Paper & Cardboard
OCC, mixed paper, news
- Tonnage
- 42,310 t
- Diversion
- 91.2%
- Contamination
- 3.1%
Three regional MRFs cleared the 90% diversion threshold for the first time, helped by the new optical-sort upgrade in March.
01 · Executive Summary
A bright quarter for circular materials.
Across 14 metropolitan facilities, the network processed 129,400 tonnes of post-consumer material this quarter — a 12.8% rise over Q4 2025, with contamination rates falling for the third quarter in a row.
The headline is steady, glossy progress: paper diversion crossed 90% in three regions, polymer streams cleaned up considerably after April’s sorter retrofit, and our community drop-off network grew to 287 staffed sites. Glass remains the brightest mover, with crushing yields up nearly seven points after the South Valley line came back online.
The report below is structured around five report blocks — summary, materials, regions, impact equivalency, and methodology. Hover any block to surface its underlying notes.
02 · Material Streams
Where the tonnage went.
Each stream below summarises the quarter’s recovered tonnage, diversion rate (share of arriving material that left as a usable commodity), and contamination ratio (share rejected to landfill). Blocks lift on hover to reveal a one-line analyst note.
Polymers
PET, HDPE, PP bottles & tubs
- Tonnage
- 28,160 t
- Diversion
- 78.5%
- Contamination
- 5.4%
PET stream contamination dropped two points after on-cap sorting was added; HDPE pellet quality remains marketable across all four offtakers.
Glass
Cullet, three-colour separated
- Tonnage
- 22,040 t
- Diversion
- 86.4%
- Contamination
- 4.2%
Yield jumped after the South Valley crusher came back online; ceramic contamination is the only stubborn line item.
Metals
Aluminium, ferrous, mixed
- Tonnage
- 18,720 t
- Diversion
- 94.6%
- Contamination
- 1.8%
The cleanest stream we run; eddy-current performance is steady across all sites and aluminium prices held firm.
Organics
Food, garden, compostables
- Tonnage
- 14,890 t
- Diversion
- 82.1%
- Contamination
- 6.9%
Two new household-collection routes opened in West Harbor; bag-tag programmes continue to reduce film contamination week-over-week.
E-Waste
Small electronics & batteries
- Tonnage
- 3,280 t
- Diversion
- 96.8%
- Contamination
- 0.9%
The fastest-growing stream of the quarter, helped by the rollout of supermarket battery drop-off bins in 42 stores.
03 · Regional Performance
Six service areas, six different stories.
Diversion rate is the share of inbound material that exited the facility as a useful commodity. Tonnage is rounded to the nearest ten. Hover a row to highlight the region.
North Bay
89%
18,450 t
Riverside
82%
12,300 t
South Valley
71%
9,870 t
East Ridge
85%
7,640 t
West Harbor
76%
14,210 t
Northern Pines
78%
5,930 t
Aggregate quarterly diversion across all service areas: 82.4% — an increase of 3.1 points from the previous quarter.
04 · Environmental Equivalency
What 129,400 tonnes feels like.
Recovered material avoids the energy, water, and forest impact of producing virgin goods. The figures below convert this quarter’s tonnage using EPA WARM v15 equivalency factors.
Equivalent to taking 93,200 passenger vehicles off the road for one year.
Roughly 964 Olympic swimming pools held back from industrial draw-down.
About a 3,100-hectare working forest that didn’t need to be felled this quarter.
Equivalent to powering 112,400 average homes for a full calendar year.
05 · Methodology
How these numbers were measured.
Tonnage is measured by certified bridge scales at every material recovery facility on the network, with reconciliation against shipping manifests at the end of each operational week. Every measurement is timestamped, signed, and stored in our append-only ledger.
Diversion rates are computed per stream as (out_commodity_t / in_inbound_t) over a rolling 13-week window to smooth out seasonal noise. Contamination ratios come from randomised audits, conducted bi-weekly across all processing centres.
Environmental equivalencies use the EPA WARM model v15. All figures shown are net of processing energy. Lifecycle assumptions follow ISO 14040.
Reporting period: Q1 2026 — Generated by the recycle.report automated analysis pipeline. Data accuracy: ±2.3% at 95% confidence.