Item - 2023.IE1.8

The Infrastructure and Environment Committee recommends that:

1. City Council authorize the General Manager, Solid Waste Management Services to participate in processes established by  Producer Responsibility Organization(s) registered with the Resource Productivity Recovery Authority, and/or their designate, for the City of Toronto to be contracted to provide recycling services, based on terms and conditions outlined in Confidential Attachment 1 to the report (January 16, 2023) from the General Manager, Solid Waste Management Services, for the management of blue box materials after the transition phase pursuant to the Resource Recovery and Circular Economy Act, 2016 or any regulations thereunder (currently December 31, 2025).

2. City Council direct that Confidential Attachment 1 to the report (January 16, 2023) from the General Manager, Solid Waste Management Services remains confidential in its entirety in accordance with the provisions of the City of Toronto Act, 2006, as it relates to commercial or financial information that belongs to the City and has potential monetary value, and it involves a position, plan, procedure, criteria or instruction to be applied to any negotiation carried on or to be carried on by or on behalf of the City.
 

3. City Council direct the General Manager, Solid Waste Management Services, to report back to the Infrastructure and Environment Committee with the outcome of discussions with registered Producer Responsibility Organizations and/or their designate for the post-transition phase from January 1, 2026 onwards.

4. City Council authorize the General Manager, Solid Waste Management Services, the General Manager, Transportation Services, and the General Manager, Fleet Services, or their designate, until December 31, 2028, to negotiate and enter into agreements, or amendments of existing agreements, including non-competitive procurement agreements under Code Chapter 195, Purchasing, for pilot projects necessary for Solid Waste Management Services, Transportation Services, and Fleet Services to accelerate and enhance innovative service delivery initiatives for:

a. public sidewalk waste bin design;

b. remote and field-based operational data capture including sensors for waste bins; and/or

c. vehicle design, operations and associated equipment configuration;

on terms and conditions satisfactory to the General Manager, Solid Waste Management Services, General Manager, Transportation Services or General Manager, Fleet Services, and in a form satisfactory to the City Solicitor.

5. City Council authorize the General Manager, Solid Waste Management Services, or their designate, to negotiate and enter into non-competitive agreements to align the print and distribution of waste collection schedules with the City's distribution of tax and utility bills, provided that all such agreements terminate on or before August 31, 2029 or the date on which the City enters into a new competitive call for the provision of tax and utility printing, mailing and design, and that such agreements have a cumulative contract value that together do not exceed $1,100,000.00, all with terms and conditions satisfactory to the General Manager, Solid Waste Management Services, and in forms satisfactory to the City Solicitor.

6. City Council direct the City Manager and/or designate to communicate to the Association of Municipalities of Ontario and to the Deputy Minister of the Environment, Conservation and Parks the following City of Toronto positions with respect to Extended Producer Responsibility under the Resource Recovery and Circular Economy Act, 2016 and related regulations:
 

a. Mattresses should be identified as the next designated item to transition to EPR.
 

b. Producers should be financially and operationally responsible for litter studies and audits for the purposes of gathering data on where their obligated product and packaging end up as litter, and for the abatement and management programs for their obligated products and packaging.
 

c. The Province should revisit and increase the public space accessibility obligation to provide the appropriate number of receptacles to cover all of Toronto’s extensive public space recycling program.
 

d. Producers should be financially and operationally responsible under O.Reg 391/21: Blue Box to manage their compostable products and packaging, in addition to reporting.
 

e. The list of designated materials, and the performance and accessibility targets for the designated materials identified in O. Reg 449/21: Hazardous and Special Products and O. Reg 522/20: Electrical and Electronic Equipment should be increased and strengthened.
 

7. City Council direct the General Manager, Solid Waste Management Services and/or designate to work with other City Divisions to determine the feasibility of cleaning and reusing collected mattresses.

This report provides an update on the outcome of negotiations with a Producer Responsibility Organization (Circular Materials Ontario) on the City of Toronto's role as a recycling service provider from July 1, 2023 to December 31, 2025. The City of Toronto entered into a contract with Circular Materials Ontario to provide recycling collection, transfer and haulage, promotion and education, and 311 customer services to municipally-serviced residential households, schools, and long-term care facilities for financial remuneration. The City of Toronto, acting as a recycling service provider throughout the Extended Producer Responsibility transition, will help to deliver a seamless transition to producer responsibility while maintaining the quality of services currently provided to Toronto residents.

Key successes and outcomes of negotiations have resulted in no impact to customer service, no job losses for City staff and full recovery of the estimated recycling costs that the City is expected to incur in its new service provider role. The City is well positioned to take on this role with the necessary waste management infrastructure in place and decades of experience running one of the largest and most comprehensive recycling programs in North America.

Preparation for ensuring a successful transition to becoming a contracted service provider and the business transformation and change management approach to ensuring contract compliance is also discussed in this report.

The report also describes next steps, guiding principles and consideration of potential future roles for the City to continue to provide recycling services on behalf of producers from January 1, 2026 onwards.

Also contained in this report is information on ongoing advocacy efforts, program performance monitoring, and wind-up of the Continuous Improvement Fund[1].

[1] Continuous Improvement Fund is a funding program that commenced operations on May 1, 2008 with a mandate to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of Ontario’s municipal blue box programs. (https://thecif.ca/about-cif/)