Blue bin recycling will not be available at any schools within the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board\u00a0(OCDSB) or the Ottawa Catholic School Board (OCSB) when classes resume this September.<\/p>\n
One contractor provided recycling service for plastics, glass and metal at all four local school boards, an OCSB spokesperson wrote to CBC in an email. That company did not renew its\u00a0contract with the OCSB\u00a0for this school year, and the board\u00a0has\u00a0not found a replacement.<\/p>\n
“We remain hopeful that a recycling service for plastics, glass, and metal can be reinstated in the future,” the spokesperson\u00a0wrote.<\/p>\n
A spokesperson for the OCDSB told CBC that “as a result of the Province of Ontario’s implementation of the Resource Recovery and Circular Economy Act, the local company that manages recyclable materials has discontinued plastics recycling services.”<\/p>\n
Ontario\u00a0amended the Resource Recovery and Circular Economy Act in 2022 and a\u00a0transition period began in 2023 to a new framework<\/a> where “Blue Box producers became fully accountable and financially responsible for collecting and recycling their Blue Box materials when consumers discard them.”<\/p>\n The transition is set to conclude by the end of 2025<\/a>, according to Ontario’s Resource Productivity and Recovery Authority.\u00a0<\/p>\n The OCDSB\u00a0did not specify whether it’s\u00a0looking for a new contractor, but wrote “we continue to strategize and innovate to improve our waste diversion results.”\u00a0<\/p>\n Ottawa South MPP John Fraser reacted<\/a> to the news on social media, saying that blue bins are a “symbol and a teaching tool for our kids.”<\/p>\n “There are too many holes in this story and parents deserve a better answer,” he wrote.<\/p>\n Both of Ottawa’s school\u00a0boards said paper recycling will continue and asked that families pack litterless lunches or have their children bring glass, metal and plastic\u00a0items home to be recycled.<\/p>\n Ottawa’s schools needed a contractor for their recycling because the city does not provide that service for school boards, according to a post on one OCDSB school’s website<\/a>.<\/p>\n On Wednesday, city councillor\u00a0Riley Brockington said in an online post<\/a> that he has\u00a0asked city staff to look into whether the municipality could help the school boards “in finding a solution to reinstate blue bin recycling service in classrooms and provide curbside collection.”<\/p>\n At today’s City Council meeting, I asked Solid Waste Services staff to inquire if the City can assist the four School Boards in finding a solution to reinstate blue bin recycling service in classrooms and provide curbside collection.<\/p>\n