When the rules change, residents and businesses should not have to play phone-tag to figure out who picks something up. Responsibility has to be obvious.
WHAT I WOULD DO
Be clear about who owns the service. Since January 1, 2026, Circular Materials manages residential Blue Box collection while the City continues garbage and Green Bin service. Put the non-residential recycling gap and unfinished multi-residential organics work on a public file instead of pretending the transition is complete.
WHAT RESIDENTS AND BUSINESSES SHOULD SEE
Missed-collection performance people can see and a recorded public answer on the small-business recycling gap.
EVIDENCE THAT MATTERS
The City says approximately 535 non-residential properties lost municipal curbside recycling when Ontario’s producer-responsibility Blue Box system took effect on January 1, 2026. Circular Materials now manages residential recycling collection in London.
Why it matters: That leaves a real service gap for excluded small businesses, daycares, churches and non-profits, while municipal garbage and organics remain City responsibilities.
City of London — Recycling transition ↗WHO COLLECTS WHAT
Garbage, Green Bin, household recycling, business recycling and multi-residential organics now sit across different service responsibilities. The page should tell people who owns the next step.
SERVICE FILE
Keep collection rules readable and publish service performance when missed pickups become a repeat problem.
ON THIS SERVICE
Keep the existing Green Bin service reliable while treating multi-residential organics as a separate unfinished decision.
ON THIS SERVICE
Be precise about household recycling responsibility and direct residents to the actual operator responsible for the service.
ON THIS SERVICE
Do not describe Blue Box as a City-run service when it is not; make responsibility clear on the page and in service directions.
Household recycling now sits under Ontario’s producer-responsibility framework rather than City-run collection.
SERVICE FILE
Put replacement recycling for excluded businesses to an explicit public decision rather than letting the service gap drift.
The replacement-service question for excluded non-residential properties remains a public decision with cost and scope attached.
SERVICE FILE
Multi-residential organics remains open. Publish the cost, operating model and expected diversion before locking a position.
Expansion remains open pending the operating model, cost and expected diversion result.
OPEN DECISION
Replacement recycling for excluded non-residential properties and expansion of multi-residential organics remain open decisions. The City says roughly 535 non-residential properties lost municipal curbside recycling when producer responsibility took effect January 1, 2026.
London controls municipal garbage, organics, depots and landfill. Household recycling operates under the provincial producer-responsibility framework. Council decides whether the City funds additional municipal services for gaps it chooses to address.
Keep City-run collection performance visible, direct household recycling questions to the producer-responsibility operator, and put any City-funded replacement service for excluded businesses to an explicit Council decision with cost and scope attached.
