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9 | O akville B eaver | T hursday,O ctober 1,2020 insidehalton.com The site of the new Holy Family Cemetery © G oo gl e M ap s ANewCemetery forHaltonRegion Holy Family Cemetery is open to assist members of the Catholic community in Halton. Conveniently located at Lower Base Line and Bronte Road, the cemetery offers options for in-ground burial and above-ground niches for cremated remains. T h e R om a n C a t h o l i c E p i s c o p a l C o r p o r a t i o n o f t h e D i o c e s e o f H am i l t o n i n O n t a r i o www.thecatholiccemeteries.ca For more information, please call 1-800-661-5985. tion and Parks Jeff Yurek in 2019. "This shift is a big step toward diverting waste, addressing plas- tic pollution and creating a new recycling economy that everyone can be proud of in Ontario." The province has argued that by making producers responsible for their products and packaging, they will be forced to shift away from wasteful packaging and products that are difficult - or im- possible - to recycle. They say the change will stan- dardize what goes into the Blue Box across the province and im- prove recycling rates. Yurek said Ontario's recycling rates have been stalled for 15 years, with up to 30 per cent of what is put into the Blue Box be- ing sent to landfill. Environmental groups, how- ever, are not so sure about the ap- proach the province is taking. In late August 2020, a group of 52 environmental and civil soci- ety organizations released a joint statement, calling on the govern- ment to address what they con- sidered the failings of its recy- cling system and transition Onta- rio to a circular economy. The groups want the province to not just focus on waste coming from the residential sector when two-thirds of Ontario's waste is generated in the industrial, com- mercial and institutional sectors. Emily Alfred, of the Toronto Environmental Alliance, said the new regulations might actually scale back or stop Blue Box ser- vices at schools, parks and many residences. "What we've heard from the stakeholder meetings is that the new recycling system will basi- cally provide Blue Box recycling services for single-family homes, and that is possibly the extent of it," said Alfred. "That would leave out so many people in Ontario. In Toronto, for example, more than half of households live in multi-residen- tial buildings. What we under- stand is being contemplated is that if multi-residential build- ings receive city service from their own municipality, they would be transitioned to this new producer recycling system, but if they receive private sector recy- cling service they would not be transitioned." Alfred said institutions like schools, community centres and libraries would also be left out. Lindsay Davidson, of the Min- istry of the Environment, Con- servation and Parks, said the ministry is currently considering ways to expand Blue Box services to more communities, including northern and Indigenous com- munities. "We are also considering all options for how Blue Box materi- als are collected at schools, re- tirement homes and other simi- lar institutional facilities," said Davidson. "The Blue Box program will continue to be convenient and ac- cessible for the people of Ontario. Residents who currently receive municipal Blue Box services will continue to receive the same ser- vices throughout the transition period. Once producers are fully re- sponsible for the program, On- tarians will experience the same or improved access to Blue Box services across Ontario." On its website, the province noted they have started looking at how plastic, paper and packag- ing materials are collected from schools, apartment buildings, re- tirement homes and other insti- tutional sources, as well as com- mercial and industrial sources. Alfred is not impressed. "This is frankly not good enough as there have been calls to address recycling in these mul- ti-unit residential settings for many years, so this isn't a new is- sue," she said. "We need a real commitment to include these groups or a clear timeline and commitment for when they will be included." Davidson also addressed ru- mours that the province would shut down Ontario's deposit re- turn program run by the Beer Store. He said the ministry recog- nized the strong recycling rate achieved there, and the new reg- ulation would allow that pro- gram to continue. Karen Brock, president of the Oakvillegreen Conservation As- sociation, called the province's proposed changes to the recy- cling program a step backward. She said a deposit return pro- gram should be established for plastic bottles to improve those recycling rates. Brock also argued the produc- tion of plastic needs to stop, not- ing that less than 11 per cent of Ca- nadian plastics are getting recy- cled. "Clearly we have a plastic pol- lution problem. It's not just here in Ontario or Canada, but all over the world," said Brock. "We are just drowning in plas- tic." Stephanie Bush, deputy direc- tor of the Halton Environmental Network, said a program that holds companies accountable for the waste they produce would be positive. "Recycling is really the last op- tion. What we would really like to see is a reduction of the amount of packaging, the amount of waste," said Bush. "I think it starts earlier in the process rather than at the end." Davidson said that throughout the past year, the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks has engaged with munici- palities, First Nations, producers and the waste management in- dustry on policy for the Blue Box program's new producer respon- sibility regulation. "We are continuing to develop a draft Blue Box regulation and will post it for public consultation this fall to ensure the Blue Box program is affordable for produc- ers and right for municipalities and Indigenous communities," said Davidson. "All stakeholders will have the opportunity to comment on the details of the regulation at that time." The first group of municipali- ties or First Nations will transfer responsibility of their Blue Box programs to producers starting on Jan. 1, 2023. By Dec. 31, 2025, producers will be fully responsible for providing Blue Box services provincewide. STORY BEHIND THE STORY: When we learned about proposed changes to the provinc- e's recycling program, we wanted to speak with local environmen- tal groups to learn how they felt about them. NEWS Continued from page 1 GROUPS PUSHING FOR REDUCE, REUSE FOCUS Local environmental groups would like reusable utensils, straws, water bottle and bees wax food covers to replace plastic food wraps and produce bags. Graham Paine/Torstar