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How York Region Could Help Improve a Toronto City’s Waste Diversion Rate
While most municipalities focus on the three ‘Rs’—reduce, reuse and recycle—Regional Municipality of York in Canada also focuses on a fourth “R”, recover.
1 Min Read
The Regional Municipality of York in Canada diverts nearly 90 percent of its waste from landfill, and it has some advice for helping the city of Ottawa, Toronto, improve its recycling rate, which currently hovers around 42 percent.
While most municipalities focus on the three ‘Rs’—reduce, reuse and recycle—York Region also focuses on a fourth “R”, recover. In addition, York Region provides recycling collection on a weekly basis via a single blue box for all recyclables and lines its green bins with compostable plastic liners to help residents deal with the yuck factor of disposing of items like pet waste, diapers and sanitary products.
Laura McDowell, director of environmental promotion and protection with the Regional Municipality of York, shares that convenience is what drives diversion in York Region and it’s what could help drive diversion in Ottawa as well.
CBC News has more details:
It's not all trash talk, but one Toronto-area municipality does have some pointers for the City of Ottawa on how to handle its waste diversion program.
The Regional Municipality of York, made up of nine towns and cities north of Toronto, has good reason to — its waste diversion rate is significantly higher than the capital's rate.
A recent report from Waste Watch Ottawa (WWO) showed only 42.5 per cent of Ottawa's residential waste was diverted from a landfill, whereas the province's top performers diverted more than 60 per cent.
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