Toronto Solid Waste Management

Toronto Solid Waste Management is the municipal service that handles the transfer and disposal of garbage as well as the processing and sale of recyclable materials collected through the blue box program in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It also coordinates programs to help residents and business reduce their production of waste. [ [http://www.toronto.ca/garbage/index.htm City of Toronto: Solid Waste Management ] ]

Issues

As the city's last remaining landfill site, Keele Valley, neared capacity during the 1990s, it was found that no other municipality in Southern Ontario was willing to accept the garbage, but there was also no political support for a change to incineration. A deal was eventually made to ship Toronto's garbage to the Adams Mine, an abandoned open pit mine in Northern Ontario, once the Keele Valley site closed. But objections grew into vociferous controversy as the time neared, and eventually the agreement was cancelled.

By the time the Keele Valley site closed at the end of 2002, the city had made a new deal: its garbage is now shipped by truck to a site in Michigan (See Carleton Farms Landfill).

In September 2006, Toronto City council agreed to purchase the privately owned Green Lane landfill site near London, Ontario. The contract to ship household garbage to Michigan is due to end in 2010 when the Green Lane landfill will be used. Jane Pitfield who ran (and lost) against Mayor Miller in the November 2006 election has advocated incineration as an alternative method of disposing of waste. This is opposed by many Toronto environmental groups but supported by others who point out that the technology has improved and incineration is now less polluting.

Concerns with the border, and opposition from residents in Michigan prompted the need to look for alternate sites or expand the city's recycling programs. Toronto's contract with Michigan lasts until 2008, and includes an option to expand to 2010, but the city is actively seeking options to close the contract sooner. Even the current contract could be in jeopardy following a vote in February 2006 by the Michigan House of Representatives to ban out-of-state garbage from being shipped to the state from Ontario and other U.S. states, but this requires approval by the US federal government before it can be enforced by Michigan. In May 2006, Carelton Farms, the garbage dump in Michigan that is under contract with the city of Toronto announced it would not be accepting waste sludge as of August 1, 2006, but would continue to receive household waste.

Even with 60% diversion through the green bin and recycling programs, residual waste from the Greater Toronto Area would amass 2,200 tonnes (2,425 tons) a day or 800,000 tonnes (882,000 tons) a year.

In 2005, Toronto switched from a "blue box" (plastic and metal) and "grey box" (paper) program to a unified recycling system. The city also introduced in 2005 a green bin program to recover compostable materials. However, the green bin program has come under criticism by watch groups due to its cost, which is three times per tonne more to operate than currently shipping to Michigan.

There has long been heavy opposition from many Torontonians to waste incineration due to the perceived toxic emissions that result. However, a recent poll conducted in November 2006 shows that a majority of its citizens would now consider incineration as an alternative, which the current mayor Miller opposes. There is currently an incinerator operating in Brampton in adjacent Peel Region, in operation since 1992, which meets the environment ministry's emission guidelines as well as producing power to serve around 5,000 homes.

Recently the Ottawa-based Plasco Energy Group has formulated a plan to process garbage, turning it into a synthetic gas. Plasco claims that by using an 8,000-degree Celsius (14,400 °F) plasma flame, 100,000 tonnes of trash can ultimately produce 12 megawatts of power. Emissions are filtered with active carbon; the waste byproduct of this process is slag, which can be mixed with asphalt and used in road construction. According to a Toronto Star article (linked below), other companies offer similar technologies. Although a plan has yet to be approved, consent has been given to build a demonstration facility in Ottawa, and some Toronto city councillors have indicated their support for the program. [http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&call_pageid=971358637177&c=Article&cid=1128723024266&DPL=JvsODSH7Aw0u%2bwoRO%2bYKDSblFxAk%2bwoVO%2bYODSbhFxAg%2bwkRO%2bUPDSXiFxMh%2bwkZO%2bUCDSTnFxIm%2bwgSO%2bMLDSPmFxUl%2bw8SO%2bMPDSPiFxUh%2bw8WO%2bMDDSPuFxQn%2bw4SO%2bINIQ%3d%3d&tacodalogin=yes]

In June 2006, suburban York Region and Durham Region announced they were jointly teaming up to procure an incineration site to be built by 2011 that will potentially power up to 200,000 homes but this does not include the city of Toronto.

In September 2006, city council approved an agreement to ship Toronto garbage to the Green Lane Waste Facility near St. Thomas, Ontario. Councillors opposed to the agreement have accused Mayor Miller of pushing through a secretive deal and there has also been strong reaction from residents and MPs from the London-St. Thomas area.

References