Councillors baffled why 535 small businesses and non-profits losing blue box collection January 1

Councillors baffled why 535 small businesses and non-profits losing blue box collection January 1

A provincial decision to shift the burden of blue box collection and material sorting from municipalities onto the companies that produce recyclable packaging will see hundreds of non-residential locations in London lose their curbside service next year.

For homeowners, the transition to a producer-pay blue box system on Jan. 1, 2026 will not change their curbside collection in any noticeable way.

However, 535 small businesses, non-profits, and places of worship that currently have their blue boxes collected by the city’s contractor will no longer be eligible under the new system.

The recyclable materials from residential and business sources will no longer be permitted to be collected together.

Given the collection trucks already pick up some non-residential blue boxes along their existing routes, members of the Community and Protective Services (CAPS) Committee were perplexed by the new requirement to keep them separate.

“I don’t want to cease the operation of something and then just have complete chaos with the garbage,” worried Coun. Hadleigh McAlister.

“With the economic realities, is it not more likely that the recyclables are going to end up in the landfill?” asked Coun. Susan Stevenson.

Coun. Sam Trosow put forward a motion requesting a staff report on interim measures that would ameliorate the cost pressure on small businesses, non-profits, and places of worship, as well as request that the Ontario Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks amend the list of non-eligible sources.

“I feel very strongly that we want to try to provide these services because we’ve made a lot of progress in our blue box program,” explained Coun. Sam Trosow.

“It seems to be a no-brainer to allow for this,” added Coun. Skylar Franke, who said many businesses have already contacted her about losing blue box collection.

Without insight into the province’s rationale, committee members were left scratching their heads about why the mixed streams of recycling will have to remain separated after Jan. 1.

The deputy city manager of Environment and Infrastructure said she asked the province if city hall could pay the contractor to maintain service to the 535 locations deemed non-eligible sources of recyclables.

“The answer is clearly no. They need to be separate [recycling] streams,” Kelly Scherr told the CAPS Committee.

Even if the industry determines there is capacity at the processing plants to accept the blue box materials from the small businesses and non-profits, a solution will take years.

“That processing capacity conversations can’t even start until sometime in the New Year,” explained Scherr. “We would be in a position where likely it’ll put us into Q2 of next year, and that’s an election year so that decision would have to go to the multi-year budget for 2027.”

Municipal buildings are also on the non-eligible list, but staff said they are working on a strategy to collect blue boxes from the numerous City of London buildings that separate recyclables.