Blue Box Transition

Transition Working Group

With transition on the horizon, AMO’s Municipal Resource Recovery and Research Collaborative (M3RC) and the CIF have partnered to develop and launch a Transition Working Group (formerly known as the Collection Working Group). This group will work to develop a range of tools, templates and training packages that will help prepare all Ontario municipalities and First Nations communities to transition their Blue Box programs to the Individual Producer Responsibility (IPR) framework.

Municipal waste, operations, financial, procurement, legal, and communications staff who are interested in joining this effort can read through the description of the subcommittees below, and contact Michelle Giesbrecht for more information.

Subcommittees coordinated by Transition Steering Committee

The Transition Working Group will be comprised of three subcommittees coordinated by a Transition Steering Committee. The Steering Committee will help set direction and ensure the comprehensive learnings of all subcommittees are shared out to all municipalities and First Nations communities.

The Program Transition & Communications subcommittee is new as of November 2023. Several subcommittees were disbanded as described below.

Current subcommittee focus:

  • Program Transition & Communications – common approach/tools to assist with change management and communications as well as provide support for collection service and other procurement through to contract development and management, prior to transition and during the 2023-25 transition period.
  • Depot Working Group – support municipalities that provide depot Blue Box collection services to residents. Focus on deciphering the transition agreements, compensation, non-eligible sources, and unbundling (hauling and processing)
  • First Nation – understand implications of the various schedules and agreements, exchange of learnings, identify communication and technical support needed by First Nation communities to guide staff through the blue box transition process.

Disbanded Subcommittees

  • Post Collections – tools to support decisions related to post collection activities at transfer station and MRFs (e.g., decision tree) – UPDATE: In May 2023, this subcommittee has been disbanded and members were invited to join the Contracts & Fair Compensation subcommittee.
  • Data Monitoring & Reporting – common approach/tools to assist with data management (i.e., administrative & operational) – UPDATE: In May 2023, this subcommittee has been disbanded and members were invited to join the Contracts & Fair Compensation subcommittee.
  • Change Management & Communications – common approach/tools to assist with change management – UPDATE: In November 2023, this subcommittee has been disbanded and members were invited to join the new Program Transition & Communications subcommittee.
  • Contracts & Fair Compensation – collection service and other procurement through to contract development and management prior to transition and in advance of and including the 2023-25 transition period  – UPDATE: In November 2023, this subcommittee has been disbanded and members were invited to join the new Program Transition & Communications subcommittee.

Each subcommittee will be tasked with the development of a set of deliverables over a proposed timeline. The CIF will help ensure there are resources and funding needed to complete the work. Additionally, each subcommittee will participate in facilitated discussions to share blue box transition learnings.

Interested in participating?

This is an open call to all communities, municipal and First Nation, to join us in this effort. In particular, we are looking for committee members with subject matter experience related to each individual focus area.

Scroll through the slides below for more details about each of the subcommittees. If you would like to join a subcommittee, contact Michelle Giesbrecht.