In My Opinion: Transition to new Blue Box system must be smooth and seamless

By MARY-MARGARET McMAHON

MPP, BEACHES-EAST YORK

Times they are a changin’ for our beloved Blue Box – known as a world class recycling system!

Ontario is the birthplace of the Blue Box, the world’s first curbside recycling program. It made its official debut in Kitchener in 1981. Since then, Ontario’s Blue Box has become a fixture at the end of every driveway and an award winning and coveted blueprint for recycling programs in more than 150 countries around the world.

It’s a homegrown story that was evolving and revising as new recycling technologies made it possible for Ontarians to add more materials to their Blue Boxes.

The program is seen as a highly successful environmental initiative that helped to grow Ontario’s green economy, shaping a positive future by diverting more waste from our landfills and waterways to create cleaner, healthier, more sustainable communities.

A ground breaking movement in the 1980s now needs to keep up with the times and translate into meaningful 2025 pro-action. In light of the threat and reality of (U.S. President) Trump’s tariffs, the status quo must shift with a focus on ensuring that Canada is as self-sufficient as possible, including ending our shipping of waste to Michigan! The cost of inaction on this front will be exorbitant.

Currently, Ontario sends approximately 10,000 tons of non-household waste south of the border every single day. This is not sustainable, not smart, and not sensible.

We also need to recognize that Ontario’s landfill sites are nearing capacity and the lifespan for the City of Toronto’s Green Lane Landfill in Southwold (near London) will be reached in 2035. The clock is ticking! Torontonians alone produce approximately one million tons of garbage annually.

Change can be seen ahead as we embark on a new and innovative refresh of the Blue Box. But it needs to be done right, with the full intention of genuinely reducing, reusing, and recycling our waste; by exploring innovative solutions and ideas to create a strong circular economy.

The transition to a new recycling system needs to be smooth and seamless with a well-implemented, rock solid communication strategy! As the provincial representative for Beaches-East York and the Liberal Critic for the Environment and Climate Action, I want to be a big part of making sure the government does not stand in the way of making this happen now.

Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) mandates that producers are accountable for the financial burden and execution of recycling products and packaging. The hope is that this shift in responsibility will promote a circular economy and incentivize eco-conscious decisions that prioritize truly recyclable materials, over single-use waste.

EPR will also provide much needed standardization of what can be recycled. This will translate to an expansion of materials eligible for collection and ultimately reduce packaging which can extend the lifespan of Ontario landfills.

Unfortunately, the current government wants to delay the enforcement of the recycling recovery targets from 2026 to 2031 pushing them off for five years! They also plan to water down the regulations by removing the expansion of recycling to multi-family units, schools, and long-term care homes essentially denying residents a waste diversion option afforded to others.

They ended the working group they created to plan for non-alcoholic beverage containers, voted against my Private Members’ Bill 53 for a Bottle Deposit Return System, and are now removing beverage recovery targets for “out of home” packages.

Expansion of recycling in our public spaces will not happen now and the targets for flexible plastic recovery are being reduced and delayed. This government is moving Ontario backwards!

We have no time to waste – quite literally. Working with all stakeholders, especially the producers is key to the success of this new program.

Tweaking targets marginally while still moving forward with waste diversion goals and a circular economy focus is prudent, but immediate delays will absolutely put us up a creek without a paddle!

The government needs to stay on task moving forward on the path to full EPR implementation. Ontario is known as a global leader with the legacy of the incredible Blue Box recycling program, so let’s now be renowned for our approach to the circular economy!

— Mary-Margaret McMahon is the Liberal MPP for Beaches-East York.