Should Organic Waste Bins be Mandatory for Condos and Apartments – our thoughts
Organic waste bins are an excellent way to divert materials that could otherwise go to the landfill. About half of Toronto’s population lives in either condos, apartments, or co-operatives. It’s believed that among high-rise condo residents, only 25 percent of them compost organics. Evidently, this means the other 75 percent are throwing food scraps in with their garbage or potentially recycling, complicating matters further.
In Ontario, there’s a lot of discussion that’s happened in recent years around organic waste and what to do with it in a growing metropolitan like the GTA. In late 2017, a report was released suggesting Ontario’s landfill space will completely run out within two decades and in an effort to reduce, the provincial government began to consider a ban on organics in general trash. Although this hasn’t come to be – at least, as yet – this may be on the table in the future.
Organic waste in landfills is very problematic as it decomposes quickly and produces very toxic, harmful gases. Ontario generates roughly 3.7 million tonnes of organic waste every year, accounting for six percent of our total emissions. There are cities like Toronto wherein residents aren’t educated on what goes in the blue bin and what goes in the green bin, resulting in 40 percent of what’s being put in as trash actually being organic.
In Toronto, organic waste collection is provided to roughly 65 percent of our multi-residential buildings. The remainder either have private pick-up or all food waste is gathered alongside garbage and sent to the landfill. Would a ban on organic waste in trash encourage condo developments and apartment buildings in Toronto to make a change? Potentially. Metro Vancouver has instituted such a ban resulting in over 60,000 additional tonnes of organics being diverted away from landfills. The province of Nova Scotia also has had a ban on organic waste in garbage for over 20 years with strong success.
Alternative to a ban on organic waste contamination, another option proposed is mandatory organic waste separation in condos and apartments. Why collection varies building to building has to do with building codes. A lot of the newer units have mandatory recycling and organics collection, when they’re under City of Toronto waste collection. The units that have private collection services do not have any recycling responsibility. The Food and Organic Waste Framework is seeking a ban on any and all waste that can be diverted from an Ontario landfill beginning in 2022 however it remains to be seen how achievable this goal is.
Looking to the City of Ottawa, they are considering a mandatory green bin program for all multi-residential dwellings. In Ottawa, it’s worse than it is in Toronto with only 29 percent of condo dwellings and apartment buildings participating in their compost program. Toronto’s numbers aren’t perfect, regardless, which highlights a growing concern among organic waste and recycling activists.
Should organic waste bins be mandatory for apartment buildings and condo developments? Probably, yes. If we are serious about increasing Toronto’s landfill diversion and recycling rates, ensuring we are not tossing anything we don’t need to in our garbage is important. We know residents want to do better. The only thing stopping some of them is the infrastructure. Condos and apartments need to implement that infrastructure – the responsibility is on them.
