People in glass houses do throw stones

Solid Waste and Recycling Magazine promises editorial comment in its February-March issue about the failures of the Ontario recycling program. It is giving a taste on its website where it publishes a summary report and an opportunity to download a letter from O-I Canada Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of glass and bottlemaker Owens-Illinois.

And while the glass maker has a clear vested interest, the posting (and the letter) raises a very interesting issue: why it the Liquor Control Board of Ontario -- the largest contributor to recyclable glass containers in the province -- pressuring its suppliers to market wine in tetra-pack containers when it is known that only about 8% of those containers are ever recycled (only a fifth of the amount of glass recycled by blue boxes)? Apparently, it's because it save the LCBO money under the Stewardship Ontario program. (Magazines, too, have a vested interest here, since SO is funded in part by a levy on the weight of paper a magazine publisher is responsible for putting into the recycling stream.)

"While low-weight packaging with a low recovery rate certainly offers the LCBO lower applicable stewardship fees," says O-I, "it comes at a tremendous cost to Ontario's environment and economy."