The Canadian city of Orillia is preparing to transition to the new provincewide blue box recycling programme, which will start on 1 January 2024.

The programme will increase the enforcement of proper waste sorting and thereby make the separation of recyclables more accurate.

The city is joining forces with Circular Materials and administrators of the new model, to ensure a smooth transition.

The scheme is intended to directly involve companies that create packaging and other recyclable materials in the recycling process.

All Ontario municipalities, including Orillia, are gradually switching to the new system between July 2023 and December 2025.

The programme is designed for residential sources, including single-family households, multiresidential buildings, retirement homes, and long-term care facilities.

Businesses will continue to have routine recycling collections, however, there will be added separate routes for institutional, industrial, and commercial recycling in the near future.

There will be no immediate changes in the current kerbside recycling schedule or accepted items for Orillia residents until the transition is implemented.

City of Orillia Waste Management and Environmental Compliance director Greg Preston said: “Under the new programme, the recycling collected from households is taken to a central receiving centre for processing and they will be keeping a closer eye on how well the recycling is sorted.

"This means ensuring that the right materials go into the right bins, like separating paper from containers, so that it can be collected."