Last December (2020), Bluewater Recycling Association (BRA) broke new ground in Ontario residential recycling processing by installing six new Artificial Intelligence (A.I.)-enabled robotic arms in their Material Recovery Facility (MRF). The investment was driven by the need to reduce reliance on hard-to-retain manual sorters and deal with a material mix that is increasingly complex. Artificial [...]

Transition to an Individual Producer Responsibility (IPR) framework, China Sword policies, and COVID-19 are all contributing to a challenging and uncertain environment for Ontario municipalities operating blue box programs. Despite this, municipalities continue to deliver services and maintain program performance. To help ensure continued efficiency and effectiveness of recycling systems there are some new technologies [...]

Faced with a new processing RFP, Dufferin County sought to understand the costs to manage increasing amounts of bagged recyclables, and whether it would be more cost-effective to debag at the curb or process bagged materials at the MRF. Dufferin provides single stream recycling collection in Blue Boxes, with the option to use clear bags [...]

For the second year in a row, net costs of the Blue Box program rose dramatically. Since 2016, gross costs have increased relatively steadily, while revenues have plummeted from $112 M in 2017 to the lowest revenue on record of only $55 M in 2019. This dramatic decline in revenue is due to regulatory actions, [...]

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on people’s lives and purchasing habits, but the one product that seemed to benefit from the pandemic and flew off the shelves before we even understood what the full impact of COVID-19 was … toilet paper. This basic necessity has a close connection to Ontario’s recycling system, [...]

The Region of Niagara spent the last two years investigating an innovative idea to use recycled glass in bioretention stormwater systems. If successful, this would create a secondary market for recycled glass, and provide an alternative source of the sand component in engineered bio-soil. The project was first detailed in a 2018 blog post, "Development [...]

Responding to the need to clean up their fibre commodities to meet the increasingly higher demands of the end markets, EWSWA decided to upgrade their fibre line by installing an optical sorter to remove “browns” (cardboard and boxboard), containers and other contamination from its newsprint bales (Sorted Residential Paper #56 or SRP#56). What they learned [...]

Historically, the CIF has advocated that municipalities split material sales revenue between themselves and their contractor, provided the municipality has sufficient tonnage to warrant the extra administrative work. This approach was intended to mitigate the impact of shifting commodity prices on contractors and incentivize them to maximize the value of marketed materials. But what are [...]

We all know the pandemic is impacting nearly every aspect of daily life. This week, we explore how our collective changes in behaviour are affecting the quality, quantity and composition of materials arriving at Ontario material recovery facilities (MRFs), and what those facilities are doing to address this new reality. As always, understanding what’s happening [...]

Since COVID-19 was declared a pandemic in March, there’s been a noticeable increase in the price of Old Corrugated Cardboard (OCC). In this week's blog, we try to understand what's driving current trends, whether or not the trends are likely to last, and how it’s impacting operations. Knowing how end markets are evolving can help [...]

For this weeks blog, we're trying something new! Watch the video or scroll down for the full text. If you like this format, send your feedback to communications@thecif.ca. Contamination rates prompted Northumberland to act During Waste Management Master Planning in 2014, Northumberland County identified a need to shift from single stream bagged recycling to dual [...]

In the case of plastics, COVID-19 is adding to the list of challenges already faced by plastic re-processors. “Virgin plastic resins are at a record low as the price for oil-based feedstocks have fallen dramatically and there is a proliferation of gas-based feedstocks now available in the marketplace.”  — Eadaoin Quinn, Director, Business Development & [...]

Interested in signing up for the Mobile EPS densification and collection service? Here is a step by step guide of what to expect. Step 1: Buy or rent a sea can (20 or 40 foot) Participating municipalities have purchased units for between $2,100 for a 20 ft. and $2,700 for 40 ft. Delivery of sea [...]

In 2018, 78,076 tonnes of clear and mixed coloured glass were reported as being marketed to end users according to the RPRA Datacall. The majority of this volume was marketed to NexCycle Industries. The combined factors of the proximity to Ontario MRFs and their ability to manage post-consumer material has made NexCycle the logical choice [...]

For years, the CIF has published the monthly CIF Price Sheet which highlights prices reported by municipalities for marketed, largely post-consumer, residential materials such as metals, glass, plastics and fibres. As part of the transition of Ontario’s Blue Box Program to individual producer responsibility the CIF has been directed to wind up operations as soon […]

Things are happening in the world of EPS! The CIF is working with Second Wind Recycling (SWR) on a mobile densification collection study for Expanded Polystrene (EPS). To start, the study is taking place in Southwestern Ontario in municipalities including, St. Thomas, Tillsonburg and Woodstock starting in December 2019. Opportunities to join in on the [...]

