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Hamilton residents can now put used toothpaste tubes and black plastic containers in the blue box, thanks to Ontario’s new “unified material list” that came into effect on Thursday.
“Ontario residents will be able to recycle the same and even more materials at home no matter where they live across Ontario,” said Allen Langdon, chief executive officer of Circular Materials, the group tapped by the Ontario government to manage the province’s recycling system, in an email to CBC Hamilton on Tuesday.
“This new unified material list in Ontario will make it easier for residents to recycle, improving recovery rates and benefiting both people and the environment.”
The full list of what is recyclable is available at circularmaterials.ca/recycleontario.
Circular Materials was founded by 17 of Canada’s “leading food, beverage and consumer products manufacturers, restaurants and retailers,” including Coca-Cola Canada, McDonald’s and Loblaw Companies Limited, according to the company’s website.
In a recent interview with CBC’s Ottawa Morning, Langdon explained that those companies will report to Circular Materials every year on the amount of packaging “they supply into the marketplace,” then pay fees based on those amounts and types.
“There’s now an incentive to reduce because if they reduce the packaging, they’ll pay [fewer] fees and have [lower costs] for supporting the blue box program,” Langdon said.
Hamilton’s recycling program transitioned from the city’s responsibility to that of Circular Materials last April. This process occurred over three years in a rolling fashion in different parts of the province, but was completed as of Jan. 1, said Langdon in the email.
“The unified material list and new materials included are a great example of how extended producer responsibility advances innovation and improves environmental outcomes,” he said.