1) Simcoe County and Barrie: Staff report recommends no garbage collection for County of Simcoe residents unless they participate in organics program

Courtesy Barrie360.com

By Ian MacLennan, June 27, 2025

County of Simcoe residents who don’t participate in the organics program may get more than a gentle nudge to get on board.

At a Committee of the Whole meeting this week, county councillors were reintroduced to the benefits of mandatory participation by residents in the collection of organics.

In May 2024, the county’s solid waste management staff presented a plan to toughen measures, but councillors suggested the focus should be on promotion and education to increase participation in the organics program instead of enforcement.

According to an audit, 43,716 tonnes of curbside garbage was disposed of last year, and 46 per cent was organic material that should have been placed in the organics cart.

“On a weekly basis, approximately 25 per cent of residents do not participate in the organics program. The 25 per cent that do not participate account for 44 per cent of the organics found in the garbage,” stated a staff report.

Another reason staff is pursuing a mandatory organics program is diminishing landfill capacity.

“The county has two remaining landfills: Nottawasaga landfill will be closing later this year, and the Oro landfill, which will reach capacity in 2027,” according to the staff report.

If a mandatory organics participation is implemented successfully, it will increase the organics capture rate from 54.3 per cent to 60, per cent by 2028, which would save the county about $30,000 per year.

“More significantly, increasing the capture of organics by 75 per cent could yield annual savings exceeding $130,000,” the report said.

During door-to-door visits to 90 households, the county found that 71 per cent of them put all their organic waste in the garbage, and 23 per cent had backyard composters.

According to the report, all residents who had a backyard composter had organics in their garbage cart. They indicated they used the garbage cart for items that did not belong in the backyard composter or were unaware that other materials could go in the cart.

The remaining six per cent had other reasons for not using the green bin, including putting organics in a field or forest for animals to eat.

If county councillors approve the plan at their next meeting in August, staff is recommending a soft start date of November 1. At that time, collection crews would collect all garbage placed at the curb and leave a cart hanger to inform residents of the upcoming changes.

Then on December 1, the new program would be fully implemented.

“All locations that do not have an organics cart placed out for collection with their garbage cart will not receive garbage collection,” the report stated.

If the new program is approved, it’s estimated there would be a 10 to 20 per cent increase in organics tonnage.

“The program will require significant promotion and education when implemented, which is estimated to be a one-time cost of $125,000,” the report indicated.

The delivery fee for organic carts would be reduced to $25 from October 1 until December 31 for residents who require them.

This program would not include the cities of Barrie and Orillia, which have their own waste collection programs.

2) Ontario proposes to weaken impending new recycling rules over costs to producers

Courtesy Barrie360.com and Canadian Press

By Allison Jones, June 23, 2025.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s government is proposing to weaken an impending slate of new recycling rules because producers of the materials said the system is getting too expensive.

The province began transitioning in 2023 toward making producers pay for the recycling of their packaging, paper and single-use items. The companies’ obligations were set to increase next year, but the government is now looking to delay some measures and outright cancel others, such as requirements to extend collection beyond the residential system.

Environmental advocates say the proposed changes let producers off the hook and will mean more materials will end up in landfills or be incinerated. Producers say despite the rising costs, recycling rates don’t actually appear to be improving, so it’s time for a broader rethink.

Environment Minister Todd McCarthy said the proposed changes are about ensuring the sustainability of the blue box system and protecting against unintended consequences such as job losses.

“We want to take what we’ve done and improve upon what already exists, but the costs were a big deal, and so we’re proposing some measures that would bring about cost savings and transparency and improvement to accomplish the goal of recycling that we all want,” he said earlier this month.

The Canadian Retail Council estimates that producer costs have already increased by about 350 per cent in three years and would nearly double again just from this year to next if no changes were made to the impending new rules for 2026.

The government says blue box collection costs could more than double between 2020 and 2030.

“Cost increases of this magnitude were not anticipated when the regulation was passed in 2021 and have jeopardized the stability of the blue box system today,” it says in its proposal to change the rules.

Currently, producers just have to make “best efforts” to hit certain recycling rate percentages, such as 80 per cent of paper and 50 per cent of rigid plastic, and starting next year they are set to be enforceable. Then in 2030 those percentages are set to rise.

But now the government is proposing to delay those 2026 targets to 2031.

