Inflexibility for rural…

Inflexibility for rural depot recycling is leading to more cost, less efficient processes and loss of convenience. Buy in for recycling is linked to convenience. If less convenient for blue box and special waste it will end up in the landfill. Ontario is already in a precarious situation with only 9 years left.
187 municipalities are transitioning in 2025. We are one of them. We have opted in to provide service to our residents in 2025 during transition and we are in talks with our contractor awarded by CMO for 2026 to continue on as a sub-contractor. We need the province to work with local municipalities to maintain the level of waste diversion and find ways to increase it. Buy in for recycling is linked to convenience. If less convenient for blue box and special waste it will end up in the landfill. Ontario is already in a precarious situation with only 9 years left. The contracts that stipulate trucks must be no more than 12 years old despite only being used a few hours a week in rural areas is extreme. The lack of available bins and space are also creating unnecessary cost and inefficient services. If we were able to work in a more flexible environment, we would achieve higher targets of waste diversion, better service and less waste of resources with limited trips to the MRFs. Please consider adding more flexibility to this program to allow for more savings for producers and better service for Ontarians.