Canadians are Creating more Waste and We Don’t Know What to Do about It

 According to a recent report shared by the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) organization, Canadians’ waste output is increasing with no reduction in sight. In addition to criticizing the Canadian government for their lack of input, it’s also been widely publicized the lack of infrastructure in place to help households handle their organic garbage. Lastly, it does not appear the Canadian markets for recycled waste are as developed as they could be in, according to this ground-breaking report.

Though municipalities across Canada are making some amazing strides in waste management, organic waste handling, landfill diversion, and recycling, as a country, we’re falling behind. It’s no secret that, much like our neighbours in the United States, we love consumption. Just as an example, residential food, yard, and paper waste increased from 230 kilograms per person in 2002 to almost 300 kilograms per person according to 2012’s numbers. That’s a big jump! Arguably, what’s even worse is less than a third of this waste is being diverted from landfills and into recycling processes.

As one of the top Toronto waste management and recycling companies in the GTA, we want to see Canada make the most of its waste. We believe shipping off waste to landfills that could otherwise be recycled is near a crime. There’s so much we can make and do with the valuable materials being casually thrown away. For example, new recycling processes are creating new markets for waste in a way that we wouldn’t have thought possible even a decade ago. Canada’s composting units are also at roughly 62 percent capacity and are able to handle another 1.6 million tonnes of waste annually. These are resources that we and others need to tap into.

Across Canada, there’s a lot of positive movement being made to increase recycling numbers and limit what goes into our landfills. Despite what the NAFTA report says, there are provinces such as Nova Scotia which recently implemented a requirement for waste disposal in clear bags. Clear bags allows a recycler to see more easily what’s in the bag, and has increased organics and recycling diversion in the province by approximately 40 percent. In the province and even in the GTA, our governments are working on numerous initiatives to improve recycling numbers. That said, we believe there’s more we all could be doing to create better waste management.

When we receive a call, as a waste management and recycling company, we do everything we can to make the most from the materials we receive. Anything that can be recycled is recycled and anything that can’t be reused in some way is sent to the appropriate sites.

As we move forward into the next few years of a Conservative provincial government in Ontario, we hope more will be done to continue pushing us ahead as a province. The more opportunities there are to recycle, the more jobs we can provide our people, the less waste is sent to landfills, and the less greenhouse gas emissions we send into the atmosphere. The NAFTA report mentioned shows us that, yes, Canadians are producing more waste than they were a few decades ago. Even so, we believe the opportunity to improve our waste and recycling numbers has never been greater.

We, along with so many other companies across the GTA and the province, want to be a part of changing the way we think of waste management. For all of your waste management needs in Toronto and the GTA, please visit Core Mini Bins today.