The Honourable Norman W. Sterling
Minister of the Environment
To
The Recycling Council of Ontario
October 7, 1998
Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. I would like to start by congratulating the Recycling Council of Ontario - along with Executive Director John Hanson and Chair John Lackie - on its 20th anniversary. For twenty years the RCO has taken a leadership role in promoting reduction, reuse and recycling. Perhaps more than anyone else, you have helped move the 3Rs from the grassroots into the boardrooms of Ontario. Not that the grassroots efforts of individuals and communities are not important. They are. It's just that the whole business of the 3Rs has grown into a mature green industry sector. The success of this sector is mirrored here today in this conference of 500 delegates.
We have all truly come a long way. Ontario's world-famous Blue Box recycling system was born in the booming 1980s, when public awareness of depleting resources and shrinking landfills was at its peak. Today, millions of homes and thousands of schools and workplaces are serviced by municipal Blue Box programs.
The 3Rs - reduction, reuse and recycling - are so well established, so ingrained in the public conciousness, thanks to the Blue Box.
And the facts support this trend. You will probably have seen by now this year's Municipal 3Rs Fact Sheet. This truly is a partnership effort, including the RCO, Corporations Supporting Recycling, the Association of Municipal Recycling Coordinators (AMRC), the Ontraio Chapter of the Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA) and for our part, the Waste Management Policy Branch.
This fact sheet shows that together we are conserving significant tonnage that would otherwise be landfilled. There are substantial areas of improvement demonstrating increases in the amount Ontarians reduce, reuse and recycle. Here are some of the details:
- In 1997 municipalities increased tonnage diverted from disposal by 11% over 1996. This increase is the equivalent of four skydomes full of garbage
- Residential recycling tonnage; that is, Blue Box and Blue Bag, accounted for just over 50% of the total 3Rs tonnage, or just under 600,000 tonnes. This represents a 12% increase
- The number of households served by municipal 3Rs programs is up 7%
- The amount of residential recovered paper has increased 17% from 1996
- Centralized composting tonnage, such as leaves and yard waste, is up by 33%. Over 86% of Ontario households are in municipalities providing this service. This represents a 7% increase over 1996. And finally,
- Municipalities diverted 6,000 tonnes of household hazardous waste from municipal waste landfills
These are the things we must keep developing and improving if we are to meet our waste reduction goals and protect the environment.
But for all our successes, there are problems we must address.
It is no secret that certain paper fibre and recycling contracts will end next year. Some municipalities are considering withdrawing certain materials from the Blue Box, and some smaller municipalities are threatening to abandon the Blue Box system altogether.
Several municipalities, most notably the City of Toronto, have focused on the cost of LCBO bottles in the Blue Box. I know there is a lot of support for a deposit-return system, and I am concerned that removing wine and spirit containers from the Blue Box will result in relatively small savings for municipalities, but considerable increase in cost to consumers, with virtually no benefit to the environment.
Having two systems to collect glass from households can only increase the overall costs of handling this material, especially when you consider that the bottles will not be refilled, and will end up being recycled in exactly the same way in both systems. I also believe that removing one material from the Blue Box would be the tip of the iceberg for other materials - and this government wants to ensure long term sustainability of the program.
But improvements to 3Rs programs don't just happen. Tremendous thanks need to go to you, to the other organizations who share this mission to reduce waste, and to the people of Ontario who have so obviously taken the Blue Box to their hearts - and to their curbs.
Without a doubt, commitment to this program is widespread. And I believe that municipalities, in spite of their concerns about costs, want it to remain.
This government is committed to the Blue Box. Taxpayers and business have invested up to $600 million in it. Everyone recognizes that the Blue Box works. It's good for consumers, good for industry, and very good for the environment. We intend to protect the system and make it better.
Today I want to tell you how we intend to expand and improve the Blue Box program and other waste diversion initiatives to ensure its financial sustainability.
But first I'd like to thank the RCO for its efforts to find solutions to Blue Box issues.
The RCO's report, "Recycling Roles and Responsibilities: Final Report", was a tremendous effort and I'd like to compliment you on your leadership role in facilitating the multi-stakeholder consultation process. Our sincerest thanks as well to the contributions of all stakeholders, including the working group, long-range vision task group, and advisory committee that facilitated and provided advice on the consultation process.
The report contains a range of options which indicate the thoughtfulness of their approach and the complexity of the issues on the table - and the problems involved in coming up with a specific plan that is effective, practical and sustainable - and that can get the most support from all stakeholders.
The RCO options are wide-ranging and reflect the diversity of opinion among its membership.
One option involves taxation at the point of sale of designated products. These monies could be used to fund municipal recycling programs. Still another suggests levies per unit of designated products paid by manufacturers and importers. This could be collected and administered by an arms length administrative body. Both options forecast total diversion from landfill of between 32% and 37% if combined with garbage user fees.
