Item - 2017.PW22.4

The Public Works and Infrastructure Committee recommends that:

1. City Council request the City Manager and/or his designate to continue consulting and negotiating with provincial officials to ensure inclusion of the City's priorities in future regulations or policy statements that implement the Waste Diversion Transition Act, 2016, the Resource Recovery and Circular Economy Act, 2016, and the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change (MOECC) Strategy for a Waste-Free Ontario: Building the Circular Economy.

2. City Council authorize the General Manager, Solid Waste Management Services and/or his designate to vote on all appropriate matters of the Resource Productivity and Recovery Authority's Municipal Industry Program Committee and Continuous Improvement Fund Board.

3. City Council renew and extend until 2022, the authorization for the General Manager, Solid Waste Management Services and/or his designate to negotiate and enter into any agreements (including but not limited to agreements to receive external funding) necessary for the City's continued waste diversion operations throughout the transition period under the Waste Diversion Transition Act, 2016, based in part on the updated pricing information presented in the Confidential Attachment 1 to the report (May 24, 2017) from the General Manager, Solid Waste Management Services, on terms satisfactory to the General Manager, Solid Waste Management Services and each in a form satisfactory to the City Solicitor.

4. City Council authorize the General Manager, Solid Waste Management Services and/or his designate to negotiate and enter into any agreements or acknowledgements necessary in connection with the efforts indicated in Recommendation 1 above on terms and conditions satisfactory to the General Manager and each in a form satisfactory to the General Manager and City Solicitor.

5. City Council request the General Manager, Solid Waste Management Services to report back to the Public Works and Infrastructure Committee on the status of the implementation of Waste-Free Ontario Act, 2016 and associated regulations and any anticipated impacts on Solid Waste Management Services programs and services.

6. City Council direct that the confidential information contained in Confidential Attachment 1 to the report (May 24, 2017) from the General Manager, Solid Waste Management Services remain confidential in its entirety as it pertains to the security of the property of the City and in order to protect the competitive position, future economic and legal interests of the City.

Since 2002, the costs associated with the delivery of municipal residential blue box recycling services has been shared between Municipalities and Producers (the companies that are responsible for primarily the generation and distribution of Printed Paper and Packaging) under a model of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR). EPR is a policy approach under which producers are given a significant responsibility – financial and/or physical – for the processing or disposal of post-consumer products. Assigning such responsibility should in principle provide incentives to prevent wastes at the source, promote product design for the environment and support the achievement of public recycling and materials management goals.

The funding model to date, under the former Waste Diversion Act, 2002, (WDA) was supposed to result in a 50/50 split of the total municipal program net costs. However each year, due largely to ambiguous legislative provisions in the former Waste Diversion Act, 2002 that led to competing interpretations in the calculation process and unresolved differences of opinion between the municipalities and the producers, municipalities have not historically received 50 percent of their actual report costs. For Toronto this has resulted in a reduced payment from Producers annually ranging from $800,000.00 to $3,500.000.00 (representing a 0.4 percent to 1.5 percent pressure on the rate budget).

Recently, the Province of Ontario has passed new legislation that will see recycling services transition to a full EPR model, the implementation of which is still a provincial work in progress as the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change (MOECC) develops the enabling regulations. Under a full EPR model, a greater allocation of costs and operational responsibilities will be borne by the Producers, in exchange for control over the delivery of services. This report outlines:

- the Province's implementation of the new legislation;
- the expected timelines;
- City staff engagement with implementation and future developments, including collaborating with other municipalities to coordinate resources and establish common principles to manage the transition to full EPR.
 

To maximize these opportunities and to protect the City's rate payers and residents' interests, it is crucial that the City plays a significant role in the formulation of these new regulations and works collaboratively with other municipalities in the Province. As such, staff is seeking Council authority for the City Manager or his designate to continue to work with the Province and stakeholders on implementation, and for the General Manager, Solid Waste Management Services to enter into any necessary agreements to that end, including but not limited to, continued transition operations and a possible joint municipal cooperation agreement. This report also requests authority for the General Manager, Solid Waste Management Services (and/or his designate) to negotiate and enter into agreements for the City's continued waste diversion operations throughout the transition period under the Waste Diversion Transition Act, 2016 (WDTA).

Attached to this is a confidential attachment outlining pricing updates as they relate to existing agreements.