Ribbon cut at high-tech recycling facility in Cambridge
Posted Jun 22, 2026 04:06:20 PM.
Last Updated Jun 22, 2026 04:06:25 PM.
After some bumps in the road, it appears the issues with waste collection in the region have worked themselves out.
Aside from the new bins, as of January 1, residents in Waterloo Region have been getting used to all the new items that can now be recycled. Things like ice cream tubs and black plastic containers, which used to be destined for the landfill, can now be put in the blue bin.
In anticipation of the increased volume of materials, Circular Materials and WM partnered to construct two state-of-the-art recycling facilities in Ontario. One in Napanee and the other in Cambridge.
Both plants came online in February, and on Monday, a ribbon-cutting ceremony was held in Cambridge.
Allen Langdon, CEO of Circular Materials told 570 NewsRadio that the Cambridge plant will process all recyclables in Waterloo Region and process them for resale back to the packaging manufacturers.
“It’s a key part of the infrastructure, and it has technology that we haven’t had in facilities in the past. Particularly to help us sort flexible plastics, which was just introduced into the system province-wide, on January first. It also means the creation of 40 jobs locally, and it represents another step in the system we’re building across Ontario.”
Combined, the Cambridge and Napanee facilities will process around 30 per cent of the province’s blue box materials, equating to roughly 160,000 metric tonnes annually.
Optical sorters, equipped with AI technology, will help make sure the materials are sorted effectively and efficiently.
Waterloo Region has always supported recycling efforts. The blue box program debuted in Kitchener as a pilot program in 1983.
Langdon believes that as people learn more about how these new recycling programs work, more of them will make the effort to ensure materials that can be recycled are.
“Once we can start to work with our producers and we can communicate that the package you put in the blue box is coming back to you as recycled content in a new package, three, four months later, that’s when I think it will really make more tangible sense to residents.”
It’s all part of the efforts to create a circular economy in Ontario.
