FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Ottawa, June 5, 2025 – Yesterday, while Bill 5 was being voted on in the Ontario Legislature, the Ford government posted amendments to the Blue Box Regulation,  https://ero.ontario.ca/notice/025-0009 that undermine waste diversion efforts and accelerate landfill expansion, including the controversial Dresden landfill. These changes prioritize cost-cutting and data collection over stronger recycling goals, risking more waste ending up in landfills.

Beatrice Olivastri, CEO, Friends of the Earth Canada, says, “Weakening Ontario’s recycling standards will only deepen our waste crisis and threaten local ecosystems. It’s time for a shift towards real waste reduction, not shortcuts.”

By weakening recycling, we are worsening the landfill crisis which Premier Ford pointed to as the need to fast track the Dresden landfill. The Blue Box program was created to hold producers responsible for managing packaging waste. The proposed updates focus on saving costs rather than expanding recycling targets or materials. This could lead to more recyclable materials being diverted to landfills, worsening Ontario’s looming landfill capacity crisis—already predicted to be exhausted within a decade.

Bill 5 enables a dangerous shortcut for the rapid expansion of landfills, like the Dresden landfill, by bypassing vital environmental protections. Denying local citizens their right to an environmental assessment of the proposed landfill threatens local ecosystems, indigenous rights, and public oversight, and offers only a temporary fix to a long-term waste management problem.

Ms. Olivastri says, “The landfill will be a band-aid on a gaping wound and a brazen power grab.”

Ontario cannot solve its waste crisis through landfilling. Friends of the Earth urges the public to oppose these amendments and demand stronger recycling and waste diversion programs that protect communities and the environment.

The public can comment at: Amendments to the Blue Box Regulation ERO number 025-0009 https://ero.ontario.ca/notice/025-0009

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For more information or interviews, please contact:

Beatrice Olivastri, CEO, Friends of the Earth Canada (613) 724-8690