As the Recycling Coordinator…

As the Recycling Coordinator for the University of Ottawa, I would like to suggest a few areas where this regulation should be expanded.
* The targets for recycling need to be more aggressive or else the industry will continue to deliver a recycling system as is and it currently is not working. There are too many low value, difficult to recycle packaging products on the market and high contamination. Recycling has gotten more and more expensive because the packaging itself is only getting more complicated. As packaging is harder to recycle, institutions and municipalities are paying the costs. Without more ambitious targets, this regulation will not change the financial burden put on institutions.
* This regulation or subsequent regulations need to set standards for packaging that ensures it is easy to recycle from both the recycling industry side as well as the consumer side. Our biggest challenge is explaining the recycling system to users. Mixed materials like tetrapacks or foil lined plastics, or even small or film plastics, are very hard to explain. Consumers dont know what these items are made of and there are so many different packages that we cant even get our own businesses on campus to use only recyclable packaging. Producers needs to work with the recycling industry to ensure packaging is recycled in at least 50% of facilities in the Province. Provincial guidelines for packaging need to be established.