October 7 article in OrilliaMatters<\/a>, staff propose the city could save $1.8 million by eliminating commercial recycling collection, yet would need to spend $275,000 to maintain the service. Director Preston recommends we abandon this service rather than using 15 per cent\u00a0of the projected savings to continue it.<\/p>\nThis recommendation fails basic cost-benefit analysis. If the city realizes $1.8 million in savings from the provincial blue box transition and allocates $275,000 to maintain commercial recycling, the net benefit is still $1.525 million. The staff report presents this as financially untenable, yet the numbers demonstrate the opposite: maintaining commercial recycling would cost the city nothing while preserving essential services.<\/p>\n
Furthermore, Director Preston’s warning about potential provincial legislative changes creating liability is speculative. The same risk exists for residential collection contracts. This asymmetric risk assessment appears designed to justify a predetermined conclusion rather than inform sound policy.<\/p>\n
The Tax Burden Reality<\/p>\n
Creative Nomad pays over $32,000 annually in property taxes. Commercial properties pay substantially higher tax rates than residential properties\u2014a premium ostensibly justified by\u00a0enhanced municipal services. Eliminating recycling collection while maintaining residential service effectively converts this into a discriminatory tax: we pay more and receive less.<\/p>\n
The proposal forces businesses into one of three scenarios:<\/p>\n
\n\tPay private haulers for recycling collection (double-paying for waste services)
\n\tTransport recycling to the waste diversion site during business hours (imposing time and fuel costs)
\n\tDispose of recyclables as garbage (environmental degradation and higher waste costs)
<\/p>\n
Each option imposes additional costs on businesses already struggling with inflation, rising insurance premiums, and post-pandemic recovery challenges.<\/p>\n
Our Environmental Commitment<\/p>\n
Over five years, Creative Nomad has invested significantly in waste reduction systems and protocols for the variety of events that our business serves. We produce minimal garbage specifically because we’ve prioritized recycling and composting. This policy penalizes businesses that have done exactly what environmental policy should encourage.<\/p>\n
Councillor Cipolla correctly noted this will create “more stuff on the street.” When businesses face fees for recycling but not for garbage disposal, rational economic behavior dictates they’ll generate more garbage. This policy actively undermines Orillia’s environmental objectives.<\/p>\n
This policy contradicts the city’s recent clear garbage bag requirement (that included businesses), which suggests the city wants waste transparency and accountability\u2014yet now proposes eliminating the infrastructure that makes recycling possible.<\/p>\n
The Broader Implications<\/p>\n
The Downtown Orillia BIA consultation scheduled before the Oct.\u00a020 decision is welcome but insufficient. This affects every commercial property owner in Orillia, not just downtown businesses. A two-week consultation window on a policy with permanent financial and environmental implications demonstrates inadequate stakeholder engagement.<\/p>\n
Additionally, eliminating commercial recycling will disproportionately impact smaller businesses.\u00a0Large corporations can absorb private hauler costs or assign staff to transport recycling. Small businesses operating on thin margins cannot.<\/p>\n
Recommended Action<\/p>\n
I urge Council to:<\/p>\n
\n\tReject the staff recommendation to eliminate commercial recycling collection
\n\tAllocate $275,000 from the $1.8 million in provincial transition savings to maintain the service
\n\tConduct a comprehensive business impact assessment before any service elimination
\n\tConsider graduated fee structures if the city can prove that cost recovery becomes necessary, rather than eliminating the service entirely
<\/p>\n
The provincial blue box transition was designed to reduce municipal costs while improving recycling infrastructure. Using these savings to abandon commercial businesses contradicts that objective. Maintaining commercial recycling for 15 per cent\u00a0of the windfall is fiscally responsible and environmentally sound.<\/p>\n
I am available to discuss this matter in detail and can provide documentation of our waste management practices if helpful to Council’s deliberations.<\/p>\n
Respectfully,<\/p>\n
Anitta Hamming
\nPresident & Co Owner, Creative Nomad<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"‘When businesses face fees for recycling but not for garbage disposal, rational economic behavior dictates they’ll generate more…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":195657,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[49,48,295,100868,66],"class_list":["post-206263","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-environment","tag-letter-to-the-editorsmall-businessorillia-city-councilrecycling-collectionblue-box-collectioncreative-nomad","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/206263","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=206263"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/206263\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/195657"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=206263"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=206263"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=206263"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}