Recycling begins to improve in Peel Region after 2K complaints clog phone lines

Mississauga Mayor Carolyn Parrish says the new, privately-operated recycling pickup in Peel Region appears to be operating better after its troubled launch saw more than 2,000 complaints clog municipal phone lines.

Across the province, at the beginning of the year, recycling moved from the umbrella of local governments to a non-profit group — Circular Materials — organized by private sector companies like Costco, Loblaw and McDonald’s after changes to provincial law.

The move shifts responsibility for recycling from municipalities to the companies whose products create packaging, but its launch was far from smooth.

In the Region of Peel, some 2,000-plus complaints were lodged by confused and frustrated residents in a single day as pickups stalled.

“It was throughout Mississauga and actually throughout the whole Region of Peel. Brampton were getting calls, we were getting calls, calls were going into the region, and they were getting jammed there,” Parrish told Global News.

“It was a bit of a rough start.”

Part of the frustration was the fact that Circular Materials subcontracted their work to GFL, the same company the Region of Peel had relied upon before the switch. It meant for residents not following closely, the same trucks and crews stopped reliably picking up recycling overnight.

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“The difficulty is they’re following different instructions. Everything was as smooth as glass when Peel was giving GFL their instructions,” Parrish said.

“I’m guessing they want to save money. I think the purpose of hiring them and doing it in bulk all over Ontario is that they’re eventually going to save money on the actual collection end of it.”

Circular Materials, who Parrish said had not been “terribly cooperative” with the region, said collection would improve.

“Some residents in the Peel regional experienced delays to recycling collection service due to extreme weather conditions and high volume,” a spokesperson said.

“With Ontario representing the largest recycling transition ever undertaken in Canada, there have been some early transition challenges.”

The issues in Peel were replicated in parts of Toronto as the overall transition stuttered.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford, however, said the difficulties were to be expected with a new system.

“With anything when you start, if you change things and make a move, you’re going to have a few kinks,” he told reporters this week.

“But I’m very confident, in the next week or two, I know our officials are meeting with them today, they’re going to get it all straightened out.”

The premier also snapped at municipalities which he felt had complained, saying they could have the cost of recycling back if they weren’t happy with the new system.

“We uploaded (this). Used to be producers 50 per cent, municipalities 50 per cent,” Ford said.

“Because I’m a good guy and I love municipalities, I uploaded everything … so the other option for all the municipalities that want to complain — especially some of the lefties down at Toronto — why don’t you take the 50 per ent (back) and start paying it. You can run your own recycling.”

Parrish, who said Ford had “said it how it is,” suggested collections appeared to be improving this week.

“Generally, complaints are down,” she wrote in a text.