It’s 1981, boom boxes are blaring Journey, Rick James and Joan Jett while people are literally kicking the can down the street.

In Kitchener, Ontario, a test is run with the help of a $71,000 investment from Laidlaws in which citizens of a neighbourhood would be asked to help recycle, taking a limited number of items and keeping them out of the trash to be re-used by the manufacturer.

According to Ontario Stewardship, the current private sector representation for recyclable producers our blue boxes as we know them, didn’t start out blue.

“One approach involves giving householders a box to store their recyclables and to set them conveniently at the curb on the same day as garbage collection,” states a historical account on their website. “The first boxes are corrugated plastic sheets, hand-folded into shape and hand-stenciled with the words “WE RECYCLE”.

It was a raging success and as of 1994 Ontario mandated any municipality over 5,000 to provide this service. This means most municipalities have been recycling in Ontario for almost 30 years.

Over that time what can be recycled and diverted from landfills for re-use has changed significantly. On the horizon, between 2023 and 2025, more changes including what is recycled and is who is responsible for the program including paying for it, are pending.

When SaultOnline approached the City of Sault Ste. Marie about the program the primary topic was to obtain a better understanding of what happens now, what will happen in the near future, and if there is a potential for the City to make money on the program.

City staff were very receptive to our reporter’s questions and provided answers as well as documents to back up those responses.

According to Susan Hamilton Beach, Director of Public Works, the City, through taxpayer dollars, currently funds the program as it stands, however, that will be changing. According to data the city filed with the province, for the year 2020 the City of Sault Ste. Marie recycled 3,577 Tonnes of material. The program cost $1.427 million to administer.

That was up nearly 100 tonnes from the 2019 report of 3,486 and the 2018 reported amount of 3,445. The cost for administering the program remained nearly the same at $1.426 and $1.435 million respectively.

“Recycling programs in Ontario are currently funded by approximately 50%.  This level of funding is expected until our transition date of September 30, 2023.  At that time the ‘PRO’s (Producer Responsibility Organization) are to take our program over from the municipality,” stated Hamilton Beach in a statement.

Those changes have been mandated by the Province and should not have a visible level in service changes at a municipal level. However, it means that the producers will be in charge of administering the recycling and collection programs at their cost, which may save city taxpayers some money.

One of the things that the new regulations will do would be to require more materials to be collected. Items primarily composed of glass, flexible or rigid plastic, metal, paper or a combination of these materials will be required to enter the blue box.

By October of 2025 the province is also making it mandatory for food to be separated as a landfill reduction strategy, according to Hamilton Beach.

Although the Sault Ste. Marie is in the process of a study which will give solid numbers on local diversion efforts, according to data collected last year only about 49.5 percent of recyclables across the province avoid the landfill.

The Resource Productivity and Recovery Authority was commissioned as a non-crown corporation by the province  in November 2016. They are to support the transition to a waste-free Ontario, the Authority administers the Resource Recovery and Circular Economy Act, 2016 (RRCEA) and the Waste Diversion Transition Act, 2016 (WDTA), and their associated regulations.

“As of July 1, 2023, when municipalities and First Nation communities start transitioning their Blue Box programs to the new framework, Blue Box producers will become fully accountable and financially responsible for collecting and recycling their Blue Box materials when consumers discard them.

The current recycling program for Blue Box materials operated by Stewardship Ontario on behalf of stewards under the Blue Box Program Plan and Waste Diversion Transition Act, 2016 will transition to the new regulatory framework for resource recovery starting on July 1, 2023 through to December 31, 2025. During the transition, Stewardship Ontario will continue to administer the program on behalf of stewards, and residents will not see any disruption in the Blue Box services provided by their municipalities.”

Our organization will be taking a closer look at everything environmental over the next few months. This initiative was started with investigation into the contamination of local smelt populations and now recycling, however our staff is inviting input from you, the reader. What do you want to know about our local environment? Please share your thoughts in the comments.

We appreciate you choosing SaultOnline/ONNTV as your source of news in Sault Ste. Marie and the surrounding area.

Speaking of recycling, it’s time to recycle the mayor and the majority of city council, that are not looking out for our best interests.

If our city thinks I’m picking through my food waste and seperate it they’re dreaming!!

A friend of mine(John) came up with an idea back in the late 80’s early 90’s. His theory was.. How many people can i get to pick through their own garbage to put that money in my pocket. He started a huge disposal company down south. The government stepped in and stole the idea from him under we gotta save our enviroment rules. He was always looking for ways to support his family and kept many people employed in the city. Why does the government need to allocate funds to a program that already makes a fortune from the items that they get for free !!!

How much of what is collected as recyclables actually ends up in the regular garbage dump?

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