Who pays for recycling in Nova Scotia is set to change
CBC
Recycling is changing in Nova Scotia, but it won't mean adjusting how you put your blue bags on the curb.
The province is switching to extended producer responsibility, or EPR — a policy shift that puts the responsibility for recycling materials on the producers that make them.
Right now, recycling programs in Nova Scotia are funded by municipalities, which means taxpayers cover some of the cost.
But the shift to EPR later this year means the "producers" of packaging, paper and single-use products, including the brand holders, importers and retailers of those materials, will be the ones to pony up the cash to recycle them.
As a part of the new measures, producers in the private sector were required to register with the not-for-profit recycling corporation Divert NS by January 2024.
Despite the change, Nvoa Scotians shouldn't notice much difference when the program is implemented on Dec. 1, 2025, according to Alanna McPhee, the executive director of EPR oversight at Divert NS. She said recyclable materials will continue to be collected on the curb, separated and sent to end markets.
Divert NS estimates Nova Scotia municipalities will save between $20 million and $25 million a year.
The program is being implemented in Nova Scotia by Circular Materials, a national not-for-profit organization that represents the producers.
Andrew Philopoulos, the managing director for the organization in Atlantic Canada, said as jurisdictions across the country enact EPR policies, producers are obliged to fund the programs' operations.
In the beginning, he said Circular Materials will "largely be relying on existing infrastructure" to get materials processed.
Circular Materials will either be contracting recycling services directly with municipalities or First Nation communities or retaining a recycling collector, he added.
Meanwhile, communities can either manage their recycling services with financial and operational support help from Circular Materials, or they can opt out and Circular Materials will assume full responsibility of the program.
"We're actually are undergoing a [request for proposal] process that we're in the middle of where we are planning to build a facility, or several facilities, to service both Nova Scotia and New Brunswick," Philopoulos said.
Funds from the producers will be used to build the new facilities, he said, although he did not specify how much construction would cost and added that a site in Nova Scotia has not yet been chosen.
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