Stewardship Ontario Launches Orange Drop Campaign

Twenty two hazardous and special waste materials can now be returned to municipal recycling depots, retail collection counters, collection events and pharmacies across Ontario

TORONTO, June 30 /CNW/ - Stewardship Ontario, the industry organization responsible for the Blue Box program and the Municipal Hazardous or Special Waste (MHSW) Program, has launched Orange Drop, a new program designed to help make managing hazardous and special waste materials easier for Ontario consumers to understand and to do. In addition to including 22 waste materials that have been designated for collection and recycling or safe disposal, the program intends to make "the drop" more accessible for consumers by adding more drop off options and locations.

"Our mandate", says Stewardship Ontario CEO, Gemma Zecchini, "is to develop, implement and continuously improve recycling programs that are both environmentally and economically sustainable. At Stewardship Ontario, we are focused on extending the life of our landfills, and keeping our water and natural environment free of waste. Consumers expect it and the industries that fund the programs require it."

Orange Drop builds upon the original 2008 MHSW program which introduced nine waste material categories, including products such as paints and solvents, which were designated for environmentally-safe recycling and disposal. As of July 1, 2010, thirteen new categories, covering thousands of products, have been added to the Orange Drop list which now includes: batteries, pharmaceuticals, sharps and syringes, aerosol containers, antifreeze, drain cleaners and other corrosives, spot removers and other irritants, fertilizers, fire extinguishers, fuels and other flammables, fluorescents, moth balls and other leachate toxics, thermometers and other mercury containing devices, oil containers, oil filters, paint and coatings, pesticides, pressurized containers, metal powders and other reactives and adhesives and other toxics.

"Orange Drop is designed to raise awareness about what is considered a hazardous or special waste and to encourage Ontarians to make returning these items part of their regular recycling routine," said Lyle Clarke, Vice President, Operations, at Stewardship Ontario. "This new program makes it easier for consumers to properly dispose of these waste materials by expanding both the number of materials and the number of drop-off locations. Several new retail partners have joined the program as collection sites or "drop zones" for specific materials such as batteries, paint and pharmaceuticals. As well, we will have more collection events designed to accommodate under serviced areas."

Ontarians will now have access to:

    
    -   92 municipal recycling depots - collecting all 22 materials
    -   238 retail collection sites - for paint and batteries
    -   500 retail collection sites - just for batteries
    -   2700 pharmacies - for pharmaceuticals, sharps and syringes (to ensure
        those materials are safely collected and disposed of)
    

Approximately 217 collection events have also been organized across the province in the coming months to give consumers other opportunities for returning these materials,

"The Orange Drop program is the most comprehensive hazardous and special waste program in North America. By collecting a variety of materials under one umbrella, we are able to take advantage of economies of scale and achieve more cost effective and performance driven processing and recycling, "adds Clarke.

Items collected through the Orange Drop program will be sent to designated centres to be reprocessed into new materials. Items that cannot be recycled will be disposed of in the most safe and environmentally-friendly way.

The Orange Drop advertising campaign will kick off July 1, 2010 and will include a new website to provide consumers with information they need to make the drop. Further, to help educate Ontarians about the Orange Drop program, a mobile education tour will be travelling the province talking to consumers at lifestyle events and fairs. To learn more about the program and to find the Orange Drop location nearest you, please visit www.makethedrop.ca.

About Stewardship Ontario

Stewardship Ontario is an not-for-profit organization funded and governed by the industries (our stewards) that make and market the products and packaging materials managed under the Blue Box and Orange Drop recycling programs. For more information, please visit www.stewardshipontario.ca

For further information: Amanda Harper Sevonty, Director Marketing and Communications, Stewardship Ontario, Phone: [phone] ext. 161, Mobile: [phone], Email: [email protected]; Ahpy Bokpé, Communications Assistant, Stewardship Ontario, 1 St. Clair Ave. West, 7th Floor, Toronto, ON, M4V 1K6, Phone: [phone], ext 160, Fax: [phone], Email: [email protected]