Development of the skills and core competency of staff involved in running Ontario’s Blue Box Program increases the effectiveness and efficiency of the overall Program. The CIF has provided numerous skills development opportunities over the years such as outreach sessions, conferences (e.g. Ontario Recycler Workshop), classroom training and online skills development services.

Upcoming Events

Online Workshops in Convenience Depot Planning

According to the RPRA website, as of 2026, producers are no longer required to maintain and fund blue box collection at convenience depots within communities where residents receive household curbside collection. Should this funding be discontinued, communities will need to decide whether to continue, modify or end blue box collection at their convenience depots.

The workshop will help you identify, research, and analyze your individual community options to address these potential changes and prepare council for decision making.

Workshop Option 1 – Tuesday, October 24, 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Workshop Option 2 – Wednesday November 8, 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Workshop Option 3 – Thursday, November 9, 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.

More details and registration

Recent Events

CIF Blue Box Producer: Calculator Online Working Session

To assist communities in meeting the May 31, 2023 deadline for RPRA registration and reporting of 2022 supply data, CIF offered a 60-minute working session to walk participants through using the CIF Blue Box Producer Calculator.

Group 1: Monday, May 15 (morning)
Group 2: Monday, May 15 (afternoon)
Group 3: Tuesday, May 23
Group 4: Wednesday, May 24

More details and registration

Past Events

CIF Workshops: Ineligible Sources Collection Planning Workshop (May & June 2022)

Do you need help:

Sorting out collection options for ineligible sources, prior to transition?
Outlining an individual community plan to address the pending changes?

If your community collects what will become ineligible sources as of transition, please join us for an informative and interactive online workshop!

Workshop Essentials:

This training is limited to municipal and First Nation staff.

CIF Workshops: Non-eligible Sources Collection Planning Workshop (April & May 2023)

Please contact Jessica Landry if you wish to be added to a waiting list for a future Non-eligible Workshop.

CIF Workshops: Non-eligible Sources Collection Planning Workshop (April & May 2023)

Even if you previously attended this workshop in 2022, you are welcome to participate in this additional delivery as a refresher. While the learning will be largely the same, some content has been updated to reflect current transition processes.

Curbside Communities:
- April 11 & 12 – Completed
- April 25 & 26 – Completed
- May 3 & 4 – Completed
Depot Communities:
- April 19 & 20 – Completed

More Information & Registration Details

CIF Workshops: Post-Collection Asset Valuation for Operators of Depots & Transfer Stations/Small MRFs

Do you need help making blue box transition related decisions?
Do you know what your options are (e.g., maintain, sell, lease, repurpose)?
Do you need help putting together council recommendations for what to do with your post collection assets?
Would you like to meet with municipal peers and learn how they’re addressing transition issues?

Invitation and Workshop details (December 17, 2021)

November 30 - December 1, 2021: Pre-Transition Contract Management Online Training

Now you know when your community will transition to the new producer-led blue box system, but, in the meantime, what’s the best way to address challenges in existing collection and processing contracts? This online training workshop addressed pre-transition procurement & contract management related issues facing municipalities.

Objectives

Understand your responsibilities as a contract administrator
Understand roles & responsibilities of all contract parties
Identify common issues & potential problems/pitfalls
Understand potential responses to deal with contract deficiencies

Some example topics include:

Price adjustments: renegotiating collection, processing, and/or service rates
Scope of work adjustments: changing the list of targeted materials (e.g. remove glass)
Addressing lack of competition: especially in rural areas with few local service providers
“Off Ramp” clauses: early termination, extensions, reassignment, unbundling, and what to do if there are no off ramp clauses

The course

The course was delivered in four, two-hour sessions over Zoom (dates and times below). There was a mix of lecture, quizzes and interactive discussion. This is an opportunity to examine your existing contracts to determine their strength and limitations, as well as what to do if recommended clauses do not currently exist in your contract.

Participants were required to complete a pre-course assignment prior to the start of the course.

November 2 & 4, 2021: Blue Circle Virtual Event

CIF hosted a virtual event on November 2 & 4, 2021, to provide an update on the transition of Ontario’s blue box program to full producer responsibility and the work CIF is doing to support municipal and First Nation staff.

Session 1: Transition to Producer Responsibility: What we know now.

Tuesday, November 2, 2021. 10:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.

Transition is happening, but what does that mean, exactly? In this session, we’ll take a step back and present an overview of what we know, and don’t yet know, about transition. We’ll also speak to what the CIF has been doing and our plans for the future.

