Summary of paper describing the economic challenges of Blue Box recycling in Ontario

1.
Diversion, but at what cost? The Economic Challenges of
Recycling in Ontario
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921344914002699
By: Dr. Calvin Lakhan
http://wastewiki.info.yorku.ca/
lakhanc@yorku.ca

2. Overview
• Study examined how changing the mix of materials
accepted in Ontario’s Blue Box program affects program
costs and recycling rates
• Quantifies the impact of “non core” material recycling
rates on system costs and diversion levels
• Is there an optimal mix of Blue Box materials?
• Economic and Diversion impact of removing non core
materials from the Blue Box program.

3. Methods
• System based cost model developed using data from the Waste
Diversion Ontario Data Call, and Stewardship Ontario Pay in Model
• Cost model allows users to change the mix of materials included in
the Blue Box, and attempt to achieve a maximum goal recycling
rate at the lowest possible cost
• Cost model now publicly available on the Waste Wiki website

4. Results
• What is the effect of removing non-core materials?

5. Results Cont’
• Model output for achieving a 70% recycling rate using the optimal bix of
Blue Box materials

6. Conclusions
• Non core materials make up a relatively small proportion
of overall Blue Box recovery, but comprise an inordinate
share of system costs (2% of material represents 20% of
costs)
• Removing these materials have little impact on overall
recycling rates
• It is possible to achieve a 70% recycling rate at a lower
cost than the existing system by targeting specific
materials for recovery

7. Conclusions
• Non core materials make up a relatively small proportion
of overall Blue Box recovery, but comprise an inordinate
share of system costs (2% of material represents 20% of
costs)
• Removing these materials have little impact on overall
recycling rates
• It is possible to achieve a 70% recycling rate at a lower
cost than the existing system by targeting specific
materials for recovery