Green Ontario: Solid Waste


What's it going to take to solve the garbage crisis?? Face it. We make a lot of garbage in this province, nearly nine million tonnes per year. That's about one tonne per person every year. Imagine that in your backyard.	Take Action Against Trash


We can, and should, be doing everything possible to reduce the waste. In particular, there's three things we need to do if we are going to solve our current garbage crisis: 1. Reduce our waste 2. Make it less toxic 3. Dispose of the residue safely. Ontario's goal is a 50 per cent reduction in solid waste (based on the 1987 levels), which sounds clear, but please see the explanation below for the full details. Reaching this goal will require new approaches to packaging and waste management, public commitment to waste reduction and recycling, and government leadership.		*INDEX*
		Quick Facts Current Strategies Major Activities What Else Could be Done? Individual Action Key Players and Links

Ontario produces nearly nine million tonnes of garbage each year. With our population at 10.75 million in 1996, that's close to a tonne a person (0.8 tonnes per person). Fortunately, recycling and composting takes a bite out of that pile, but it's still well short of the 50% target.

Ontario's Waste Statistics (in thousand tonnes)
	1987	1994	1996
Total waste generated	8,950	8,705	8.857
Total diverted from disposal	50	1,705	1,702
Total waste disposed	8,900	7,000	7,000
Reduction in total waste disposed over 1987	-	21.5%	21.5%
Kgs disposed / capita	918	642	625
Reduction in waste disposed per capita over 1987	-	30%	32%

Source: Recycling Roles and Responsibilities, Recycling Council of Ontario, April 1998.

Waste Reduction and Waste Management
Published Strategy	There is currently no published provincial strategy for waste diversion or waste management. The Ministry of the Environment introduced a Waste Reduction Action Plan in 1991. The original goal was to divert at least 25 percent of the province's municipal waste from landfills by 1992 and 50 per cent by the year 2000 (based on 1987 levels). The Plan is no longer available.
Goal	The current goal for the Ministry of the Environment is "50 per cent diversion, based on 1987 levels". The original goal, set in 1989, was to divert 50% of all waste from landfill or incineration by the end of 2000 (based on 1987 levels). This goal has been revised to be a reduction per capita (i.e. a 50% reduction in waste produced per person, not total), and the target date has been dropped. There is no goal for the reduction or elimination of hazardous waste from the municipal solid waste stream.
Targets	There are currently no specific targets for waste reduction.
Major Activities (see below)	Major activities with respect to waste reduction are largely through voluntary initiatives. Waste management decisions are now a local responsibility, with each municipality developing its own approach to solid waste management.
State of the Environment Reporting	The latest figures on municipal solid waste and diversion are available through the Recycling Council of Ontario, based on a survey of 200 municipal programs that represent about 99% of Ontario households.
Public Review	Stakeholder consultation is carried out through the Waste Diversion Organization (see below).
Overall, the province has a poorly defined goal for waste management, and few programs in place to achieve the goal. Ontario's current strategy places a strong reliance on voluntary industry mechanisms and municipal leadership.

Waste Reduction

Waste reduction is a major challenge, yet there are only a few organizations and programs that are responsible for most of Ontario's waste reduction efforts.

1) Coordination

Ministry of the Environment (MoE)
The Ministry of the Environment's Waste Management Branch is responsible for waste reduction and disposal in Ontario. There is some information available on Ministry initiatives in the Waste Section of the Ministry's web site.

The Waste Diversion Organization (WDO)
The Ontario Ministry of the Environment established the Waste Diversion Organization in 1999 to promote waste diversion. The WDO is an industry-lead association with a 12-member Board of Directors comprising:

four members, including the Chair; from among member companies of CSR: Corporations Supporting Recycling;
four members from among the membership of the Association of Municipalities of Ontario;
one member from the Liquor Control Board of Ontario;
one member from the Canadian Newspaper Association;
one member jointly representing the Canadian Paint and Coatings Association and the Canadian Manufacturers of Chemical Specialties Association;
one member from the Recycling Council of Ontario

The WDO's mandate is "to develop, for the Ontario government's consideration, a sustainable funding formula for the Blue Box and other waste diversion initiatives." Included in the mandate are blue box recycling, organic waste composting, and household hazardous waste.

