Place 21 Conference : "Towards Efficacy: Ontario’s Resource Recovery and Circular Economy Sectoral Regulatory Regime"

Regulating resource recovery and circular economy within Ontario’s waste sector through a preventative sectoral regulatory regime (i.e Bill 151, the Waste-Free Ontario Act, 2016, the Resource Recovery and Circular Economy Act, 2016 and the Waste Diversion Transition Act, 2016) has garnered interest among First Nations, municipalities, businesses and environmental social groups. The municipalities and First Nations will start to transfer their Blue Box program model to a“full” producer responsibility starting January 1, 2023. This research assesses how Ontario’s Waste Sectoral Regulatory Regime (WSRR) can be strengthened to actively enforce the ‘full’ producer responsibility model blue box program at the municipal level in Ontario. Building on recent research, this presentation informs policy and planning management of blue box programs with an examination of Ontario’s Waste Sectoral Regulatory Regime and presents policy recommendations to strengthen Ontario’s WSSR towards better implementation of the full producer responsibility blue box model. The study’s findings also informs research on enabling political agency of producers towards efficacy of the blue box program.