New Brunswick-wide recycling of glass, Styrofoam could be imminent

A new program could be approved this week that would add glass and styrofoam to the materials that can be recycled in New Brunswick and would make recycling programs available to people who live in large apartment buildings, says Frank LeBlanc, the CEO of Recycle NB.

"We're really looking forward to it because we think it's going to be an opportunity for greater diversion of packaging," LeBlanc said.

An extended producer-responsibility program for paper products and packaging has been in the works for a few years. 

The non-profit organization, Circular Materials, whose members represent big brand-name industrial manufacturers, has come up with a plan that the board of Recycle N.B. will get a chance to vote on Friday, LeBlanc said.

Implementation is expected to begin six months after plan approval and to take place gradually over the following year, according to a memo from LeBlanc to municipalities, service commissions and First Nations.

Similar programs already exist in some other provinces, including British Columbia and Ontario. 

Circular Materials Atlantic was created to run the program in New Brunswick. It will collect fees from "brand owners," — makers of most of the things sold in grocery or hardware stores, pharmacies and other retail shops.

Those fees will be used to pay for the collection, handling and recycling of all of the packaging brought into the province.

Three exemptions have been set out, said LeBlanc. Companies that have gross revenue in New Brunswick of less than $2 million or that put less than one tonne of packaging into the province won't have to pay in, nor will registered charities.

It will be between the brand owner and Circular Materials to determine how the fees are tracked and levied, said LeBlanc — whether by manufacturers or retailers. 

The onus is put on industry and it's also left up to them to set fees, said LeBlanc.

"It ends up being a polluter-pay system."

Under the current system, big businesses are free to let the costs of dealing with their packaging waste fall on taxpayers.

"If they're not responsible for paying for the recycling, they can put anything they want on their packaging, and they don't have to worry about it because somebody else is paying to recycle or landfill it."

Under the future system, they'll have to figure out a way to collect and recycle problematic materials such as Styrofoam, for example, or phase it out.

Likewise, glass, which is currently not recyclable in most of the province, "will have to be managed in one way or another," said LeBlanc, because it is considered packaging.

LeBlanc does not think the new program will be much of a contributing factor to inflation.

Based on research done a couple of years ago, "it should not increase the price of goods in any way shape or form," he said. Items were found to have the same prices in provinces that already had this type of program.

"The percentage of markup on a box of Corn Flakes to deal with that packaging is a percentage of penny," he said.

It could, however, lead to job losses at various regional recycling operations down the road. There's been some concern expressed about that possibility, said LeBlanc.

"As opposed to having three plants running at 50 per cent, maybe you only need two plants that each run at 75 per cent.

"Because industry's paying for the whole thing they'll want to make sure that it's efficient." But for the next five years, at least, the plan is to use all of the existing recycling facilities.

Cities and service commissions that provide these services could end up signing contracts, whereby Circular Materials would pay them to continue to do so.

Alternatively, they could decide to get out of recycling altogether. Circular Materials would then tender for collection and recycling contracts.

In Fredericton, Greg Ericson, the deputy mayor and a member of the environmental stewardship committee, said he is optimistic the extended producer-responsibility program will remove barriers and improve local recycling.

"Basically it charges for all the materials used at the beginning," he said, "which means that you've got the capacity financially to recycle everything that gets produced.

"You're not just relying on the revenues that you get from the materials you collect."

Tenants of large apartment buildings have been complaining for years that under the current system of owner responsibility, most of them don't have any recycling at all.

The new program is expected to bring large apartment buildings on board. A meeting is planned for Recycle N.B. and city officials to discuss this on May 11, said Ericson.

The program will also allow schools to recycle things such as waste from lunches and classroom supplies such as paper, said LeBlanc.

Next year, a producer-responsibility program is planned for beverage containers, he added, and yet another similar program is in development for unused medications, lances and needles, to be funded by "big pharma."

Their stewardship organization has been tasked with submitting a plan by Saturday, he said.