NB

Recycling transition

Information for municipalities and First Nations communities on the roll-out of the New Brunswick Stewardship Plan for Packaging and Paper.

Throughout 2022, Circular Materials developed and consulted on a New Brunswick Stewardship Plan for Packaging and Paper on behalf of brand owners obligated by the Designated Materials Regulation under the Clean Environment Act.  

On May 5, 2023, Recycle New Brunswick approved the Stewardship Plan, which kickstarts the transition to the new program beginning on November 1, 2023. 

As per the Stewardship Plan, the transition of existing residential curbside recycling programs will be complete in 2024 and result in improved recycling programs within each region, including higher recovery and participation rates. The transition of expanded services will be complete in 2025 and the public space transition will be complete in 2027.  

NOTICE: Upcoming deadline for Phase 1 communities. Please review below under ‘Transition Contracts’.

Join our Municipal Working Group

To support ongoing collaboration with municipalities, we have established a Municipal Working Group as a forum to share feedback, raise questions and directly engage with our team. 

Register for the meeting series here

You only need to register once to attend all the Municipal Working Group meetings. Once registered, you will be sent a confirmation email from Zoom and can add all the meeting dates to your calendar.

The program will be launched in two phases to ensure the transition is seamless for New Brunswick residents.

The first phase will be launched on November 1, 2023, in the following regions: 

  • Northwest Regional Service Commission (Region 1)
  • Restigouche Regional Service Commission (Region 2)
  • Fundy Regional Service Commission (Region 9)
  • Southwest Regional Service Commission (Region 10)
  • Fredericton Regional Service Commission (Region 11)
  • Western Valley Regional Service Commission (Region 12)


The second phase of the program will be launched on May 1, 2024, in the remaining regions: 

  • Chaleur Regional Service Commission (Region 3)
  • Acadian Peninsula Regional Service Commission (Region 4)
    Greater Miramichi Regional Service Commission (Region 5) 
  • Kent Regional Service Commission (Region 6)
  • Southeast Regional Service Commission (Region 7)
  • Kings Regional Service Commission (Region 8)

Circular Materials is offering to contract with municipalities and First Nations communities to continue services during the transition period. This requires completing a Master Services Agreement and Statement of Work with Circular Materials. Below are agreements for those communities who wish to opt in to continue recycling collection services during the transition period.

Please review and send any feedback to NBoperations@circularmaterials.ca.

To ensure we have the appropriate contact for the contracts, please register the signing authority for your legal entity here. 

NOTICE: Phase 1 Communities must provide written intention to opt-in or opt-out by September 8, 2023 to nboperations@circularmaterials.ca

If we do not receive a response by September 8, 2023 from Phase 1 communities, we will consider your community as opting out of providing recycling collection services to residents. This means that as of May 1, 2024, Circular Materials will manage collection of residential blue box material and associated residential promotion and education (P&E).  

For those that decline to execute an agreement to continue services during the transition period, Circular Materials will award a contract to a private company through direct negotiations or an RFP process by May 1, 2024.

To support program implementation planning as well procurement activities for the New Brunswick packaging and paper program, please provide your written intention to opt-in or opt-out by September 8 to NBoperations@circularmaterials.ca.