As the year comes to an end so too, does the transition period for producer responsibility of blue box collection within Peterborough County.
Selwyn Township has been working to navigate this change to ease pressure on local businesses and organizations that are impacted by this.
The shift to producer responsibility for blue box materials transition started on January 1, 2024 and ends on December 31, 2025. Full implementation of the regulations under the Resources Recovery and Circular Economy Act, commences on January 1, 2026.
Because of the provincial changes to recycling, Circular Materials Ontario (CMO) is now the body in charge of collecting and depositing recycling for residents while businesses and non-eligible organizations will be responsible for their own recycling.
This will not affect the level of service for residents but will change things for local businesses, charities, non-profits, and more.
Previously the County of Peterborough had been responsible for blue box curbside and depot collection services throughout the County. The County was offered a contract with CMO to continue to be the service provider for these curbside and depot services.
So while the townships operate the landfill sites, CMO is in charge of recycling depots. That being said, once the producer responsibility collection takes full effect, industrial, commercial and institutional sectors (non-eligible sources -NES) will not be accepted at the depots.
At the December 9 regular council meeting Janice Lavalley, Chief Administrative Officer for the township presented council with two options moving forward for NES’s within the township.
Her report stated that the township was able to continue to allow for co-mingling of blue box materials for eligible and NES at the depot during the transition period, however as of January 1, 2026, this is no longer permitted.
While many NES within the township are likely to have already made arrangements for the Blue Box material collection, there are alternative options they can consider should council support it.
• Option one was to direct NES to other facilities within the County. Waste Connections of Canada (WCC) advised Selwyn that they will accept recycling material from the Selwyn NES at their transfer station located on County Road 6, in Douro-Dummer.
Lavalley explained that this site is currently licensed and set-up to accept these types of materials which are then hauled to their recycling facility for proper processing. There would be a small flat rate tipping fee established by WCC to help offset the cost of managing these materials.
Another option would be for Selwyn NES to go to the Pido Road Material Recycling Facility in Peterborough.
• Option two would be to establish a separate NES Blue Box Material Depot Area at the Smith Landfill
According to Lavalley’s report, an alternative option for NES material would be to create an area at the Smith Landfill site specifically for that purpose. However this would require them to ensure there would be no co-mingling of eligible and NES materials. This means there would be additional operating requirements related to the new area and require supervision to prevent contamination, ensure proper separation of the blue box materials, schedule pick-ups, etc.
Her report went on to say that creating a separate area within the depot for the NES would be a new cost centre in the Department 33 (waste) budget. While there is not anticipated to be a significant capital cost to re-organize the recycling area, there would be significant operations costs involved. It is anticipated that the costs for bin rental, haulage and processing alone could range from $40,000 to $55,000 depending on the volume of material received.
To avoid a significant impact on the tax rate the Township would need to establish a tipping fee to recover these costs. The goal at the township for Department 33 is that taxation funds the cost of garbage collection and for other revenues to cover the costs of the landfill operations. So if council chose option two, it would mean a tipping fee be established at a starting point of $400 per tonne, with a minimum fee of $10.00 per load, would be recommended. This would then be reviewed at the mid-point of 2026 to determine if it is sufficient to cover the cost of the actual volumes of material received.
Lavalley recommended council consider option one for moving forward into January.
She did note that these new changes do impact the township facilities as well including the municipal office, libraries, and leased spaces. Staff are working through how these materials will be managed to find the most efficient and effective solution for these facilities.
Deputy Mayor Ron Black asked Lavalley how the township can ensure that businesses will not just take their recycling to the current residential recycling depot and the Smith Landfill.
Lavalley said that while the township will have to be very mindful of that, she does not see it being a big issue as many businesses have already made alternative arrangements to get their recycling collected.
Black stated that may be the case for bigger businesses that can fill bins with cardboard every week but the smaller businesses are going to be hit the hardest. He is worried they may try to take their recycling home and use residential curbside pickup or try and use the residential depot.
Black did move the motion to proceed with option one, allowing local non-eligible sources use the Waste Connections Canada Site located at 348 County Road 6 in Douro Dummer.
