There is no risk in adopting the resolution. Council is reminded that the resolution is simply an expression of preference and in no way binds the Corporation. Furthermore, there is no guarantee that the City’s preferred transition date will be accepted, nor is there any guarantee that a favorable agreement can be reached with producers for service provision.

Financial Matters:

Regardless of the transition date selected, there is significant risk that the financial implications will be different than what is outlined in this report. At this time, the Regulations pertaining to this transition have not been finalized, nor even drafted, and many factors within the regulations could affect the assumptions made in the Financial Matters section of this report. Additionally, the Essex Windsor Solid Waste Authority will be indicating that their preferred transition date for the processing of recyclable materials is January 1, 2023. This report assumes that the City of Windsor would continue to bring collected recyclable materials to the Material Recovery Facility located at 3560 North Service Rd E. Should the Producers opt to process recyclable material at a different location, there could be further impacts to the City of Windsor. Those impacts related to both processing and cost, are unknown at this time and will depend on the transition details yet to be developed.

There will certainly be financial implications as a result of this transition. Most notably, the City, through the EWSWA budget, will no longer be responsible for Recycling Program costs. The 2020 net recycling program costs are currently budgeted at $3.7 million, of which the City is responsible for approximately ½. Based on this amount, it is expected that the City will see annual savings of approximately $1.85 million per year with the transition of the recycling program. These potential savings however, will likely be offset to a certain extent by some fixed expenses that the EWSWA will not be able to fully eliminate, such as certain administrative and/or various overhead costs, which would then be reallocated to other programs of the Authority. These costs are unknown at this time. The City also passes along various fixed administrative and overhead costs related to the City’s operation of the Recycling Program to EWSWA, for incorporation into their budget. Some of these City costs would also need to continue as well, despite a transition of the program to the Producers. Currently, it is estimated that approximately $70,000 in costs would be retained by the City of Windsor only.

Additionally, the current EWSWA recycling budget includes costs related to the pickup, processing and sale of all municipally collected recyclable materials, both residential and commercial. As noted previously, for the time being, the transition to Full Producer Responsibility only contemplates residential recycling and not the commercial component of the program. Therefore, it would be reasonable that the costs related to a program for recycling of commercial recyclables would remain. Whether this function continues to be delivered and managed through the EWSWA or through the City on its own, would need to be a decision point as we move forward. The cost of an ICI recycling program has been estimated at $600,000 annually, however this number is purely a projection until such time that a program can be fully developed and implemented.