OttawaBlue bin recycling will not be available at any schools within the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board (OCDSB) or the Ottawa Catholic School Board (OCSB) when classes resume this September.OCDSB, OCSB have not renewed contract to collect glass, metal and plastic wasteCBC News · Posted: Aug 27, 2025 11:12 AM EDT | Last Updated: 1 hour agoThe school boards have asked parents to send litterless lunches or have children bring their metal, glass and plastic recycling home. (John Moore/Getty Images)Blue bin recycling will not be available at any schools within the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board (OCDSB) or the Ottawa Catholic School Board (OCSB) when classes resume this September.One contractor provided recycling service for plastics, glass and metal at all four local school boards, an OCSB spokesperson wrote to CBC in an email. That company did not renew its contract with the OCSB for this school year, and the board has not found a replacement.”We remain hopeful that a recycling service for plastics, glass, and metal can be reinstated in the future,” the spokesperson wrote.A spokesperson for the OCDSB told CBC that “as a result of the Province of Ontario’s implementation of the Resource Recovery and Circular Economy Act, the local company that manages recyclable materials has discontinued plastics recycling services.”Ontario amended the Resource Recovery and Circular Economy Act in 2022 and a transition period began in 2023 to a new framework where “Blue Box producers became fully accountable and financially responsible for collecting and recycling their Blue Box materials when consumers discard them.”The transition is set to conclude by the end of 2025, according to Ontario’s Resource Productivity and Recovery Authority. The OCDSB did not specify whether it’s looking for a new contractor, but wrote “we continue to strategize and innovate to improve our waste diversion results.” Ottawa South MPP John Fraser reacted to the news on social media, saying that blue bins are a “symbol and a teaching tool for our kids.””There are too many holes in this story and parents deserve a better answer,” he wrote.Both of Ottawa’s school boards said paper recycling will continue and asked that families pack litterless lunches or have their children bring glass, metal and plastic items home to be recycled.CBC has reached out to the local French school boards to ask if they also lost the contract for blue bin recycling, and whether they were able to secure a replacement.
No blue bin recycling at 2 Ottawa school boards this September