The WDO has established Stewardship Ontario, an industry lead group, to assume responsibility for financing 50% of recycling programs (see below).

2) Industry Stewardship:

Stewardship Ontario
Stewardship Ontario is the new Industry Funding Organization (IFO) created in October 2002 as a result of Ontario's Waste Diversion Act. The Waste Diversion Act requires all "Stewards" (companies that introduce packaging and printed paper into the Ontario consumer marketplace) to share in the funding of 50% of Ontario’s municipal blue box and blue bag waste diversion programs. Companies can register with Stewardship Ontario to discharge this obligation, or seek approval from Waste Diversion Ontario to implement a program to recover their packaging and printed paper.

Corporations Supporting Recycling
Corporations Supporting Recycling (CSR) is a not-for-profit, voluntary, private sector organization representing the interests of six industry sectors in helping Ontario municipalities develop sustainable recycling and waste diversion systems.

CSR's members comprise of multi-national, national and local 'brand owner' corporations and companies. They represent the following sectors: grocery products manufacturers; retailers and distributors; food and consumer products manufacturers; packaging suppliers; plastic producers and processors; printing papers users and soft drink manufacturers and suppliers.

Voluntary Leadership
A good list of case studies in industry voluntary leadership can be found on the Target Zero Canada website.

3) Municipal Responsibilities
Municipalities in Ontario have the principle responsibility for waste management, including recycling and disposal. Ontario's 3R regulations require all municipalities with more than 5,000 residents to provide recycling and backyard composting services. Those with a population larger than 50,000 must also divert leaf and yard waste through community composting programs.

The Association of Municipal Recycling Coordinators is a not-for-profit organization formed in 1987 by municipal waste management professionals to facilitate the sharing of municipal waste reduction, reuse, composting, and recycling information, expertise and experience among municipalities.

To contact your local municipality, check the list of municipalities in our Community Action section.

4) Non-Governmental leadership

The Recycling Council of Ontario
The Recycling Council of Ontario lead the battle to introduce Blue Box recycling in Ontario since the early 1980's. The RCO has since diversified its activities to include an annual conference, Waste Reduction Week.

The RCO's web site is an excellent source of information on the 3Rs.

Target Zero Canada
Target Zero Canada is a program of Earth Day Canada that will promote Zero Waste
policies for different levels of government and new approaches for corporations based on successful case studies (their "zero heroes").

Toxic Garbage

One of the major concerns with solid waste is the potential for garbage dumps to pollute the surrounding watershed, or for incinerators to pollute the downwind airshed. Even if municipalities can achieve aggressive targets for recycling and waste reduction, the residue can still create a highly toxic leachate. This is because our garbage, while not technically labelled "hazardous waste", still contains enough chemicals and other hazards that can create a toxic leachate or emissions.

Household hazardous waste (HHW) is the residual of products used in the home which exhibit poisonous, combustible, explosive, and/or flammable properties.

There are 13 categories of household hazardous wastes commonly used by municipalities to separate HHW for storage and shipment, including acids and bases, antifreeze, batteries, flammables, gas cylinders, oil, paint, pesticides, and pharmaceuticals (for a complete list see the RCO factsheet on HHW).

A total of 6,364 tonnes of HHW was collected in 1999 largely through municipal collection programs, although some industry stewardship programs are being developed (RCO: 199 Municipal 3Rs Factsheet):

Individual municipalities manage special collection days or HHW depots where the public can take their hazardous waste. A total of 64 depots and 173 event days were operated in Ontario in 1999.
The newly-formed Waste Diversion Organization (WDO) has the mandate to establish new programs for HHW.
Some new national and international product stewardship programs are beginning to surface in Ontario:
- Charge Up to Recycle is a recycling program for NiCd rechargeable batteries. It is managed by the Rechargeable Battery Recycling Corporation. Their website provides a list of participating Canadian retailers, and participating companies.
- BUD (Buy responsibly, Use it up, Dispose of residuals responsibly) is part of the WDO's priority issues
- The Canadian Manufacturers of Chemical Specialties Association is developing a national product stewardship program

Environmentally-Sound Disposal

There are thirty-eight municipally owned landfill sites and nine privately owned sites, which handle most of Ontario’s garbage. Siting new dumps is a contentious issue because of the disruption to local residents and environmental factors such as the potential impacts on groundwater.

