Recycling program to save taxpayers up to $18M: official

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A new recycling program launched Wednesday, a decade in the making, will save New Brunswick taxpayers up to $18 million a year while cutting back on too much packaging, according to a waste reduction official.

The provincial government is forcing more than 100 retailers and other businesses, such as Sobeys and PepsiCo, to pay for the cost of recycling their packaging to consumers, whether it comes in the form of paper, cardboard or plastic.

“This is great news,” said Gary Crossman, the environment minister, in a release. “As we have seen in other provinces across the country, extended producer responsibility will support consistency and more products being recycled in New Brunswick.”

Instead of local governments picking up those costs and managing the programs, responsibility will be shifted to the private firms producing the waste, encouraging them to clean up their act.

So, while municipalities won’t have to deal with piles of plastics and paper anymore, residential taxpayers should save cash.

Instead, the actual consumers of goods will likely pay more, as businesses recover costs.

It’s the kind of program that’s been used in Europe and other parts of Canada as an innovative scheme to reduce waste, and New Brunswick is the first province in the region to roll out its version. The other Atlantic provinces are coming on board in the coming years.

Everyday people probably won’t notice any big change to their curbside recycling programs, at least not initially, says Jeff MacCallum, the managing director of Circular Materials for Atlantic Canada.

His non-profit firm, which already handles Ontario’s recycled packaging program and helps in several other western provinces, will act as the bridge between the retailers and businesses and Recycle NB, the provincial organization responsible for overseeing the program and setting waste reduction targets that should help preserve expensive landfills from topping out too quickly with garbage.

MacCallum says starting soon, his corporation will renegotiate deals that private haulers have had with municipalities to pick up recyclables. People should continue to call those private trucking firms if they have concerns or complaints about pickup, but the official said they were welcome to call Circular Materials if they remained unsatisfied, the same way they might call their city or town hall in the past.

This program will translate to environmental and economic benefits for all New Brunswickers.

Frank LeBlanc

As a bonus, some items that aren’t meant for the curbside blue bin or blue bags will start to be accepted at select redemption centres across the province.

Circular Materials is partnering with a network of Eastern Recyclers Association redemption centres for the collection of glass, flexible plastics, ancillary cardboard, and expanded polystyrene foam. It’s being billed as a convenient way for New Brunswickers to recycle these materials that were not part of their recycling program before.

Given the size and scope of the program, officials are rolling it out in two phases. The first one, beginning Nov. 1 and continuing until May, will see the western portion of the province covered. Phase two, covering the eastern part of the province, will take place between May 1 and November 2024.

“Ultimately, this program will translate to environmental and economic benefits for all New Brunswickers,” said Frank LeBlanc, Recycle NB’s CEO.

The chief executive told Brunswick News that the extended producer responsibility program for packaging and paper products could save municipalities an estimated $15 million to $18 million annually in the province alone.