The Ontario Ministry of Environment and Climate Change (MOECC) is in the process of considering what it calls specific material “management” targets for Ontario Blue Box recyclables such as paper, plastic, glass, steel and aluminum. It has already stated that it wants to see a collective 75% Blue Box diversion rate, up from the current […]
Recycled content must be recognised in setting circular economy targets Read More »
When Ontario released the final version of its waste strategy six months ago, dealing with the future financing of the province’s popular Blue Box program was at the backend of the queue. Sorting out the respective roles and responsibilities of municipalities and industry, not to mention the thorny issues of legal contracts and stranded assets,
The big “hurry up” on the Blue Box in case the Liberals lose Read More »
The Circular Economy (CE to some) has become something of a buzzword of late, just like sustainability and corporate social responsibility (CSR) before it. Good intentions, but a lot of public relations too. Perhaps we’re being too cynical, but the issue is a bit like climate change. We know it’s coming (most of us) or
Circular Economy or spinning our wheels? Read More »
Every Tuesday night I come face-to-face with the twin issues of consumption and “sustainable materials management” or the latest buzzword favoured by governments, the “circular economy.” For Tuesday night is Recycling Night. From the bathroom and bedroom, I gather toilet rolls and tissue, envelopes and writing paper. From the kitchen and dining room, I grab
Paper, paper, everywhere, and not a scrap to waste Read More »
The good news is that the reported recovery rates for almost every single material category in Ontario’s Blue Box have improved over the last 13 years, some by as much as 20 percentage points. The bad news is that several categories have made very little progress and lag way behind the others, and that the
The good, the bad, and the ugly about Ontario’s Blue Box Read More »
There’s just something about paper! Thirteen years of data on what ends up in Ontario homes tells us that Canadians, or at least those who live in Ontario, cannot or do not want to shuck their paper habit, despite all those urgent exhortations to do so. The paper-less home ain’t happening. Well, not yet anyway.
Fewer newspapers but more boxes in the home Read More »
North America’s first full producer responsibility EPR program for the Blue Box has been running for over a year now in British Columbia, with positive results. Will Ontario and the other provinces follow suit? Will they have the political wherewithal to effectively address the key issues of free-riders and producer control? The paper industry has
Key decisions looming on Canada’s Blue Box EPR programs Read More »
The North American paper packaging industry has served notice that it will challenge (legally, if necessary) any false and misleading claims about its operations and environmental impact. Case in point: major plastic crate supplier, IFCO. IFCO is lobbying North American grocery retailers to move away from the traditional corrugated box system of delivering fruit and
False and misleading claims removed from IFCO website Read More »
The province of British Columbia has asked industry “stewards” (brandowners and retailers) to design an industry-funded program for the collection, processing and marketing of residential printed paper and packaging. This is what the Program Plan should look like: 1. It should include all printed paper and packaging There should be no exceptions. No Ontario/Quebec/Manitoba-type systems
What BC’s new “Blue Box” Program Plan should look like Read More »
British Columbia is the latest province in Canada to regulate extended producer responsibility (or EPR) for printed paper and packaging. Publishers, packaging brandowners and first importers (collectively known as stewards) have until November 19 to deliver a plan on how to do it. The big difference with BC is that industry will not only be
British Columbia has golden opportunity to get it right. Read More »
