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Incineration destroys resources at huge public cost…

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Feb 14th, 2015
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… while polluting air, land and water

The following letter has been sent to Mr. David Chernushenko, Ottawa’s Environment Committee Chair:
It is sad to read that our nation’s capital was bamboozled by promises of a quick fix to solve its waste woes.  Of course, Ottawa is not the only city that has been lured into incineration deals that promise to make garbage disappear.  Incineration companies are quick to sign up municipalities struggling to solve garbage problems.
A few decades ago, an incinerator company tried to set up in the City of Orillia.  At that time, Orillia only had a few short years of landfill space remaining.  Our community soon realised that it didn’t make sense to destroy our resources at huge public cost, while polluting air, land, and water.  The Orillia doctors prepared a public report against incineration because of concern for the health of patients in their care.  The result, Orillia turned down incineration and has continued to make strides in waste reduction ever since.  By doing so our landfill capacity is now beyond 60 years!
Waste, when properly sorted, provides resources that can be reused, recycled, and composted, while generating local employment.  It simply doesn’t make financial or environmental sense to destroy wasted resources.
The City of Ottawa can be a model for protecting resources.  Our nation’s capital has the ability to lead Canada into a Zero Waste future, joining other jurisdictions around the world.
Last week the Recycling Council of Ontario (RCO) held a conference in Toronto – “Progressing Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) in Ontario: Moving Toward a Circular Economy”.  Information, ideas and strategies to reduce waste were shared, with a focus on the need for producers to accept responsibility for their own products. It was exciting to hear the Honourable Glen Murray, Ontario’s Minister of Environment and Climate Change, articulate a strong commitment to EPR programs.  Murray recognises that Ontario can reduce waste, while protecting resources, the environment, local employment, and public finances!
Municipalities simply cannot afford to continue to clean up after industry’s end-of-life products.  Consider disposable diapers – this is a multi-billion dollar industry that is being subsidized 100% by municipal taxpayers who finance disposal costs.  This industry needs to be required to collect and process this waste at its own expense.  Disposable diapers have been a growing problem for decades.  Now, not only infants, but all ages are wrapped in this chemically-laced plastic waste.  We should have seen this coming. An EPR program is urgently needed for this waste.
Another EPR program that Ontario can quickly implement is Deposit-Returns.  Deposit-Return systems can be effective for a variety of products.  The benefits of Deposit-Returns include: higher diversion rates; better quality materials; increasing local employment opportunities; reducing litter; and, of course, making producers and those consumers their products financially responsible for the full life cycle of  the product, instead of externalizing those costs to all taxpayers, which is currently the case in Ontario.  A Deposit-Return program for all beverage containers could be implemented by Ontario immediately, similar to almost every other province in Canada.  A common Deposit-Return program across the country would benefit us all.
Solutions aren’t rocket science.  It would be great to see Ottawa step back from any plans to destroy resources through incineration (and other aliases) and instead start adopting aggressive waste reduction policies, and reuse, recycling, and composting programs.  After all, if other jurisdictions can be successful in this, why not the City of Ottawa? Certainly, our nation’s capital, has a responsibility to do better – to be the best of the best.
Sincerely,
K Clune

Recently noted:

Garfield Dunlop, Simcoe North MPP, held his Annual Pancake Breakfast on Saturday, February 7th, 2015, to raise funds for Orillia’s Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital.  The breakfast was held at the Orillia Legion; a perfect location to hold events.  The snowy weather didn’t deter an estimated four hundred people from enjoying pancakes, maple syrup, and sausages prepared by Shaw’s Catering.

In addition to raising funds for the Hospital, Mr. Dunlop supported a zero waste program.  Recognizing that waste negatively impacts our finances and our environment Mr. Dunlop provides a good model of what can be done at all events to reduce waste in Ontario.

With a kind donation from Orillia Zehrs of milk, cream, and butter in bulk, it was possible to eliminate disposable plastic single-serve packages.  The City of Orillia’s new composting program, which allows cooked meat and paper napkins, made it easy to divert compostable hand towels from the bathroom and food scraps from plates into the green bin.

Thanks again, Mr. Dunlop, for your leadership and help to reduce waste in our community.

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One Response to “Incineration destroys resources at huge public cost…”

  1. Ann says:

    Excellent article Kelly..keep up the good work!

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