Ontario to introduce enhanced Blue Box recycling program in 2026

On Jan. 1, 2026, Ontario, Canada, will complete its three-year transition to extended producer responsibility (EPR) for packaging and paper products. Simultaneously, the province will introduce an enhanced Blue Box recycling program.

Funded 100 percent by companies that supply packaging and paper products to consumers in Ontario, the system aims to provide households with a way to recycle more materials more easily. Municipalities and taxpayers will no longer pay for recycling services, as this cost will now be paid by producers. Under the new system, Ontario municipalities are expected to collectively save more than $200 million in costs.

Circular Materials of Toronto; Ryse Solutions Inc. of Boston; Landbell Canada of Toronto; and EnvironFocus Incorporated of Mississauga, Ontario, are the producer responsibility organizations that are operating Ontario’s new common collection system.

Circular Materials has been working with communities to aid in the transition to the new system, providing community-specific webpages with local collection schedules and service updates. Since the province’s transition to EPR began, the company says it has made investments in Ontario-based recycling facilities and will launch a new recycling app in 2026 to provide residents with access to reminders, accepted materials lists and alerts.

“Jan. 1, 2026, marks a major milestone and step forward for recycling in Ontario,” Allen Langdon, CEO of Circular Materials, says. “Ontario residents will now be able to recycle more materials than ever before at home and recycle the same materials no matter where they live across the province. This will make recycling easier for residents, improve recovery rates and help advance a circular economy in Ontario. By leaving the province and planet better than when we found it, we will leave a sustainable legacy that benefits generations to come.”

The transition to the new system began on July 1, 2023, with communities onboarding into the new program over time. As of Jan. 1, 2026, 383 communities and 12 First Nations in Ontario will be fully transitioned to the EPR program. The Province of Ontario released the Blue Box regulation in June 2021.

Beginning January 1, a new province-wide EPR material list will apply to residents in every community. The unified material list will serve as the first time materials collected for recycling will not vary by community in Ontario. According to Circular Materials, the list will make it easier for residents to recycle at home and improve recovery rates.

The new list expands the items that can be recycled to include hot and cold beverage cups (coffee cups), black plastic containers, frozen juice containers, ice cream tubs, toothpaste tubes, deodorant and more.

“By requiring producers to take full responsibility for operating and funding the residential Blue Box system, we are protecting Ontario with a stronger and more sustainable program that will help reduce waste and increase diversion, while reducing costs for municipalities,” says Todd McCarthy, Ontario minister of the environment, conservation and parks. “It will make recycling easier and more consistent, with a standardized and expanded list of materials that residents will be able to recycle in every community across Ontario.”

Residents also will receive information through local updates as the new system rolls out. For local service questions, a customer care line and email contact is available for each respective community.