How Zero Waste curtails climate impacts

The following is my submission to the Environmental Bill of Rights re Climate Change discussions:

It is positive that Ontario provincial leaders are prepared to take immediate, bold action to address climate change issues.

This submission will focus on waste and what Ontario can do to move us into a Zero Waste future, which will help to curtail climate impacts.

Municipalities across Ontario continue to struggle with the financial and environmental burden of waste.  Waste has a negative impact on our climate – it requires energy to produce products that are often used once and thrown away.  Waste destroys resources, including the air, land and water.

Depending how waste is “managed” it can also destroy our finances and local job opportunities.

For example, consider the public funds for the City of Ottawa to contrive a plan to incinerate waste:

– $9.5 MILLION from Sustainable Development Canada;

– $4 MILLION DOLLAR, non-interest loan from the Ontario Ministry of the Environment; and

– $8 MILLION DOLLARS per year from the City of Ottawa.
(“The Next Generation “Waste Circus” Coming to Canada”, Joyce Nelson. Watershed Sentinel. March-April 2010)

After approximately seven years of pursuing this plan the company involved has now declared bankruptcy.  The City of Ottawa has lost precious time and money that could have helped establish sustainable, effective waste reduction and diversion programs.

Another example is the Region of Peel, which recently announced a commitment to build a HALF-BILLION DOLLAR incinerator to destroy their waste.

Evidence is available to show that incineration, as well as landfilling, cause climate problems. Disposing of resources, via incineration or landfill, results in huge costs to public finances, human health, and the environment.  It is not sensible to destroy resources that can be reused, recycled or composted.  Employment opportunities are also lost when resources are destroyed.

Instead of using public funds to “manage” waste. Ontario can provide for a healthier future, with improved employment opportunities and a stronger economy, by establishing programs to educate, enforce, and embrace Zero Waste policies.

The Province of Ontario can lead us into a Zero Waste future by taking immediate action to:

1.  Re-instate the Ban on Incineration.

This will ensure a clear focus to prioritize Reduction, Reuse, Recycling and Composting.

 2.  Require full Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) and encourage producers to design product for the environment.

Producers, first importers, and/or retailers must be responsible for the full costs to collect and process their products and packaging.  This will motivate producers to develop products that can be  easily reused, recycled or composted.

Municipal taxpayers should no longer be expected to subsidize the collection, disposal and/or recycling of products.  Producers, and consumers who purchase their products, must pay these costs,   not all taxpayers!

3.  Incentives: Require Deposit/Return programs immediately on all beverage containers (inc. fast food beverage/coffee cups), and similar financial incentives to divert batteries, computers,  fluorescent bulbs, cell phones, and other relevant products from disposal, in a timely fashion.

     Recycling often involves using a product once, then throwing it ‘away’ or into the blue box.  This is an inefficient use of resources.  Single-use beverage containers are an obvious example. Data is readily available to prove the financial and environmental benefits of Deposit/Returns.

Providing a financial incentive to divert products from the waste stream results in:

– increased diversion rates;

– a financial reward to those people returning the containers;

– litter prevention;

– better quality materials collected, which can benefit industry and increase jobs; and
– producers/consumers accepting financial responsibility for containers they make/use
(instead of all taxpayers).

Deposit/Return programs for beverage containers work well in many jurisdictions, using Reverse Vending Machines, depots, or alongside municipal programs.

Putting a price on a product increases the chance that it will be collected and returned for the refund.  Deposit/Return programs can be used to keep a variety of products out of the waste stream.

Offering financial incentives to return old products for new is a good strategy to bring customers back to a local store.  Be it a credit on a new purchase, or a direct refund, incentives must be high enough to inspire participation.

“LISTEN UP CANADA” Consider, the number of Ontario seniors with hearing aids that regularly  require new batteries.  Most of the dead batteries end up in the garbage.  With many seniors on a fixed income, offering a financial incentive to collect batteries would encourage diversion. The results would be positive for seniors, Ontario’s waste reduction goals, and the environment!

The importance of Deposit/Return programs cannot be emphasized enough.

Consider the number of events held in communities across Ontario every year.  Deposit/Returns on all beverage containers would: reduce waste; increase awareness about waste diversion; offer a financial reward to event organizers; and create a greener image of the event and the community.

4.  Require that the MULTI-BILLION DOLLAR disposable diaper industry set-up and finance a collection system and re-processing facility to divert diapers and sanitary products from the waste stream.

The disposable diaper industry is a MULTI-BILLION DOLLAR industry.  This industry has the ability to set-up its own collection programs at day care centres, nursing homes, hospitals, etc.,  and could pay municipalities for collecting disposable diapers in clear bags at the curbside.

Then the industry can pay to transport their used products to a facility that will separate the fibre  from the sewage and plastic, so materials can be properly processed.

Ontario taxpayers must not be expected to subsidize the disposable diaper industry any longer!

As an incentive to encourage Reuse before Recycling, Ontario should provide a tax credit to families that use reusable alternatives.

5.  Require that any/all parties, commissioned by producers to collect, reuse and/or recycle their products, comply with environmental standards and ensure minimum reuse/recycling targets.

It has been reported that an estimated 60% of materials diverted through the Blue Box are disposed of due to contamination, or lack of markets for the “recyclables”.

A Deposit/Return program for all beverage containers would help to alleviate contamination problems and free up space for other materials to be collected in curbside programs.

The Ontario government needs to set the rules for producers to pay their own way, and then help all municipalities achieve successful waste reduction results.

Environmental standards of reduction/diversion programs must be enforced, while ensuring compliance of minimum reuse/recycling targets for materials.

6.  Enforce the rules

The Ontario government must enforce the policies it sets.

Effective financial penalties and/or other appropriate fines must be established and enforced to ensure compliance of Ontario’s waste reduction policies.

Strong enforcement policies must include:

            a) Mandatory participation in diversion programs by all users, including the IC&I sector, and those holding special events in Ontario.

b) Pre-sorting strategies at landfills to prevent the disposal of reusable, recyclable, and compostable resources, and hazardous materials.

c) Regulating what/where haulers can dispose of waste.

d) No import/no export of mixed waste, to encourage municipalities to strive for zero.