Roles and Responsibilities also outlines a return to retail deposit system using the LCBO as an example or a return to a depot deposit return system using non-alcoholic beverage containers as an example. In both cases each type of container would bear a deposit and be returned to the store or depot for refund.
In one option in the RCO report, government would legislate or regulate industry to fund and operate the residential recycling system. Another sees industry voluntarily establishing a fund and financially supporting municipal recycling programs. Total diversion here is in the same range for each: 32% or 36% if combined with garbage user fees.
For all these measures, as you can see, diversion rates are similar.
In the Ministry's parallel search for solutions, our approach is to facilitate rather than regulate the movement to greater diversion. At the same time we believe the issue of funding itself demands attention.
A fundamental principle for me is extended producer responsibility: businesses that benefit from having their package collected via Blue Box should contribute to the viability of the Blue Box program. But those who pay into the system must have a say in how it is designed and operated.
We will do what governments have been unable to do for the last 10 years - make the Blue Box program sustainable over the long term. They failed to create a sustainable system because there was not enough interaction between producers and municipal and provincial governments.
These are the action we will take:
The Ministry of the Environment will establish a private and public sector funding program to support and expand municipal Blue Box programs. We will also establish a long-term province-wide organization to lead recycling and waste diversion efforts, with funding from those who have their recyclables collected in the Blue Box, including the private sector ad the LCBO.
We will address the Blue Box alcohol container funding issue immediately. The LCBO will make an initial contribution of $4 million to pay for the cost to municipalities of recycling wine and liquor glass containers in the Blue Box program.
We are beginning negotiations immediately with a number of groups, including food and consumer product and newspaper industries. We will be asking for their voluntary funding support to contribute to the cost of operating and promoting a more efficient Blue Box system and achieve greater waste diversion initiatives.
We have indications they'll be willing to participate.
We will create a province-wide waste diversion organization to:
- Attract private-sector funding
- Provide municipalities with the tools they need to re-engineer recycling programs in order to drive program efficiencies
- Financially support Blue Box/recycling operating costs based on meeting defined diversion rates and program efficiencies. Funding will reflect northern, rural and urban project costs
- Lead the drive for greater efficiencies, including increasing the capture rate of Blue Box materials in apartment buildings through promotion and retrofitting of collection chutes and garbage storage areas. This could increase our waste diversion rate by 2.5 per cent
- Optimize collection routes, especially in the newly amalgamated cities such as Toronto and Chatham-Kent
- Introduce innovative collection methods such as two and three-stream recycling or, in other circumstances, the "co-collection" of the recyclable and garbage streams into one truck
- Rationalize the number of MRFs - multi-material recycling facilities. Some are currently under utilized
- Standardize cost accounting and supplier and equipment procurement methods for municipal recycling programs
- Encourage co-operative initiatives by municipalities to locate new markets for recyclable materials, and find better ways of getting the recyclables to market
This organization will have representatives from affected industry sectors as well as municipal and provincial governments, consumer groups, environmental groups and other organizations.
Funding will be driven by efficiency: it will be contingent on prescribed efficiency standards, waste diversion targets, and full compliance with recycling regulations. It will reward good performance in waste diversion. It won't be a handout.
But this is not all the new organization will undertake. Because if we are to reach our waste diversion targets we cannot rely on the Blue Box alone. There are other, extremely important initiatives that must be pursued.
So in addition to planning and implementing a strengthened and expanded role for the Blue Box, the new waste diversion organization will play a key role in bringing about other important 3Rs activities.
It will:
- Lead the funding and development of centralized composting facilities. With appropriate funding over the next few years, we believe that a mature composting program could increase the overall waste diversion rate by up to 5 per cent
- Establish up to 20 new municipal household hazardous waste depots across the province over the next two years, to ensure that these problem wastes can be disposed of effectively and easily
- Initiate programs for other problem wastes such as used oil, paint and tires so that these wastes too can be reused, recycled or disposed of in the best environmental ways
The new organization will develop the programs and funding structures needed to lead these activities.
Our hope, and our expectation, is that these measures will:
- Provide a long-term solution to municipal funding pressures
- Support our commitment to give municipalities tools to re-engineer Blue Box recycling programs
- Help Ontario reach its 50 per cent waste reduction target
What I've proposed is a voluntary approach. This, I believe, is in all of our best interests: taxpayers, business, government and the environment. However, I am committed to increased diversion, and am prepared to visit the need for a stronger mechanism should this become necessary.
The Ontario government is committed to working with municipalities and the private sector to ensure the continued growth of a popular and effective program. Everyone recognizes that the Blue Box works. It's good for consumers, good for industry, and very good for the environment.
Thank you all and good afternoon.
