. First, the broader context. The Blue Box program is just one waste collection system,
Let’s get the facts straight on Ontario’s Blue Box Read More »
This is a story about what’s recyclable, what is sent for recycling, and the fees that stewards of those materials pay into Ontario’s Blue Box system. In what seems like a perversion of the ‘polluter pays’ principle, some of the worst performing materials pay among the lowest fees. There are two elements to this story.
Some of the worst performing Blue Box materials pay the lowest fees Read More »
PPEC’s popular fact sheets have been revamped and updated, all 34 of them. Broken into five sections of interest, the factsheets cover a broad range of topics: from why packaging exists to where it comes from (trees); from what it’s made from to how it’s made; and to the industry’s history of reduction, re-use, and
Everything you wanted to know about paper packaging Read More »
The recovery rate of Ontario’s residential Blue Box system has slipped again, to its lowest level since 2005. According to Stewardship Ontario, the 2018 recovery rate was 60.2%, just barely above the mandated provincial target. Almost three-quarters of what’s currently being recovered is paper of one kind or another, the same as it was back
Ontario Blue Box recovery rate barely above 60% provincial target Read More »
While the collective weight of Blue Box materials generated by Ontario households has not changed much over the last 15 years, the type of material that ends up there certainly has. Far fewer newspapers, for starters. Almost 136,000 tonnes fewer, according to a PPEC comparison of Stewardship Ontario generation data between 2003 and 2017. Magazines
Fewer newspapers but more packaging in Ontario households Read More »
The recovery rate of Ontario’s residential Blue Box system has slipped again, to its lowest level since 2005. According to Stewardship Ontario, the 2017 recovery rate was 61.3 per cent, down almost two per cent on the previous year. The provincial target is 60 per cent. Almost three-quarters of what’s currently being recovered is paper
Ontario Blue Box recovery rate slips again, but paper’s steady Read More »
I love fish. Plastic not so much. This puts me in good company, it seems, with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who recently told the World Economic Forum that the “plastics issue” will be the main theme at the G7 leaders’ summit in Charlevoix, Quebec in June. Trudeau’s announcement follows in the footsteps of Coca-Cola saying
Will plastics problem spur the eventual return of deposits to Ontario? Read More »
Recycled content is central to the “Circular Economy” approach that Ontario and some other provinces say they want to adopt. It keeps raw materials flowing through the economy longer, reduces the pressure to extract more virgin materials from the earth, and delays their eventual disposal as waste. It’s something which governments say they want to
Packaging stewards should be rewarded for using recycled content Read More »
The reported recovery rate of Ontario’s residential Blue Box system has fallen to its lowest level since 2005. The draft recovery rates, to be finalised by Stewardship Ontario in December, show a 2016 recovery rate of 62.4%, down 2% on the previous year. This will make the recent “request” by Ontario’s minister of environment and
Ontario Blue Box recovery rate slips, but paper steady Read More »
