The future of recycling programs in Madawaska Valley is uncertain.
Councillors and municipal officials have decisions to make in the coming months, as they grapple with a new Ontario law that demands manufacturers of recyclable products pay for collection.
The issue was discussed at Wednesday’s council meeting, where councillors voted to start a committee to review Ontario’s Blue Box Transition program.
Coun. Shelley Maika, who chairs Madawaska Valley’s waste management committee, said, “there’s potential cost savings” in the new law, given that it’s intended to halt municipally funded Blue Box programs.
However, she also said the issue is complicated because Madawaska Valley offers both curbside pickup for residents and the use of waste transfer stations.
Maika says, as the Transition program is only intended to end municipally funded curbside pickup programs, it raises questions about how the municipality would continue with its overall waste management operations, such as industrial recycling which the new program does not address.
The new law is being phased in across the province now and it’s expected to impact Madawaska Valley, possibly as early as 2025.