As well, Ontario is proposing to allow non-recyclable material that gets incinerated to count for up to 15 per cent of producers’ recycling targets.

Starting next year, producers are also supposed to be responsible for collecting material from more multi-residential buildings, and certain long-term care homes, retirement homes and schools. The government is now proposing to remove that requirement entirely.

The same goes for a rule that would have made beverage producers responsible for containers not just dropped in a residential blue box but also those used outside the home, and a provision for producers to expand collection in public spaces.

The intent behind the initial regulations was to incentivize producers to use less packaging and to use materials that can more easily be recycled, said Karen Wirsig, senior program manager for plastics with Environmental Defence.

These changes would halt any progress on that score, she said.

“Municipalities have been saying for years, ‘Our blue box is getting more and more filled with packaging types we can’t even identify let alone properly sort … because often they’re made with mixed materials that are not easily recycled,'” Wirsig said.

“So because there was that disconnect between the producers who design all this packaging and the municipalities who are collecting it, there was no way to rationalize the system and improve packaging from an environmental and sustainability point of view. These regulations were intended to start doing that, and unfortunately, now all of the incentives are going the opposite direction.”

The recycling of flexible plastics, which includes food wraps, pouches and bags, is a particular bone of contention and the government is proposing to both delay and reduce the target for that category.

In a recycling facility, flexible plastics end up in all sorts of places because they’re so light, getting stuck among paper or falling through the cracks of conveyor belts, said Michael Zabaneh, the Retail Council of Canada’s vice-president of sustainability.

Instead of a recycling target of 25 per cent taking effect next year, a target of five per cent would take effect in 2031 under the government’s proposal for flexible plastics.

That five per cent reflects the estimated current level of flexible plastic diversion, according to the government’s regulatory proposal. It is silent on the current levels for all other materials.

Those current levels are unknown, with the Resource Productivity and Recovery Authority saying it will report on rates once the three-year transition is over. That is a big problem, said Zabaneh.

“We’re all in the blind,” he said. “I think you can’t have a recycling system with accountability, (and not have) transparency and real data.”

The main problem with the government’s current system is that it allows for multiple administrators, said Zabaneh. Producers sign up with producer responsibility organizations, which help them meet their blue box obligations.

There are four such organizations operating in Ontario, which just ends up complicating the system and making it more expensive, Zabaneh said.

“There’s an administrative body to drive collection, but then processing is kind of a competitive thing, and this creates a very fragmented and inefficient system,” he said.

“It limits planning, it prevents collective investment, capital investment, so that’s disincentivized, and you have a lot of added costs from logistics and audits, and that’s why we have escalating costs.”

Retail council members helped found and sit on the board of one producer responsibility organization so they have some idea of recycling rates from that, and based on that limited view the numbers look stagnant, the council says.

Producers welcome the delayed targets, Zabaneh said, but it doesn’t solve the core problem. Having a single producer responsibility organization would reduce costs and allow for greater transparency of recycling rates and financial performance, the retail council says.

Canadian Beverage Association president Krista Scaldwell said their members want the system to be successful because recycling and recovery benefits companies as well as the environment.

“We want the aluminum and plastic back because we can make it into new containers,” she said.

“The members are very committed to sustainability initiatives, and so we need to understand what’s creating the cost so that we can help support some change, so we can see improved recovery without escalating costs.”

Comments on the regulatory registry proposal can be submitted until July 21.

3) Annual watermain swabbing to occur in Barrie during July

Courtesy Barrie360.com

By Julius Hern, June 27, 2025

The City of Barrie’s annual watermain maintenance will take place in select areas throughout the month of July in order to properly maintain the water system.

Swabbing the watermains involves using foam swabs propelled by high-velocity water to scour the pipes. They’re inserted through a fire hydrant are pushed through to another hydrant further down the watermain. The hydrants are left open until the water runs clear.

This process will be happening in select areas of Wards six, eight, and 10 throuhout July, with water services being affected during the specified times.

Here are dates and times for maintenance and the selected areas.

• July 3, 8 a.m.-6 p.m.

