Guelph residents, including mayor, voice frustrations with recycling system

CTV’s Karis Mapp finds out why people in Guelph, including the mayor, are feeling frustration with provincially run recycling.

Guelph’s mayor has penned a letter to the company responsible for recycling collection as residents raise concerns with delays and missed pick-ups.

On Friday, Mayor Cam Guthrie published an email to Circular Materials.

“I am writing on behalf of the residents of Guelph to express my profound frustration and outright dissatisfaction with the overall level of recycling collection service that Waste Management has delivered since Ontario’s producer responsibility changes took effect, mandated by the provincial government in May 2025,” Guthrie wrote.

Under the producer responsibility model, the province said the blue box recycling program was 100 per cent funded by the companies that supply packaging and paper products to consumers in Ontario.

Circular Materials is responsible for managing the new residential recycling system.

As of January of this year, Ontario’s three-year transition phase to the new system wrapped up, but the not-for-profit organization has been overseeing Guelph’s recycling for more than a year.

“There were about 500 complaints last year, but what we’ve seen just in January so far was in the 70/80 complaint range,” Guthrie wrote.

Guthrie’s letter accused Circular Material’s efforts of undermining public confidence and taking up municipal staff’s time as they dealt with complaints from residents about missed pick-ups, overflowing containers, inconsistent routing and confusion about what can go in the blue bin.

Circular Materials said they have been working with the city’s provider since taking over the service.

“Since that transition, we’ve been working and continue to work with our service provider, Waste Management, to deliver consistent, reliable collection service to residents,” Allen Langdon, Circular Material’s CEO, said.

Despite the challenges, Guthrie said he is still on board with the provincial change.

“I believe [tax savings are] in the $1.5M to $2M range approximately,” Guthrie said.

City of Guelph officials have met with representatives for both Circular Materials and Waste Management. The collection companies said the weather is to blame for many of the recent delays.

“It could be roads aren’t clear. It could be temperatures get so low that the trucks have difficulty getting out to do their collection,” Langdon explained.

For now, improving communication will be a major focus.

“We want to see residents concerns and issues, like missed collections, get addressed and get addressed in the most expedient fashion possible,” Langdon said.

He added that making people aware of where they can get updated information will be a major component of the plan.

Residents can go to Circular Material’s Guelph page for service alerts and information about what can be recycled.