Circular Materials, Emterra gain routes in Ontario

Circular Materials, a Toronto-based nonprofit organization appointed by producers under Ontario’s new extended producer responsibility (EPR) framework, will begin overseeing residential recycling collection in Simcoe Country, Ontario, starting Jan. 1, 2026.

An announcement posted to the Simcoe County website indicates that recyclables placed curbside by county residents will be collected on the same day and in the same carts they have been using but by Burlington, Ontario-based Emterra Environmental Inc.

According to the county, municipal solid waste and organic materials will continue to be collected by Miller Waste of Markham, Ontario.

Simcoe County, which has a population of about 350,000 and is about 60 miles north of Toronto, says the change is part of the provincewide transition that shifts responsibility for the collection and processing of blue box materials from municipalities to producers of recyclable products.

The county also indicates that while small businesses and other entities in the industrial, commercial and institutional waste and recycling generation stream are not included in the changes, it is negotiating with a Ontario producer responsibility organization regarding terms to begin such collections.