4-year rollout revealed for new recycling program in N.B.

A new producer-pay recycling system coming to New Brunswick next fall may not result in much, if any, improvement for residents for several years to come, other than the fact they will no longer be footing the bill as taxpayers.

Representatives of the provincial Department of Environment and Recycle N.B. gave a presentation about the plan for paper and plastic packaging to Fredericton city council's environmental stewardship committee on Thursday.

Under new provincial regulations, producers are being made responsible to fund the recycling system and to manage the collection and handling of materials, such as paper, plastic, glass and Styrofoam, used to package goods that are sold in New Brunswick supermarkets and other shops. 

Yearly savings for municipalities, regions and others currently running recycling programs in New Brunswick are projected at $14 million to $16 million, said Jeff Porter, an engineer in the waste diversion branch of the Department of  Environment and Local Government.

The big companies that make the largest quantities of these products — such as Kraft, Heinz, Maple Leaf Foods and Nestle — got together and formed an organization called Circular Materials as a non-profit to design and run the new system. 

Recycle N.B. is the arms-length government agency that's supposed to oversee the process and make sure the materials are managed for a healthy environment.

Circular Materials submitted a stewardship plan to Recycle N.B. last October. It was approved this month, triggering a legislative requirement for implementation within six months.

But Circular Materials is planning a gradual rollout over the next four years, with overlapping timelines between two geographical divisions.

"We're hoping, at least in the initial phase, that there isn't much disruption," said Allen Langdon of Circular Materials.

The focus is to ensure a smooth transition, he said. Recycling will still be put out on the same days of the week and "in many cases" will be picked up by the same contractor. 

And initially, the new program will only be available to residents who already have access to either curbside or depot recycling services.

According to an appendix to the plan, some regional and municipal representatives who took part in consultations were concerned the process would be too slow.

Circular Materials responded with a long list of tasks it must complete to set up the system, such as figuring out fair prices and reaching agreements with everyone involved in the patchwork recycling system across the province.

Timeline not seen as clear

Another concern, which some Fredericton councillors shared at the meeting, was that the timeline wasn't clear about when schools and apartment buildings would get recycling service, which is a stipulation of the legislation.

Circular Materials and Frank LeBlanc of Recycle N.B. responded that schools and apartment buildings that currently have garbage collection would get recycling collection at the same time that single-family dwellings with current garbage collection join the program. 

That would mean May 2025 for western New Brunswick and November 2025 for eastern New Brunswick.

But the program is completely voluntary, said LeBlanc. Offers will be made to landlords, and they'll be asked to find space at their buildings for recycle bins. 

Circular Materials will have to work out contracts with them and with service providers to do the collection.

Meanwhile, for single-family and multi-unit dwellings that do not currently have curbside garbage collection, Circular Materials will set up recycling depots. Again, this would require a contract with the community, region or private company.

The future of some existing community recycling bins was brought into question at Thursday's meeting. 

Circular Materials has been clear that it won't accept material from "unmanned bins," said LeBlanc, because they have too much cross-contamination and because they contain a lot of commercial and industrial waste, which is not part of this program's purview.

Spokesperson Shasta Stairs said the City of Fredericton would wait for more information about the plan for apartment buildings before deciding whether to keep its blue bins and "in what format," if so.

As for the promise of adding things like glass and Styrofoam recycling in areas of the province that don't currently have it, the stewardship plan doesn't contain specifics about how or when that will happen.

LeBlanc said in Recycle N.B.'s opinion, all of the materials must be part of the program "from Day 1."

Langdon said it would probably be mid-2024 before Circular materials starts making any adjustments to the lists of materials being recycled in various areas of the province.

It's possible there will not be any additions to the list of materials that can go in curbside recycling bins.

"In some cases, drop-off depots might be a more acceptable solution," he said.

Committee member Coun. Greg Ericson said he doesn't object to that idea and suggested retail shops may be good places to serve as depots.

In neighbouring Maine, for example, residents can bring their empties back to the grocery store for immediate credit toward their next bill, he said.

Implementation timeline

Here is Circular Materials' planned implementation timeline:

Phase 1 includes the western half of the province — Regional Service Commissions 1, 2, 9, 10, 11 and 12.

Planned rollout dates are:

• Nov. 1: Circular Materials takes over paying for curbside and depot collection of recyclables in communities and regions that accept compensation contract offers from them and agree to continue overseeing their collection services. For example, if Fredericton agrees to keep contracting Fero.

• May 2024: Circular Materials contracts service providers for communities or regions that don't want to run their own programs. 

• May 2025: Curbside recycling is expanded to dwellings that don't have it yet, but do have curbside garbage collection.

• May 2027: Public space collection begins, such as recycling bins in parks and on streets.

Phase 2 includes the eastern half of the province — Regional Service Commissions 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8.

Rollout dates are:

• May 2024: Circular Materials takes over paying for curbside and depot collection in communities and regions that accept compensation contract offers from them and that agree to continue overseeing their existing collection services. 

• Nov. 2024: Circular Materials contracts service providers for communities or regions that don't want to run their own programs. 

• Nov. 2025: Curbside recycling is expanded to dwellings that don't have it yet, but do have curbside garbage collection.

• Nov. 2027: Public space collection begins, such as recycling bins in parks and on streets.