Making Ontario producers responsible for blue box program ‘applauded’

Environmental Defence’s Buonsante, Vaughan-Woodbridge MPP Michael Tibollo welcome move

Yorkregion.com
August 20, 2019
Dina Al-Shibeeb

Environmental Defence’s plastics program manager Vito Buonsante has “applauded” Ontario’s commitment to improve recycling and tackle plastic waste by making producers responsible for the blue box program.

“We applaud the Ontario government for moving forward and committing to improving the province’s stalled recycling rate,” read a statement by Buonsante published on Aug. 15.

Buonsante, whose group was behind the banning of bisphenol A or BPA - certain plastics and resins used since the 1960s - from baby bottles in Canada, also highlighted how “increasing recycling alone won’t be sufficient.”

“Making producers responsible should also mean that hard-to-recycle plastics are eliminated, unnecessary single-use plastics are banned, and there are requirements to reduce the amount of plastic waste generated,” he added.

Michael Tibollo, MPP for Vaughan-Woodbridge, also welcomed the move.

He said, “We know that Vaughan-Woodbridge and communities throughout Ontario have been doing their part to reduce and divert waste from landfills and keep our province clean and free of litter.”

“We also know that this transition is needed to improve our province’s overall waste diversion rate and reduce waste going to landfills.”

Based on recommendations from special adviser David Lindsay’s report on recycling and plastic waste, the blue box program will transition to producer responsibility in phases over a three-year period.

This approach will provide time to consult with the public, stakeholders and Indigenous communities, while providing certainty for municipalities and adequate time for producers to engage service providers.

The first group of municipalities or First Nations will transfer responsibility of their programs to producers starting Jan. 1, 2023. By Dec. 31, 2025, producers will be fully responsible for providing blue box services provincewide.
Starting this fall, Ontario will begin early engagement with a broad range of stakeholders, including the municipal and industry stakeholder working group that took part in Lindsay’s previous consultation session, to continue thorough consultations and facilitate the blue box program’s transition to producer responsibility.

Residents who currently receive municipal blue box services will continue to receive the same services throughout the transition period.

Once producers are fully responsible for the program, Ontarians will experience the same or improved access to blue box services across the province.

According to Environmental Defence, Ontarians throw out 1.5 billion plastic bottles every year.

“We also urge the province to move forward with a deposit return program for plastic bottles as part of this transition,” Buonsante said.

“This is unacceptable,” he said.

“A deposit system is a proven best practice that can recover over 90 per cent of containers sold. Now is the time for the province to adopt such a program.”