Toronto gets funds to test recycling in apartments, condos
By Jennifer Lewington - Globe and Mail
When it comes to household recycling, multiresidential units in Toronto are the final frontier in efforts to cut back on garbage shipped to landfill.
Yesterday, the province gave $305,000 to six municipalities, including $52,000 for Toronto, to test ways to improve recycling for those living in apartments, townhouses and condos.
In Toronto’s pilot project, officials will look at practices in 10 condo and apartment buildings (of different heights and age) to identify the barriers (such as space and convenience) to recycling. Residents will be offered several choices - a mini blue box, a recyclable throwaway plastic bag and a reusable blue plastic bag for newspapers and bottles - to make it easier to recycle.
The test will look at what works best, with no single solution likely across the board, given the range of buildings.
“Before we invest a lot of taxpayer money, we want to have a good sense of what works and what does not,” said Councillor Glenn De Baeremaeker (Scarborough Centre).
The city’s goal is to divert 70% of waste from landfill by 2010, with single-family homes already at 58% because they have curbside collection of newspapers, bottles and cans and organic “green bin” recycling.
Among multiresidential buildings, only 13% of waste is diverted from landfill. At present, the city does not offer the green bin program to high-rise and condo residents.
They must take newspapers and bottles to dumpsters outside their buildings.
New high-rises and condos have tri-sorters, with chutes for garbage, recycling and organics, but older buildings have only one chute for garbage.
With space at a premium in some units, the temptation is to throw garbage and recyclables down the same chute.
The province’s goal is to divert 60% of waste from landfill by 2010.
“The Ontario government’s goal is to help municipalities deal with waste effectively using the three Rs - reduce, reuse and recycle,” Environment Minister Laurel Broten said.
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