the new blue bin in ontario now accepts the following items, in addition to the items (glass/plastic/metal) that it was previously collecting:
- red bin items (paper)
- all plastic, even plastic not considered recyclable
- composite materials
- plastic lids
- freezer bags
- chip bags, candy wrappers, etc
- plastic bags
we have, for years, had municipally run recycling in ontario, so the different boxes accepted different materials. what's happening is that a collection of multinational firms including loblaws, tim hortons and macdonalds are taking over the recycling program through a joint venture called "circular materials".
several of these companies, most notoriously tim hortons, have been caught repeatedly throwing recycle in the dumpster, but this is even worse than that. they're actually melting it all down and converting it to diesel using a process called "advanced recycling", which is using massive amounts of energy to melt the plastic down and compress it back into fuel, producing carbon emissions in the process.
now, they are openly admitting that this is why they're collecting the freezer bags and junk food wrappers, but a number of other changes to the process are extremely concerning.
- they are telling us not to bother sorting anything. all of it - legitimately recyclable plastic, glass, metal and paper along with unrecyclable plastic and the other waste - just goes into the same pile
- they are telling us to recycle everything with lids and caps on, even though they're made of different types of plastic, and you just can't recycle much of it
what this tells me is that even the recyclable material is just getting burned, because the diesel is more profitable. this is consequently the end of public recycling in ontario and the beginning of burning garbage for fuel.
the idea that the manufacturers should be responsible for collecting and recycling their garbage was kathleen wynne's, but the idea was to force the manufacturers to take their garbage back and reuse it, not for them to profit off burning plastic into diesel, which is filthy and backwards. the conservatives, however, are famously disinterested in any sort of sustainability. they're even trying to get rid of the bicycle lanes in several major cities, which is just short-sighted and petty. profit is everything; sustainability is irrelevant. so, ford has let them do this, and might have even encouraged it. this was't what wynne imagined, bu she also should have known better, as this is the inevitable collusion for profit that happens when you naively hand over policy making and decision making power to the oligipoly, out of goodwill. oops.
but here we are, now, and if you give a fuck and don't want your plastic material turned into diesel for mcdonald's trucks, you need to stop using the blue bin. this is something that needs to be boycotted.
1) don't put your garbage, like chip bags and freezer bags, in the recycle. these items are not recyclable and should not be burned to create diesel in a process that creates terrible air pollution and contributes to carbon emissions. continue to throw them in the garbage.
2) use the green bins to their maximum ability. compost everything you can, including as much crossover from the red bin as it will take.
3) look around in your area for independent recyclers that will take your recycling material and actually recycle it. circular materials is not recycling your plastic, it is converting it into diesel for their trucks.
4) if you have to use the new blue bins at all, restrict it to glass and metal, which cannot be converted into fuel and should continue to be recycled.