UPDATE: The Ontario government finalized these amendments on September 4, 2025.
CAFES is extremely concerned about the Ontario government's proposed amendments to the Blue Box recycling regulations. If passed, these amendments would be a step backwards in the transition to a circular economy.
The existing Blue Box Regulation, passed in 2021, aims to transition towards Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR): where producers cover the waste management costs of their products. Starting in 2026, the Ontario government is supposed to enforce recycling rate targets, such as 80% of paper and 50% of rigid plastic. Producers will also be responsible for collecting material from more multi-residential buildings, retirement homes, and schools. In 2030, these recycling targets should increase.
On June 4th, 2025, the Ontario government announced proposed amendments to the provincial Blue Box Regulation. These amendments involve delaying 2026 recovery targets, and removing planned expansion for collection in multi-residential homes, schools, retirement homes, and public spaces. Most alarmingly, the amendments would allow up to 15% of a producer’s recycling target to be met through incineration, which goes completely against circular economy principles, and the main purpose of EPR. The Canadian Recycling Standard, the most up-to-date and authoritative definition of recycling, explicitly excludes waste-to-energy incineration.
The stated rationale is that the existing requirements involve “unanticipated cost increases” for producers. However, the point of EPR is to transfer the burden of waste and pollution away from taxpayers to those who are responsible for creating the waste, thereby incentivizing smarter product and packaging design.
CAFES made a submission to the Environmental Registry of Ontario (ERO) outlining our specific concerns with the proposed amendments. We also discussed this issue at CAFES' last Waste and Circular Economy Caucus on July 9th, with a presentation by EnviroCentre's Valerie Leloup, who co-authored an op-ed criticizing this policy.
Read our full ERO submission below.