The Ministry of the Environment has published standards for landfill sites. A description is available on the Ministry's Waste section.

There are currently no provincial support programs to assist with the development of environmentally-sound disposal options, such as anaerobic digestion and methane recovery. The Canada Composting facility in Newmarket, north of Toronto is a good example. At its full design capacity of 150,000 metric tonnes of organic waste per year, the plant will produce approximately 60,000 tonnes of compost and 5,000 kW of electricity (enough surplus power for 3,000 homes)

State of the Environment

The Recycling Council of Ontario publishes an annual summary of the trends in municipal 3Rs and solid waste. The report is the product of a partnership of seven organizations: the Waste Diversion Organization (WDO), Ministry of the Environment’s Waste Management Policy Branch (MOE), CSR: Corporations Supporting Recycling (CSR), Recycling Council of Ontario (RCO), the Association of Municipal Recycling Coordinators (AMRC), the Municipal Waste Integration Network (MWIN) and the Composting Council of Canada (CCC)

1. Strengthen waste reduction targets and support programs.

Time to ramp it up a notch. The 50% reduction target was the 1990 target for the year 2000. The recent controversy over Adams Mine and the continuing crisis in waste management shows that a more aggressive target is needed, backed up with province-wide support programs

2. Develop sector-specific targets.

Specific attention needs to be given to those areas where there is a strong potential for improvement, such as:

a composter in every backyard

recycling in all apartment buildings

household hazardous waste collection (and reduction)

3. Support environment-friendly disposal options.

Garbage is too valuable a resource to throw away. Innovative technologies, such as the Canada Composting facility in Newmarket, should be the first resort for handling the residual waste.

Reduce your waste line!

Reduce and Reuse	Do a waste audit for your own home! Measure the amount of garbage you produce and make a list of what goes into the can. avoid excess packaging (buy in bulk if you can) buy products that can be reused or recycled (not disposables) use cloth shopping bags
Recycle	Contact your local municipality's Works Department for information on recycling programs in your area.
Compost	If you have a backyard, get a composter for your organic waste. If you live in an apartment and are a little adventurous, get a worm bin for your organic waste The Recycling Council of Ontario has great factsheets on composting and vermicomposting (worm composting).
De-Tox your Home	Do a home audit of household hazards (see the RCO factsheet on HHW for a list of hazards). contact your local municipal works department for information on safe disposal of existing hazardous materials purchase environmentally-safer products in future Look for environmental and safety information on the package, or for logos such as Ecologo. (See the Buy Green section for more information). eliminate the use of cosmetic pesticides on your lawn or yard.
Speak up	Make your views known. Check the list of organizations below for ways to get involved in the debate.

Key Players and Links

Provincial Government	Ministry of Environment: the ministry's section on Waste contains only a few press releases.
Agencies	Waste Diversion Organization Stewardship Ontario
Municipal Governments	Association of Municipal Recycling Coordinators Municipal Waste Integration Network
Federal Government	Environment Canada's Green Lane has a section on wastes
Environmental Organizations	There are several groups with broad-based membership (public, institutional and business): Composting Council of Canada Recycling Council of Ontario Target Zero Canada Many of Ontario's environment groups are active on waste management issues. Here are some of them, and you can also see the Ontario Environment Network for more groups: Citizen's Network on Waste Management Toronto Environmental Alliance Northwatch Clean North (Waste section) Canadian Environmental Law Association Stop Considering Adams Mine (SCAM)
Business Associations	Canadian Newspapers Association CSR (Corporations Supporting Recycling) Brewers of Ontario Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) Ontario Waste Management Association Canadian Manufacturers of Chemical Specialties Association
Labour	Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Ontario


Still looking? Search the Green Links database for: recycling, solid waste, household hazards.		Something to Add? Got a good resource, or website? Add your site to the Green Links database.