Speakers

Geoff Rathbone, Continuous Improvement Fund (CIF)

Geoff has over 30 years experience in the environmental sector, having held significant roles with private and municipal organizations. Geoff was previously the City of Toronto’s General Manager for Solid Waste Management Services and Vice President of Resource Recovery at Progressive Waste Solutions, and the Director of Transition at the Resource Productivity and Recovery Authority, where he was responsible for overseeing the wind up of legacy waste diversion programs in order to transition the materials to Ontario’s new individual producer responsibility regulatory framework.

Carrie Nash, Continuous Improvement Fund (CIF)

Carrie has been with the Continuous Improvement Fund for over 9 years. This year she has led the development and implementation of CIF’s transition support efforts which included work in the areas of communications, collection & post-collection, contracts and fair compensation. Carrie’s previous work experience in the public and private sectors has given her an understanding of the policy and practice framework from which municipalities, producers and other stakeholders operate.

Dave Gordon, Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO)

Dave Gordon is Senior Advisor – Waste Diversion for the Association of Municipalities of Ontario. Dave has been active in the waste management industry for over 25 years having held positions in both the public and private sector. Over the last five years, he has helped lead the successful shift of Ontario’s Blue Box to full producer responsibility and worked closely with the province on other key regulatory policies related to producer responsibility, organic waste reduction and diversion, and environmental oversight and enforcement.

Session 2: Working with contracts in the lead up to transition.

Tuesday, November 2, 2021. 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. POSTPONED

The panel that was planned on the topic of contracts has been postponed. CIF is planning a future workshop dedicated to this topic. If you haven’t already, sign up for CIF’s mailing list for updates.

Session 3: Transition planning for collection and post-collection

Thursday, November 4, 2020. 10:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
Moved to: Tuesday, November 2, 2021. 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.

CIF is working to streamline our transition planning. Join us for this session to hear your municipal peers and CIF staff talk about Collection (curbside/depots) guidance and Post-Collection (transfer stations/MRFs) decision making/asset valuation tools and workshops.

Speakers

Neil Menezes, EcoCompass Inc.

Neil has over ten years of experience within the solid waste and recycling industry, specializing in designing and implementing effective waste diversion initiatives by providing measurable strategies to increase diversion, optimize MRF operations, and model financial impacts. Neil has extensive experience working with municipalities, companies, producer responsibility organizations, and government agencies to meet regulatory requirements and has been involved in policy work to on-the-ground operations.

Dave Yousif, Region of Peel

Dave is an Advisor in the Waste Planning group at the Region of Peel. He has 15 years of experience in the field of waste management and has worked for several Ontario municipalities and consulting firms. He holds a Masters of Environmental Studies from the University of Waterloo. Dave is currently the lead on the Blue Box Transition project at the Region.

Heather McConnell, City of Guelph

Heather Connell is the Technical Manager for Solid Waste Resources with the City of Guelph. She has been in Solid Waste Management for 12 years in various roles from program development, to project management and capital planning. She is a Professional Engineer and holds a Bachelor and Masters of Engineering from University of Western Ontario. Heather is responsible for leading the strategic direction and transition plan for the City’s blue box program.

Session 4: What to expect when your expecting multiple PROs?

Thursday, November 4, 2020. 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.
Moved to: Thursday, November 4, 2020. 10:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.

Ontario’s blue box regulation allows for there to be more than one Producer Responsibility Organization (PRO) – a notable difference from how the program operates today, and how full producer responsibility unfolded in British Columbia. In this session, we’ll hear what’s happening in jurisdictions around the world that have more than one PRO operating programs, such as Germany, Austria and the United States. We’ll also share strategies municipalities and First Nation communities can utilize to contribute to the successful implementation of producer responsibility in Ontario.

Speakers

Derek Stephenson, Strategy Matters Inc.

Derek is recognized as an international expert in the design, implementation and management of recycling programs for used packaging and products, through voluntary industry-led initiatives and under extended producer responsibility legislation. This work contributes to sustainability by quantifying and internalizing waste management costs to the producers and consumers of these products. This work has taken him to over 50 countries to date.

October 7, 2021: WAMT Demonstration

Demonstration of the Waste Analysis Management Tool (WAMT)

Waste Composition Studies have provided an enormous amount of data over the years to Ontario municipalities. Now, CIF has developed a tool to streamline the analysis, allowing municipalities to easily compare reports over time and with other municipal groupings. Learn more about the Waste Analysis Management Tool (WAMT) here.

Spring/Summer 2021: Pre-Transition Contract Management Online Training

Dates:

June 22 & 24, 2021
July 7 & 8, 2021
July 14 & 5, 2021

Now you know when your community will transition to the new producer-led blue box system, but, in the meantime, what’s the best way to address challenges in existing collection and processing contracts? Join us for an online training workshop to address pre-transition procurement & contract management related issues facing municipalities.