Areas of Coleman Drive, Gross Drive, Lowry Court, Pringle Drive, Ruffet Drive

• July 8, 8 a.m.-6 p.m.
  Areas of Bay Lane, Brennan Avenue, Cliff Road, Kempview Lane, Southview Road, Wallwin’s Way, White Oaks Road, Whitty Lane
• July 10, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
  Areas of Bayshore Boulevard, Brookfield Crescent, Capps Drive, Crimson Ridge Road, Golden Meadow Road, Royal Park Boulevard, Turner Drive
• July 22, 8 a.m.-6 p.m.
  Areas of Bird Street, Edgehill Drive, Gross Drive, Knupp Road, Kraus Road, McAvoy Drive, Miller Drive, Sproule Drive
• July 24, 8 a.m.-6 p.m.          
  Areas of Dock Road, Gray Lane, Hurst Drive, Jean Street, Tyndale Road, Tynhead Road

NOTIFICATION

Residences will have notices hand-delivered to their property if they will impacted. If a notice is received, not water should be used at that residence during the times specified.

Residents can turn their home water meter off to prevent any water use in the home.

If there are changes to the schedule, updated notices will be delivered to the doors of impacted properties.

UPON COMPLETION

Follow these guidelines once watermain swabbing is completed:

• Run cold water for a few minutes

Let cold water run from a tap for a few minutes. Do not choose a tap that has a water filter connected to it, or the sediment may clog your filter. Using a hot water tap can also draw sediments into your hot water tank.

• Check for clarity

Collect some water in a light-coloured cup or container to see if it is clear. It could be cloudy because air captured in the water forms tiny bubbles, which are harmless and will disappear if the water sits for a few minutes. The water should be safe to use if it is clear. If the water does not clear in 5 minutes, wait 30 minutes and try again.

There may be some water discolouration for short periods following outages. If water is still discoloured after two to three hours, the city is advising residents to call the Water Operations Branch where staff will be monitoring the watermains throughout the process. 

4) Canada’s first beach cleaning robot pays visit to Lake Simcoe

Courtesy Barrie360.com and Canadian Press

By Vanessa Tiberio, June 24, 2025

Don’t be alarmed if you see a Zamboni-like rover roaming Ontario’s shores this summer – it’s a beach cleaning robot being tested in some provincial parks.

The robot, called a BeBot, is a remotely operated and fully electric machine that removes plastic, glass, metal, paper and other debris from beaches with sand-sifting technology.

“This technology allows us to capture some of the larger pieces of plastic before they actually enter the water,” said Melissa DeYoung, CEO of environmental organization Pollution Probe, which launched the BeBot in partnership with the Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks.

DeYoung said it is “critically important” to remove litter and plastic before they enter lakes since they commonly break down into microplastics that can impact wildlife in the water.

“We’ll never be able to remove all of the plastic that’s found in the environment, but what we can do is collect data on the types of plastic we’re finding and then we have a very good sense of what the sources might be and where that plastic might be coming from,” said DeYoung.

The BeBot can clean up to 3,000 square metres per hour for up to eight hours and can remove the equivalent of around 19 bowling balls worth of plastic in one use, said DeYoung. The robot is battery-powered with a solar panel on the back and has a top speed of just below three kilometres per hour.

The BeBot began its litter-cleaning work on the shores of Lake Simcoe at Sibbald Point Provincial Park this week, and will make its way to Inverhuron Provincial Park on Lake Huron in the next month. Then, it will head to Lake Erie’s Long Point Provincial Park in late July and August, and Sandbanks Provincial Park and Darlington Provincial Park on Lake Ontario near the end of the summer.

While removing litter is its main job, DeYoung said the robot’s tour across the province also aims to encourage people to reduce waste.

“Sometimes people think we don’t have an issue because they can’t spot that plastic in the water,” DeYoung said.

“So having this technology that’s highly visible out on the beach while we’re working invites people to come in and discuss what we’re doing and then we can have those types of conversations that are required to have long-term solutions.”

Pollution Probe first launched its initiative to remove plastic from the Great Lakes – called The Great Lakes Plastic Cleanup – in 2020 alongside the Council of the Great Lakes Region.

DeYoung said the group had previously piloted the BeBot in the United States and was looking to find partners to bring it to Canada, leading to its collaboration with the Ontario government and Unsmoke Canada.

Andrew Dowie, parliamentary assistant to Environment Minister Todd McCarthy, said the Ontario government has provided almost $1 million to Pollution Probe’s efforts to tackle plastic pollution around the Great Lakes since 2021.

The beach cleaning robot will join more than 160 plastic capturing technologies already in use by Pollution Probe, DeYoung said.