Examples of Flexible Packaging Formats (source: PAC) Flexible packaging has seen tremendous growth globally, with an annual growth rate of 3.8% within North America alone. It can be found in a vast array of shapes and sizes containing a wide array of products such as coffee, laundry detergent, baby food, cat litter, single-serve juices, motor [...]

The Ontario government in its recent discussion paper: Reducing litter and waste in our communities offered the following: “The increased use of chemical recycling could be used to improve the effectiveness of existing recycling processes and to enable economic growth by expanding the potential end uses for materials that currently are sent to landfill.”  This […]

Background A few years ago, if you asked any North American Material Recycling Facility (MRF) where their recovered curbside newsprint was going, chances are they would tell you that some or all of it was being exported to China. During the past eighteen months, the Chinese government introduced the National Sword and Blue Sky regulations [...]

Commodity markets tend to be volatile in nature, given the various factors that can affect demand and pricing (e.g., exchange rates, local policy, global policy, consumer pressures). This reality is no different for post-consumer (recyclable) commodities. Historically, China was the largest importer of post-consumer commodities, and for years it accepted materials that were often heavily […]

If you recall from part 1 of our series on the marketing of recyclables, a key objective was to outline the pros and cons of the various marketing approaches that municipalities could pursue. In this blog, we present a financial comparison of the approaches with the intent being that municipalities and municipal programs utilize the […]

We often discuss how to collect or sort blue box recyclables but if they aren’t marketed effectively, your program’s finances may suffer. But how do you know? Here’s what an expert had to say. Recyclable Materials Marketing (ReMM) surveyed 14 Ontario municipalities that represent 77% of Ontario’s population to identify the most common marketing approaches [...]

Photo source: City of Barrie Historically, the ratio of collection to processing costs has wavered between 60:40 to 70:30 of the overall total. Logically, the focus of many decision makers has centered on cost savings that could be realized on the collection side of operations. Single stream proved advantageous for many as it offered the [...]

The CIF recently funded a pilot project to evaluate densification and marketing of curbside collected Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) in the City of Toronto (City). Additional financial support was offered by the Canadian Plastics Industry Association (CPIA). EPS is commonly referred to by the trade name “Styrofoam”. Support for this pilot project (CIF Project #1035) builds […]

The marketplace for municipal grade mixed broken glass is relatively thin and, at the same time, quality specifications from end markets are becoming tighter, requiring added attention by MRF operators. Testing a Potential New End Market for Recovered Glass Niagara Region is seeking to create a secondary market for recycled glass in the event its [...]

Have we become diametrically opposed to Henry Ford’s “you can have any colour as long as it’s black” proclamation?  When it comes to recycling household plastics packaging the answer is a resounding “maybe”. Black plastics, or plastics that are black, have been making headlines in Ontario recently. Major municipalities have moved to eliminate black plastics […]

The following is a synopsis of two reports written by LOM Enterprises Inc. for the CIF describing market trends between 2017 and 2018. The views, opinions, and findings expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the CIF, its staff members, affiliates and/or governing bodies. The CIF makes no representations […]

In late 2016 the Bluewater Recycling Association (BRA) received funding from the CIF to undertake a Material Recovery Facility (MRF) performance study. The primary objective of this project was to evaluate the effectiveness of the equipment and manual sorting stations at the single-stream MRF. The assessment was designed to pinpoint and prioritize the areas within […]

In a blog this spring, we provided information for programs that transport recyclables to markets in the U.S. With this blog, and with the input of Recyclable Materials Marketing (REMM), we present an essential companion piece that details what programs need to know about Exporting Recyclable Commodities Overseas from Canada. For many years, programs have […]

China is the largest importer of recovered materials in the world, accounting for approximately 27% of global scrap imports.  In July, China informed the World Trade Organization (WTO) that it will be imposing a ban on importing 24 types of scrap as of September 2017. In its response to the ban, the Institute of Scrap […]

Leading the Pack Sherry Arcaro, Vice-President – Consulting Services and Commodity Sales, Recyclable Materials Marketing (REMM), sherry@remm.ca, 705-768-5877 One of the first packaging formats to emerge beyond the traditional steel, glass, and aluminum included gable-top and aseptic. This light-weight and shelf stable packaging was designed to contain products normally packed in glass or steel. The […]

Did you know that approximately 11.6 million trucks moved freight across the border between Canada and United States in 2016 (U.S. Bureau of Transportation)? This movement of goods is made possible because of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), a treaty signed between Canada, Mexico and the United States. The U.S. has been Canada’s […]