Peace and Environment News* November 1995
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Peace and Environment News * November 1995 |
by Madeleine Denis
The former Ontario NDP government took great strides in making proper waste management mandatory. However, there is still room for improvement.
In 1987 Ontario sent about 10 million tonnes of solid waste to landfill. In October 1990, Ontario's then Minister of Environment and Energy, Bud Wildman, announced that this amount should be reduced by 25 percent by 1992 and by at least 50 percent by the year 2000. On March 3, 1994 he announced a set of five new waste reduction regulations, known as the 3Rs Regulations. By making reducing, reusing, and recycling mandatory, the regulations are intended to alleviate the problem of disposing of non-hazardous solid wastes from residential, industrial, commercial, and institutional sources.
According to the former Minister, the 3Rs Regulations would help divert as many as 2 million tonnes of waste a year from landfill. The blue box program, used by more than three million Ontario households, currently diverts more than 420,000 tonnes, and backyard composters, used by about 800,000 Ontario households, divert up to one third of residential wastes. Some companies have reported diversion rates as high as 30 percent within the first year after making the waste audit required by the regulations.
The 3Rs Regulations are increasing awareness and creating a demand for products that are made with less material or with reused or recycled materials, and that require less energy, as well as for products that are easily recyclable. They are also playing a significant role in the creation of jobs in waste management, recycling, and composting, and they are contributing to the growth of Ontario's $41.5 billion environmental service sector, which is expected to develop at a rate of 15 percent per year.
The regulations state that municipalities with populations over 5,000 must implement curbside recycling and backyard composting programs. Municipalities with populations over 50,000 must also provide curbside leaf and yard waste collection and a municipal composting program. Major waste generators such as shopping centres, large construction and demolition projects, office buildings, restaurants, hotels, hospitals, schools, and large manufacturers must annually conduct waste audits and produce waste reduction workplans, and they must implement recycling programs with separation at source. Major packaging users such as large food or beverage manufacturers must conduct packaging audits and produce packaging reduction workplans. All of these regulations will be in effect by 1 July 1996, with many in effect since 1 July 1994.
No changes to the 3Rs Regulations have been made under the new Harris government. However, a representative of the Ontario Ministry of Environment and Energy has stated that changes may be announced at a later date.
Some critics have said that the 3Rs Regulations are unnecessary since businesses want to reduce waste because markets force them to "reuse products that in the past would have been waste." It is true that companies and institutions are more cost conscious than ever. However, this does not mean that they want to cut costs by going "green" or that they know how to. Most companies and institutions need the regulations to get them started. Forcing people to examine their wastes makes them aware of the magnitude of the problem and shows them that diversion makes sense economically as well as environmentally.
The 3Rs Regulations are not, however, a cure-all for waste reduction in Ontario. Although Section 3 (2) of the Waste Audit regulation identifies reduction as the first objective, with reuse and recycling following, in that order, the other regulations do not reflect this order of priority, nor, overall, does the Waste Audit regulation itself. Most environmentalists agree that reduction is the top priority in waste diversion.
The Recycling and Composting of Municipal Waste regulation, the Source Separation Program regulation, and the amendments made to the Environmental Protection Act all focus on recycling. Many waste auditors suggest strategies for recycling but offer few strategies for reducing and reusing. This is because recycling strategies are usually easier to implement, and results are easier to quantify. There is no mechanism within the Waste Audit regulation to give greater credit to waste producers who divert waste from landfill by reducing or reusing rather than by recycling.
Minister Wildman stated that the 3Rs Regulations are expected to divert the equivalent of about 200,000 truckloads of waste every year from landfill. If this waste is simply recycled, the net effect might actually be worse for the environment in some cases than if the waste is landfilled. For many rural and urban areas, recycling centres are further away than landfill sites. Increasing transportation distances means burning more fossil fuels, which contributes to global climate change.
Others are concerned that compliance will be more difficult and expensive for small remote communities and the industrial, commercial, and institutional establishments within them, since waste reuse and recycling facilities are either long distance or non-existent and used and recycled materials are often unavailable. In practice, this may not be a problem for these communities, however, as there is currently no budget for enforcement.
A number of changes should be made to the 3Rs Regulations. There should be greater encouragement of reduction and reuse instead of recycling. Money should be set aside to enforce the regulations and to develop public education programs. Products and services that meet stringent environmental criteria should be certified so that consumers can make well-informed choices. This certification program should be similar to, but more stringent than the federal EcoLogo program, which promotes products that are sometimes only marginally better than most. A list of these products and services and their suppliers should be made available to consumers through computer networks and annually updated printed material. "Green" training should be made mandatory for all purchasing agents, designers, and architects so that they can make informed product choices and so that new and renovated buildings are 3Rs friendly.
The 3Rs Regulations have provided the initial incentive for municipalities and businesses to reduce, reuse, recycle and compost. They have made people more aware of the problem of solid wastes and are definitely a move in the right direction. However, much work remains to be done.
Madeleine Denis is studying Environmental Science at Carleton University.
Converted September 4, 2000 - Lg
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