Editor’s note: In what could be one of the most consequential elections in Los Angeles’ history, the race this year for mayor sees two former allies in an increasingly sharp bid to take over City Hall. With many issues in the contest between incumbent Mayor Karen Bass, Councilmember Nithya Raman and reality TV vet Spencer Pratt impacting the entertainment industry, Deadline […]
Editor’s note: In what could be one of the most consequential elections in Los Angeles’ history, the race this year for mayor sees two former allies in an increasingly sharp bid to take over City Hall. With many issues in the contest between incumbent Mayor Karen Bass, Councilmember Nithya Raman and reality TV vet Spencer Pratt impacting the entertainment industry, Deadline […]
Recycling in Ontario is changing in a big way. As of January 1, 2026, the province has fully transitioned to a new Blue Box system that changes who is responsible for recycling and is intended to make the process more consistent across Ontario.
Under the new rules, recycling is now managed and funded by the companies that produce packaging and paper products, rather than municipalities. This shift is known as Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR). The idea is that companies should take more r
Recycling in Ontario is changing in a big way. As of January 1, 2026, the province has fully transitioned to a new Blue Box system that changes who is responsible for recycling and is intended to make the process more consistent across Ontario.
Under the new rules, recycling is now managed and funded by the companies that produce packaging and paper products, rather than municipalities. This shift is known as Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR). The idea is that companies should take more responsibility for the waste they create, while making recycling systems easier for residents to navigate.
The goal is to recycle more, send less waste to landfills, and move toward a more circular economy. But for many Ontarians, the new rules also raise a lot of questions. Here are some of the most common ones.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. What changed in Ontario’s recycling system in 2026?
Ontario’s Blue Box program is now fully run by producers – the companies that create packaging and paper products. That means they are responsible for collecting, sorting, and recycling those materials.
An organization called Circular Materials now helps operate the Blue Box program across Ontario.
For most residents, the day-to-day experience may still look similar. The province will continue using the same blue boxes, the same curbside pickup and will continue to accept many of the same items. But behind the scenes the system has changed significantly, with the goal of creating more consistent recycling rules across the province.
2. Why is Ontario changing its recycling system?
Before this transition, municipalities shared the cost and responsibility of recycling programs, and each city or region often had its own rules. That meant something recyclable in one community might not be accepted in another.
The new system is meant to reduce that confusion. By making producers responsible for the materials they put into the marketplace, the Blue Box program should, in theory, put more pressure on companies to reduce unnecessary packaging and design products that are easier to recycle. However, advocates have raised concerns about the true efficacy of this program, including looser reporting requirements, lack of transparency in operations, increased incineration of recyclable materials, and the exclusion of many groups like multi-residential buildings, public spaces and schools.
3. Will recycling rules still differ depending on where I live?
Historically, yes. What you could recycle in Toronto might not have been accepted in London, Kingston, or another municipality.
The new Blue Box system is designed to make accepted materials more consistent across Ontario. However, some local differences may still exist in how recycling is collected. For example, some municipalities may use blue boxes, while others use large recycling carts. Pickup schedules and collection contractors may also vary by region.
So while the rules about what can be recycled are becoming more standardized, the way recycling is collected may still look different from place to place.
4. Can I recycle…?
If you’ve ever stood over your recycling bin wondering, “can I recycle this?” You’re not alone.
Some cities across Ontario have helpful tools. For example, if you live in Toronto, one of the easiest ways to check is by using the Waste Wizard, an online tool that lets you search specific items and find out whether they belong in recycling, garbage, organics, or special drop-off.
Although Toronto’s Waste Wizard is one of the best-known examples, other municipalities across Ontario offer similar search tools or waste apps. They can be especially helpful for sorting items like black plastic, coffee pods, takeout containers, or mixed-material packaging.
The updated Blue Box program expands the list of accepted materials. In many cases, you can now recycle more types of packaging than before, including items like foam containers, black plastic, and certain flexible plastics. But contamination — such as food waste, liquids, or hazardous materials — can still create major problems in the recycling stream.
5. If the province has one system, why do municipalities still matter?
Even though the recycling rules are now set at the provincial level, municipalities still play a major role in waste management.
They are often responsible for services like garbage collection, green bins or organics, household hazardous waste depots and local public education. Municipalities also help residents understand changes to collection schedules, bin types and local disposal options.
In other words, the province may be standardizing the recycling system, but municipalities are still an important part of how that system works in practice.
This is one of the most important questions and one of the hardest to answer simply.
Recycling can help reduce landfill waste and recover useful materials, but it is far from a perfect solution. In Canada, recycling rates remain low. Currently, only 7% of Ontario’s waste is recycled through the Blue Box. This is due to a combination of factors, including contamination, complex materials, and limited recycling markets.
Ontario’s new recycling system is intended to improve outcomes by making producers more accountable and expanding what can be collected. But recycling alone will not solve the waste crisis.
Reducing waste in the first place and reusing materials whenever possible remains essential.
7. What should I do with electronics or hazardous waste?
Electronics and hazardous materials should never go in your Blue Box.
Items like batteries, old phones, chargers, paint, propane tanks, light bulbs, and cleaning chemicals require special handling. If they are placed in recycling, they can contaminate other materials, damage equipment, or create safety risks for workers.
Instead, these items should be taken to a designated drop-off depot, household hazardous waste site, or e-waste collection program in your municipality. Many communities in Ontario offer permanent depots or seasonal collection events for these materials.
If you are unsure, your municipality’s waste lookup tool is the best place to check.
The Bottom Line
Ontario’s new recycling rules are a major shift. By making producers responsible for the packaging they create the province is trying to improve recycling and reduce confusion for residents.
