South Frontenac Will Transition Out Of Recycling by July 1, 2025

Jeff Green | Mar 06, 2024

The long road to full producer responsibility for post consumer recycling is finally nearing its end, and South Frontenac Township, along with most neighbouring municipalities in Southeastern Ontario, is settling on a date.

In a report to council on Tuesday Night (March 5) Director of Public Works Kyle Bolton provided a road map to how the new system will work, although there are still many unknowns.

It is a certainty that the township will no longer have anything to do with recycling as of January 1st 2026, just under two years from now. By the terms of the provincial legislation that is driving the change, Circular Materials Ontario (CMO) will be required to offer the same level of access to recycling as the township offers now. In South Frontenac, that means curbside pickup.

The proposal in front of council this week, pertains to only the six months prior to that changeover, the breaking-in period set out by the legislation. The township could continue to oversee the collection of recycling on behalf of CMO, using the contractors that currently work directly for the township, or they could “opt-out” and turn the system over to CMO.

“Entering into an agreement for collection would make the township a contractor to CMO for the six months, and our current collection contractor a subcontractor. The township would be responsible for ensuring the CMO contract terms and contractor obligations are met for the township's subcontractor, including monitoring of service, reporting, and the target of 4% contamination threshold, Bolton said, in a report to council.

“As the township doesn’t currently provide the curbside collection service in house, there is no benefit to opting in to provide this service for the transition period as it will be a contracted service regardless. All of the neighbouring municipalities consulted are opting out of curbside collection and our current receiving facility, Kingston Area Recycling Centre, is closing on July 1, 2025,” he added.

CMO will be obligated to maintain the same level of service as the township currently provides for “eligible sources” of recycling, so curbside pickup must remain in place because that is the practice currently.

The township also provides depot services at some of the northern waste sites in the township, mainly as a courtesy to seasonal residents. Council has the option to maintain that service, with CMO handling the cost of hauling and delivery of those materials, and Bolton is recommending that Council take advantage of that option.

“However, that will only be for the six months between July 1st, 2025 and January 2026,” Bolton said. “After that it will be up to CMO to decide whether to offer the depot service at a location of their choice.”

CMO will not be obligated to do so however, since they will already be offering curbside service to all South Frontenac residents.

The producer responsibility recycling system is being implemented in stages across the Province, and was first initiated in Toronto and Ottawa. In other places CMO has embarked on information campaigns aimed at informing residents how the new system will work, and Bolton said they will be doing that with the rollout next summer, as well in Frontenac County.

The timing of pickup could change under CMO, and co-ordination between garbage and recycling pickup in the township may not be the same as it is now, with two independent entities running each system.

As well, in Bolton's report, he pointed out that the township currently picks up some materials for recycling that are called “non-eligible sources”, materials not captured under the CMO mandate. That category of material will no longer be picked up after the changeover, and will need to be recycled by homeowners in some other way or it will end up increasing the pressure on the limited landfill capacity of South Frontenac.

It is not yet clear how much money the township will save after the changeover. The expense of collecting and transporting recycling to KARC in Kingston will be gone, but so will the payments that the township has been receiving through Stewardship Ontario for the value of the materials that were collected.

Bolton said that his department will provide a report to council on the financial implications to be used in the 2025 budget process.

“I will be recommending that the township reinvest any savings back into the waste management system,” he said in an interview.

He also wanted residents to know that although recycling will change next year, the impact on residents should be minimal, the only difference being that the township will no longer be delivering the service.