What's New

2012 Blue Box Rules and Fee Schedule Now Approved and Available!

The 2012 Blue Box Rules and Fee Schedule have been approved by Stewardship Ontario’s Board of Directors and the Board of Waste Diversion Ontario. The 2012 Blue Box Rules make some fundamental changes to the steward reporting and payment processes. To find out more, click here.

To access the 2012 Blue Box Rules and Fee Schedule, click here.

Request for Expressions of Interest - Stewardship Ontario’s Market Development Fund

Stewardship Ontario is looking to build on its recent success in developing markets for blue box recyclables by forming new relationships with companies that have an interest in emerging business opportunities in materials recycling. Together we can bring the Blue Box Program to a new level of recycling and financial performance, and in the process contribute to Ontario’s emerging “green economy.”

Read more about submitting an “Expression of Interest.”
 

Reminder for Blue Box Stewards

Annual Blue Box Report due March 31, 2011

• Your report should include data from Jan. 1, 2010 to Dec. 31, 2010.
• First quarterly payments are due on April 30, 2011.
• The Portal is open for reporting.
• Your Portal User ID and Password remains the same as last year.

Thank you to those who have already submitted their reports and payments.

If you have questions, please contact us by phone at 1-888-288-3360 or by e-mail at werecyclestewardshipontario [dot] ca.
 

2011 Blue Box Fees Approved

Blue Box fees for 2011 have been approved by Waste Diversion Ontario. Unfortunately, the recent recession will result in significant fee increases in many categories. Blue Box fees for 2011 are based on costs incurred in 2009, when the recession was most acute. The recession resulted in:

• Depressed commodity prices, which dramatically reduced the revenue municipalities received for the material they collected and sold.
• A drop in the amount of material collected, which meant municipalities had less material to sell
• Lower steward sales, which means that costs are spread over a lower base.
• Fuel surcharges, increased hydro rates, and higher municipal labour costs also contributed to higher program costs.

Efforts to Control Fee Increases

The impact of all of these factors was mitigated by:

• Rolling back municipal costs by agreeing to pay only to “best practices” which reduced the steward share of total costs by $8.5 million.
• Applying three-year rolling average to commodity revenues to blunt the full effects of recessionary commodity prices.
• Adjusting expected steward sales to account for the continuing, if unsure, economic recovery.

While a spike in fees from temporary recessionary conditions is understandable, Stewardship Ontario is very concerned about the ongoing trend to higher costs and fees, and continues to push Ontario municipalities to make the systemic changes necessary for system to improve.

Trends in the Marketplace

We recycle more each year and by definition, more recycling means higher costs. Since the program began in 2004, the total amount of packaging material recycled in the Blue Box has increased by 27 per cent.

However, it is the changing marketplace in packaging mix that is having the greatest impact on costs and fees:
 

• More expensive composite paper and mixed plastic packaging is gaining more market share, and as a result recovery of this type of packaging has increased by 440 per cent.
• Comparatively inexpensive material (such as printed paper) has declined from 55 per cent of the total amount of material recovered to barely 50 per cent.

Stewardship Ontario is taking action to respond to these trends.

• Investments have been made in new technology to economically recycle mixed rigid plastics, and we are now turning our attention to paper-based packaging.
• We are also working closely with municipalities to invest a substantial portion of the money you provide in changes that will improve the overall efficiency of the system. We will also be looking to our Stewards to engage more closely in this effort.

Over the coming months, Stewardship Ontario will be distributing more information about the Blue Box Program, how it is working, what the future may hold, and how we can work together. Blue Box is still by far the most convenient, consumer-friendly and cost-effective way to recycle printed paper and packaging. Together we can ensure that it responds to where Ontario consumers and business are heading.

Changes to Fee-Setting Methodology Deferred for Paper Packaging and Printed Paper

During the 2011 fee setting process, Stewardship Ontario was asked to consider changes to the fee setting methodology – which requires the approval of the Minister of the Environment.

The first request was to disaggregate the paper packaging category to separate gable top and aseptic packaging (milk cartons and juice boxes) from laminate paper packaging (ice cream containers and coffee cups). It was generally acknowledged that gable top and aseptic packaging are handled separately in the blue box program, and as a result they achieve a higher rate of recovery than laminate paper packaging. However, opinion was sharply divided on why that is the case. Further work is required before definitive conclusions can be reached, and to determine what can and should be done to improve the recovery of laminate paper packaging.
Accordingly, Stewardship Ontario will be initiating an independent review of the matter as soon as possible, to be completed by the end of June. This will include a concerted effort to recover and recycle more laminate paper packaging.

The second request was to change the way in which the cost of magazines, printed paper and paper products that do not have an Ontario steward are shared. This issue has been deferred for consideration as part of any future change to the fee setting methodology.
 

Consultation on 2011 Blue Box Fees

The briefing on preliminary 2011 steward blue box fees, took place on September 16, 2010. Watch the webcast of the event or to view the slides (pdf, 443KB).