But even the best recycling system depends on public understanding and participation. Knowing what belongs in your Blue Box and taking the extra moment to check when you’re unsure can make a real difference.
At the same time, recycling is only one part of the solution. If Ontario is serious about reducing waste and protecting the environment, we also need to focus on addressing the systemic root of continuous waste generation in the first place.
Migrant farmworker advocates have alerted Prime Minister Mark Carney that they will be submitting a complaint to the UN Human Rights Committee in December to mark International Migrant’s Day. The complaint will highlight what advocates say is the government’s failure to act on the preventable deaths of migrant farmworkers.
The complaint will be filed by Justice for Migrant Workers (J4MW), a grassroots political organization with more than 20 years of organizing experience.
“What we’re s
Migrant farmworker advocates have alerted Prime Minister Mark Carney that they will be submitting a complaint to the UN Human Rights Committee in December to mark International Migrant’s Day. The complaint will highlight what advocates say is the government’s failure to act on the preventable deaths of migrant farmworkers.
The complaint will be filed by Justice for Migrant Workers (J4MW), a grassroots political organization with more than 20 years of organizing experience.
“What we’re seeing is that agricultural work, by design, is violent, dangerous, dehumanizing and it’s dirty,” Chris Ramsaroop, an longtime J4MW organizer, . “Structurally, we create workplaces such as agriculture where people’s lives – particularly racialized workers – are not valued. We want to shed a light on this.”
The International Labour Organization (ILO) classifies agriculture work as one of the world’s most dangerous occupations. Workers are exposed to agrochemicals and can also sustain injuries when handling heavy machinery. The ILO estimates that 170,000 people working in agriculture die each year.
These risks paired with Canada’s Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP), which has been called a breeding ground for contemporary forms of slavery, and has left migrant agricultural workers especially vulnerable to injury and death. On top of the common risks associated with carrying out agricultural work, migrant farmworkers also deal with high levels of anxiety and
stress due to family separation, unsafe and abusive workplace and precarity of their low-wage employment and immigration status.
“Racism and white supremacy are central to the creation of these programs,” Ramsaroop said. “In the 60s, when it came to talking about labor shortages, politicians were championing freedom, dignity and respect. They spoke about how they couldn’t have controlled, contained or contracted labor when it came time for white Europeans. We had no qualms whatsoever about creating these conditions, first for black workers from Jamaica and then for workers from across the world.”
J4MW wrote in their letter to the Prime Minister’s office that they will continue to demand inquests in migrant farmworker deaths, call for investigations and fight for justice.
“We refuse to accept a system where indentured servitude is not merely a legacy but a clear and proud practice across this country,” the organization wrote in their letter.
The Prime Minister’s office received rabble.ca’s request for comment but was unable to respond before deadline.
Ramsaroop said he has felt unimpressed with past responses from the government to J4MW’s complaints.
“These are template responses and and there hasn’t been any real changes,” he said. “It’s not just that the government refuses to act. The government very much supports the agricultural industrial complex.”
He said he hopes this complaint to the UN Human Rights Committee will push the government to finally take the action needed.
“Historically, progressives have failed and have fallen to the tropes of white supremacy,” Ramsaroop added. “At this moment, while we’re calling for changes, it’s about ensuring that people have the ability to come as free and equal. Just because they’re from the Global South, just because they’re racialized, doesn’t mean they should be facing a certain differential and very racist set of exclusions.”
Oil prices decreased early Monday amid negotiations between the Trump administration and Iran on reopening the Strait of Hormuz and ending the Middle East conflict. West Texas Intermediate crude futures, the benchmark for North American markets, dipped by more than 6.1 percent to $90.68 as of early Monday. Brent crude futures, the global benchmark, dropped...
Oil prices decreased early Monday amid negotiations between the Trump administration and Iran on reopening the Strait of Hormuz and ending the Middle East conflict. West Texas Intermediate crude futures, the benchmark for North American markets, dipped by more than 6.1 percent to $90.68 as of early Monday. Brent crude futures, the global benchmark, dropped...
Outcomes-based repayment models can help address America's workforce financing problem by shifting some financing risk away from workers and toward funders or providers, while providing clear consumer protections and employer involvement.
Outcomes-based repayment models can help address America's workforce financing problem by shifting some financing risk away from workers and toward funders or providers, while providing clear consumer protections and employer involvement.
Leading in the polls to be the next governor or California, former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra is holding to the physician oath of “do no harm,” at least when it comes to his plans to preserve and grow production in the home of Hollywood. “I will defend what has been […]
Leading in the polls to be the next governor or California, former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra is holding to the physician oath of “do no harm,” at least when it comes to his plans to preserve and grow production in the home of Hollywood. “I will defend what has been […]
World Food Program (WFP) Executive Director Cindy McCain pressed the Trump administration for more food aid, saying her organization needs “help.” “When you look at the places you operate, do you think there has been an impact from the dismantling of [the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)]?” CBS News’s Margaret Brennan asked McCain on...
World Food Program (WFP) Executive Director Cindy McCain pressed the Trump administration for more food aid, saying her organization needs “help.” “When you look at the places you operate, do you think there has been an impact from the dismantling of [the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)]?” CBS News’s Margaret Brennan asked McCain on...
SNAP enrollment has fallen sharply nationwide since the passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act last summer. More than 3.5 million people have lost access to the food assistance, as states implement new eligibility requirements and stricter application processes. William Brangham reports on what's happening and speaks with Harvard professor of public health policy Sara Naomi Bleich for more.
SNAP enrollment has fallen sharply nationwide since the passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act last summer. More than 3.5 million people have lost access to the food assistance, as states implement new eligibility requirements and stricter application processes. William Brangham reports on what's happening and speaks with Harvard professor of public health policy Sara Naomi Bleich for more.
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