By Allison Jones
Toronto — From coffee grounds, (click here) to leftover fettuccine alfredo, to the slimy, brown head of lettuce forgotten at the back of your fridge, the Ontario government is aiming to keep all organic waste away from landfills.
It's an ambitious target for a province that generates nearly 12 million tonnes of waste a year — more than 850 kilograms per person — and only recycles about a quarter of that amount.
If improvements aren't made, the province's landfills could run out of capacity within the next 20 years, the government warns.
In 2004, the Liberal government promised to boost the rate of waste diversion — through recycling and composting programs for example — to 60 per cent in four years. But 13 years later, the rate hasn't changed. Now, the government has set its sights on an even more distant target of 100 per cent.
Hence the Strategy for a Waste-Free Ontario, which aims to create a "circular economy," where waste is considered a resource that can be recovered, reused and reintegrated.
One area of focus is organic waste, which decomposes in landfills producing gases, such as methane, that contribute to global warming. Ontarians generate 3.7 million tonnes of organic waste per year, and greenhouse gas emissions from the waste sector — mostly organics in landfill — account for six per cent of the province's total emissions....
...More than half the food waste in the province is generated at home, but the residential sector has steadily improved how much of that is diverted from landfills, with a rate now just over 50 per cent. In contrast, only a quarter of the food waste produced by the industrial, commercial and institutional sectors is diverted....
Why doesn't the conscience of the home transcend business?
...The City of Kingston consistently has one of the best organic diversion rates, but still battles resistance, said its manager of solid waste.
"Most of the reasons why people don't want to use it is this perception that it smells and that it's gross or it attracts rodents," said Heather Roberts. "(But) consider that all of the things that would go into your green bin would still go into your garbage bag."
Kingston is also one of just nine municipalities that has extended green bin programs to condos and apartment buildings, but it's not mandated, so there isn't a lot of uptake, Roberts said.
The City of Toronto offers organic collection at about 65 per cent of its multi-residential buildings, and a few receive private pick-up, officials said. But most Ontario municipalities still send their food waste from multi-residential buildings to landfill....
...At restaurants, grocery stores, food producers and institutions
"The line you have to cross is: is it more cost effective to compost this material or to throw it in the trash?" said James Rilett, the Ontario vice-president of Restaurants Canada.
The cost for the industrial, commercial and institutional sector to dispose of waste is $118 per tonne to the U.S. and $134 per tonne in Ontario, but $205 per tonne to divert.
The Provision Coalition works with food and beverage manufacturers to integrate sustainability into their business model, aiming to save businesses money by preventing food waste in the first place.
It's common for food producers to turn waste into animal feed, but Cher Mereweather of the Provision Coalition said her organization will point out the energy, labour, water and raw ingredient costs that went into making that product.
"We really need to move away from this concept of, 'Well, it's OK, it gets composted,' because there's a significant cost and environmental impact of that wasted food in the first place," she said.
Some manufacturers send product that won't sell or is mislabelled to food banks, which is where organizations such as Second Harvest come in.
The food rescue charity picks up the food and delivers it to social service agencies, to the tune of about 4.7 million kilograms this year. But they won't pick up anything less than 45 kilograms worth of food, said executive director Debra Lawson.
To ensure smaller food donors can participate in similar programs, Second Harvest is developing a web-based platform that would connect them to the closest agencies in need. Lawson said it's hoped a pilot can be running next spring....
