Recycling Rates Disappoint at Toronto High-Rises

Waste360 Staff, Staff

April 26, 2016

1 Min Read
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Recycling in multifamily buildings presents a challenge in urban settings around North America. Lack of room or lack of clarity hampers efforts to get residents to recycle properly.

The latest example of this comes in Toronto, where the Toronto Environmental Alliance noted that dumpsters outside the city’s residential towers include high concentrations of waste that could be recycled.

CBC.ca has more:

According to Alfred, the problem is that condos often put recycling bins and green bins in areas that are difficult for residents to find or difficult to access.

"It's often easier for residents just to put their trash down the garbage chute," she said. For years, the City of Toronto has said it's working toward diverting 70 per cent of trash from landfills to recycling. So far it has fallen far short of that goal, with a residential diversion rate of just 53 per cent in 2014, according to the city's website.

Just 26 per cent of the waste from residential high-rises gets recycled in Toronto, according to the TEA.

But city officials said they're doing a much better job of diverting recyclable waste from Toronto's Green Lane landfill just outside London, Ont. Right now, about 50 truckloads of Toronto trash gets dumped at Green Lane.

Read the full story here.

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