Blue Box

Website Blog Image ON Blue Box 24Feb2025 (2)

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

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 […]

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

website header for paper bags blog

The Recyclability of Paper Bags Should Not Be Controversial

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

The Recyclability of Paper Bags Should Not Be Controversial Read More »

Paper Packaging Leads the Way

Paper-based Packaging Leads the Way for Ontario’s Household Blue Box Program

Paper-based packaging continues to be a success story in Ontario\’s household Blue Box program, as measured by marketed tonnage, based on new data released by the Resource Productivity and Recovery Authority (RPRA), the regulator mandated by the Government of Ontario to enforce the province’s circular economy laws. RPRA’s new Datacall Report summarizes information generated by the 246 programs participating

Paper-based Packaging Leads the Way for Ontario’s Household Blue Box Program Read More »

Paper represents 35% of diversion

Statistics Canada’s New Waste Management Survey Results: Paper Represents 35% of Diversion

On November 15, 2022, Statistics Canada released the results of its biennial Waste Management Survey, containing waste diversion data for 2020, broken down by material type and diversion source (residential and non-residential). The new data shows that Canadian households and businesses diverted 9,903,027 tonnes of waste in 2020, and of the total amount diverted, 3,502,683 tonnes were

Statistics Canada’s New Waste Management Survey Results: Paper Represents 35% of Diversion Read More »

Government Amends Ontario Blue Box Regulation

The Government of Ontario made amendments to the Blue Box Regulation, which came into effect on April 14, 2022. The amendments do not change the original intention of the regulation – to transition the existing Ontario Blue Box model from a shared funding model to a full producer responsibility model – and do not impact

Government Amends Ontario Blue Box Regulation Read More »

Discussing the Toronto Star’s Ontario Blue Box Article

On March 19, the Toronto Star published The Ford government is overhauling Ontario’s blue box recycling program — and critics say it will be a disaster, by Business Feature Writer Richard Warnica. The Paper and Paperboard Packaging Environmental Council (PPEC) was interviewed for the article on February 4, but our comments about paper-based packaging in

Discussing the Toronto Star’s Ontario Blue Box Article Read More »

GenerationchartsNewTargets2021 1024x576

Ontario’s Blue Box Regulations Reflect PPEC Recommendations, Targets Still a Concern

On June 3, 2021, the Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks released the final Blue Box Regulation. The new regulation sets out a framework to transfer the costs of the blue box program away from local communities and requires the producers to operate and pay for blue box services. PPEC has been actively

Ontario’s Blue Box Regulations Reflect PPEC Recommendations, Targets Still a Concern Read More »

PlasticTrash 300x199

Will plastics problem spur the eventual return of deposits to Ontario?

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 »

ppeclogo 150x150

Ontario Blue Box recovery rate slips, but paper steady

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 »

Scroll to Top