How MMSM Calculates Municipal Recycling Funding
Manitoba’s Waste Reduction and Prevention Act requires producers of residential packaging and printed paper to share responsibility for funding part of the cost to collect and recycle those materials.
Within the current shared funding model, communities operate or contract their own recycling services. MMSM provides funding to help cover eligible costs1 for collecting and recycling residential packaging and printed paper. MMSM calculates funding using eligible recycling costs and revenues reported through its Cost Monitoring Survey (CMS).
MMSM funding is designed to cover up to 80 per cent of eligible costs. However, the current model is not a direct reimbursement model. A community’s annual payment may not equal 80 per cent of its actual recycling costs for that year.
Communities remain responsible for costs not covered by MMSM funding. These may include capital investments, contract or service changes, unexpected cost increases, or changes in revenue from the sale of recyclable materials.
How the funding model works
Each year, participating communities must report recycling costs and tonnes through the CMS.
MMSM conducts annual waste audits to understand the composition of the recycling stream, including the percentage of different material types such as cardboard, glass, plastic, aluminum, and other materials. This information helps MMSM determine the eligible tonnes used in funding calculations.
MMSM does not reimburse each community for its actual recycling costs each year. Instead, communities are paid a set rate per tonne of collected material. MMSM calculates the funding rate for communities in different population groups based on their reported cost and tonnage information to determine the average cost per tonne for each population groups.
Each community’s annual funding is then calculated by applying the funding rate for its population group to its eligible tonnes.2
Population group funding rate × Community eligible tonnes
= Annual community payment
As a result, a community’s payment may not equal 80 per cent of its actual recycling costs for that year. Payments are issued quarterly.
Population groups
Recycling program costs can vary significantly across Manitoba because of community size, geography, collection model, contract structure, and other local factors. To account for these differences, MMSM groups communities by population when calculating funding rates, rather than applying one province-wide rate to all communities. There are three population groups:
- Less than 5,000 residents
- 5,001 to 20,000 residents
- Over 20,000 residents
Each group’s funding rate is calculated using reported recycling costs and tonnes from communities in that group. This supports a more consistent funding approach while recognizing that recycling programs operate differently across the province.
The three-year rolling average
Recycling costs and revenues can change from year to year due to factors such as contract changes, fuel costs, processing costs, capital needs, or changes in the market value of recyclable materials.
To reduce the impact of short-term market fluctuations, MMSM uses a three-year rolling average when calculating funding rates. Funding rates paid in a given year are calculated using a three-year rolling average of previously reported cost and tonne information. The payment is then applied to the eligible tonnes for the applicable material reporting year.
For example, 2026 funding rates are calculated using a three-year rolling average of reported cost and tonne information from the 2023, 2024, and 2025 reporting years. The community payment is then applied to the eligible tonnes generated and reported for the applicable material year.
Community-specific questions
Recycling programs operate differently across Manitoba. If your community has questions about its funding payment or how the current model applies to your program, MMSM can review the information with you directly.
Footnotes
- Eligible costs may include costs related to collecting, processing, promoting, administering, and supporting eligible capital assets for residential packaging and printed paper recycling. Eligibility is determined through MMSM’s funding methodology and reporting process. ↩︎
- Each year, participating communities must report recycling costs and tonnes through the CMS.
MMSM conducts annual waste audits to understand the composition of the recycling stream, including the percentage of different material types such as cardboard, glass, plastic, aluminum, and other materials. This information helps MMSM determine the eligible tonnes used in funding calculations.
MMSM does not reimburse each community for its actual recycling costs each year. Instead, communities are paid a set rate per tonne of collected material. MMSM calculates the funding rate for communities in different population groups based on their reported cost and tonnage information to determine the average cost per tonne for each population groups.
Each community’s annual funding is then calculated by applying the funding rate for its population group to its eligible tonnes. ↩︎