Please find attached…

Please find attached comments from the City of Oshawa pending Council endorsement on Dec. 14, 2020:
Background:
The City of Oshawa provides municipal waste collection services, which includes the collection of garbage, green bin and yard waste for residents as well as parts of the downtown. The City’s collection program operates in cooperation with the Region of Durham. The Region of Durham is responsible for providing blue box collection services and for the overall management of waste, including disposal and processing.
In addition to providing waste collection services, the City is also responsible for managing and maintaining parks, playgrounds and public spaces across the City. This responsibility includes the management of litter through clean-up activities and regular litterbin collection.
The City of Oshawa is supportive of the Provinces move to a circular economy and the transition of the blue box program to the producers under the Resource Productivity and Circular Economy Act, 2016 (RRCEA). Producers are in the best position to reduce waste, increase material recovery and reintroducing the materials back into the economy. Creating a consistent province-wide system with standardized blue box materials will make it easier for residents to understand program requirements. However, it is imperative that the Province ensures proper reporting to allow for transparency as well as consumer awareness. Continuing to provide convenient and inclusive services to our residents will ensure the success of the program.

City of Oshawa Comments:
Based on the draft regulation the City of Oshawa would like to provide the following comments for consideration:

Definitions:
“facility” means,
(a) a building that contains more than one dwelling unit but that is not a residence,
(b) a long-term care home licensed under the Long-Term Care Homes Act, 2007,
(c) a retirement home licensed under the Retirement Homes Act, 2010, or
(d) a public school or private school under the Education Act;
Comment: The definition should be broaden to include public buildings owned, operated or managed by a municipality where public has access to City services such as recreation complexes, community centres, administrative buildings, libraries, community halls, etc. alternatively this could be incorporated into the definition of “public space” given that the nature of the recyclables is the same. In general, these facilities will result in cleaner stream of blue box materials and should not be excluded given the burden on municipalities and taxpayers to manage.
The definition should also include mixed-use residential/commercial buildings, small businesses, places of worship, not-for-profit organizations located within residential areas and areas within the Business Improvement Areas that are currently receiving municipal waste collection services. Incorporating these into the definition clarifies responsibility while ensuring that current services continue without adding undue financial burden on the municipality or the small businesses and the like who have been participating in the blue box program. The removal of services especially from those that are located within residential areas will result in unnecessary confusion, complaints and ultimately will lead to recyclables in the municipal waste stream.
“public space” means any land in any park, playground, or any outdoor area which is owned by, or made available by, a municipality, and that is located in a business improvement area designated under the Municipal Act, 2001 or by a by-law made under the City of Toronto Act, 2006;
Comment: The definition is unclear and for greater clarity, the definition should include:
• parks, playgrounds, and programmed outdoor facilities including but not limited to picnic and special event areas, sports fields/ball diamonds/courts/ etc. which are owned or made available by the City
• areas where the municipality has or will provide streetscape furniture including litter cans on municipal land whether inside or outside of the Business Improvement Area
“residence” means,
(a) a single-unit residential dwelling, including a seasonal residential dwelling, in an eligible community, or
(b) a building that contains more than one dwelling unit but receives garbage collection at the same frequency as single-unit residential dwellings in an eligible community;
Comment: For greater clarity, the definition under (b) should include the commercial component of those mixed-use residential/commercial buildings, places of worship and the like that are currently receiving the same collection services as a single-unit residential dwelling. This will limit confusion and the removal of existing services to small businesses. Not incorporating these locations will lead to unnecessary financial burden on small businesses, increased complaints to the municipality and more recyclables in the waste stream.

Collection for Public Spaces:
Section 24. A producer shall collect blue box material from every public space that is assigned to the producer in the annual allocation table, but only where an eligible community provides garbage collection at the public space.
Obligations for public spaces
Section 25. A producer who collects blue box materials from public spaces shall,
(a) ensure that blue box receptacles for the storage of blue box material are placed next to every receptacle for garbage at the public space;
(b) provide for the collection of blue box material which is in a blue box receptacle located next to a receptacle for garbage;
(c) provide blue box receptacles for the storage of blue box material until it is collected, including,
(i) ensuring that each public space has a receptacle before the day on which the producer commences collecting from the public space,
(ii) providing any replacement receptacles requested by the eligible community, within one week of the request, and
(iii) providing receptacles that are appropriate for the public space;
(d) collect blue box material from the public space before the blue box receptacles are full; and
(e) where the public space is a park or playground,
(i) collect blue box material throughout the year, and
(ii) locate receptacles at entry or exit points, and other areas where persons congregate
Comment: Please clarify that the receptacles provided by the producer are public use receptacles for the placement of blue box material and not just for the storage of blue box material for collection. More consideration in this section should be given to blue box material collected as part of a streetscape.
Placement of receptacles and determination of the “appropriate” receptacle must be done in coordination with the municipality who owns, operates and maintains the park or public space. Coordinating with the area municipality will ensure that the receptacle and the placement considers access, accessibility, visibility, user safety, seasonal variabilities, illegal dumping, and installation requirements.
The Producer will need to consider the variabilities associated with the day-to-day, week-to-week, month-to-month and season-to-season activities of parks and public space users when arranging for the appropriate collection schedule. For example, tournaments and events will require additional level of services including increased frequency and additional receptacles to accommodate increased public use and changing activity.
Ensuring that the receptacles are emptied before they are full and regularly is important not only aesthetically but also to limit potential for nuisance, odor and litter while also ensuring the health and safety of the public and surrounding environment. For this reason it is recommended that under item (d) producers “must” (not shall) be responsible for collecting all material from the blue box receptacle before the blue box receptacles are full and that where a complaint is received that the collection “must” be undertaken within 24 hours of the complaint. Although this may be seen as an extra burden on the producer it is imperative that the health and wellbeing of our public spaces as well as the environment are not compromised.
Item (e) (i) should not just be limited to parks and playgrounds as some parks may be closed at certain times thereby not requiring collection year round, however the collection of blue box material from streetscapes is equally important and should be undertaken throughout the year. This Section should further consider the different needs associated with collection of blue box material from streetscapes and where the producer is responsible for providing a receptacle it should be in keeping with streetscape or landscape design criteria this ensures consistency and Accessibility.

Part VII
Verification and Audit Procedure
Comment: The regulatory requirements should include the requirement for producers to undertake regular waste audits or funding should be made available to municipalities to undertake regular waste audits that will evaluate the level of compliance and to determine if changes might be needed to improve the capture or expansion of blue box materials including improved education.
Part VII Promotion and Education

Section 57
Comment: Subsection (4) indicates that the producer is not required to disseminate information about how to prepare, place or sort material ((2) paragraph 2 and 3) after the first year. The producer actually should continue to communicate and disseminate for the purpose of education the information specified in subsection (2) paragraph 2 and 3 but not paragraph 1.
Subsection (5) the paragraphs list in this section should be “must” not shall.
This Section appears to focus on collection from residences and facilities however equally important is the need to provide specific education and awareness information for public space users through signage/decals on the receptacle, which must be accessible and include a direct number to report an issue or to request a receptacle to be emptied. This will alleviate calls to municipal call centres and ensure adequate response time.
In addition to website and print material delivered to each eligible source, education and awareness should also happen at the curb through direct delivery such as sticker or door hanger to advise residents of non-compliance, information on corrective actions and contact information. In addition raising awareness through product labelling and consumer awareness is equally important in the promotion of the program, which has not been addressed.
This section should also consider promotion and education for any future changes that provides adequate period to ensure proper notification of program changes.