The City is reviewing and updating the Long Term Waste Strategy, and they want to hear from you
This strategy lays out how the city can reduce, reuse, recycle and compost waste, and what to do with the leftover ‘garbage’.
Take the online survey by December 20th or join an in-person or virtual open house in December to share your thoughts.
The survey asks a few general questions about managing waste, and in the last few questions, you can share your ideas.
This is where you can let the City know if you support bans on the worst plastics, requirements for reusables in restaurants, and if you oppose incineration because it’s a toxic climate disaster. If you live in a multi-unit building, you’ll have a chance to share what you think the City can do in existing, and new buildings to make sorting waste and recycling easier for residents.
Why your voice matters
How the City manages waste is a key climate action that can conserve resources, support community and a local circular economy, and prevent pollution. Toronto’s first Long Term Waste Strategy passed in 2016 - and thanks to a strong public turnout, the strategy included a commitment to zero waste and a greater focus on reduction and working with communities.
Once again, we need to make our voices heard and advocate for a strategy prioritizes reducing, reusing, recycling and composting waste. This can’t be a false choice between landfills and toxic incineration. Toronto has committed to building a strong circular economy, and this is good for local green jobs - Recycling creates 10 times more jobs than any form of disposal, and when you include reuse and repair, that number goes even higher!
What can the City do on waste?
The good news is that there are a lot of opportunities to keep reducing waste, building on local successes and learning from other jurisdictions. The City can:
- Use regulations to reduce unnecessary disposables like plastics - around the world, and across Canada, many jurisdictions have already banned the worst plastics, and require the use of reusable cups and dishes for dine-in (check out France, Banff and suburbs of Montreal).
- Ensure residents in high-rises and other multi-unit buildings have the tools to sort their recycling and organics - and that new buildings are designed to improve diversion.
- Align the Waste Strategy with the Net Zero climate plan - reducing waste and conserving resources cuts carbon emissions
- Focus on diversion, not disposal - there’s been a lot of talk about incinerating waste that can’t be recycled, but incineration is toxic, expensive, and as dirty as coal in terms of emissions. We can do better!
The main focus is on the waste that the City is responsible for: waste picked up from houses, city buildings and schools, and most apartments and condos.
The City has limited influence on waste and recycling rules for the private sector; offices, factories, stores and restaurants, and some high-rise buildings, are governed by Provincial regulations and use private waste companies (that use private landfills, not the City’s landfill). Ontario’s new recycling regulation makes manufacturers responsible for recycling and means that the city no longer manages what goes in the Blue Box.
This is your chance to share your ideas and let the City know that you want a bold, forward thinking strategy.