I have been involved in the…

I have been involved in the recycling business for over 20 years and it appears that the government still does not understand how to improve various aspects of recycling. Retailers who sell products such as batteries, small disposable propane tanks, compact fluorescent light bulbs, tube fluorescent light bulbs, computers, mobile phones, electronics, printer toner cartridges, oil for oil changes for do-it-yourself oil changes etc. should be mandated to have in-store at each location where these products are sold a place for drop-off of all used products they sell for recycling. Currently I have only seen such a drop off at IKEA. All the big retailers sell these products but provide no means for dropping them off for recycling. Currently these products are not accepted in blue boxes and must be taken to a limited number of depots. This makes it is inconvenient, so most people just simply hide them in their garbage. Start by addressing this easy, low hanging means to drive substantially more recycling. People visit these retailers regularly. If you make something convenient for a consumer, they will recycle it. A retailer that sells a product must be made to take back the product for recycling.

Simply making it convenient for consumers to drop off these product will make an enormous difference in Ontario by significantly diverting waste from landfills and keeping many environmental dangerous products from going in the garbage.

I have many, many more scientific and human behavioral based suggestions I have learned first hand over the past 20 years beyond this if you are interested for me to provide them, but lets start with this simple "low hanging fruit" solution first! I look forward to seeing if anyone finally listens!