• Protecting Water and Farmland in Simcoe County

County has collected 200K tonnes of organics since 2008

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In Council Watch
Mar 5th, 2023
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Milestone worth celebrating, but still more work to do, says county official
Mar 2, 2023

The County of Simcoe is wasting no time celebrating a milestone.

Since 2008, the county has collected more than 200,000 tonnes of organic material from households and businesses, which it notes has saved “the equivalent of four years of local landfill capacity and (offered) countless environmental benefits.”

“Removing organic materials from the regular garbage stream has many environmental benefits, including conserving valuable landfill capacity, turning waste material into usable compost or soil amendments, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions,” the county stated in a news release.

According to county Warden Basil Clarke, “It’s the small things we do each day that often have the largest impact, and we truly thank our residents and businesses for doing your part to help us reach this milestone.

“Working with our residents and businesses, we’ve made huge progress towards a greener, more sustainable future, reducing the emissions to the equivalent of 4,000 vehicles off our roads each year, which is no small achievement. Thank you for your efforts, but don’t stop here as there is still room to grow your green cart.”

A recent report showed the county was second among all participating municipalities, with a residential waste-diversion rate of more than 63 per cent.

“Our team is very proud of reaching 200,000 tonnes of organics collected and continuing to be recognized among municipal leaders in diversion and waste management practices,” said Rob McCullough, director of solid waste management. “However, we are always striving to offer innovative programs and education that will help decrease the quantity of waste going to landfill in Simcoe County. Our most recent waste audit shows that we still have room for improvement, with opportunity to continue to properly sort. Over 50 per cent of the materials by weight in our garbage could still be diverted easily in our existing other programs. The majority of this is organics.”

Among the items that commonly end up in garbage bins that should instead be placed in organics carts are edible food, food scraps, paper towels, tissues, and pet waste.

More information on waste diversion in the county can be found here.

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