Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
Solid Waste Management Services plays an important role in your daily life. We provide services
such as garbage and recycling collection that you probably know about and others that you
may not be aware of because they happen behind-the-scenes. They are all important in getting the job
done.
Our mission is: To provide innovative waste management services
to residents, businesses and visitors within the City of Toronto in an efficient, effective
and courteous manner, creating environmental sustainability, promoting diversion and maintaining
a clean city. This is a big statement to live up to and
here's how we do it:
Toronto is a unique Canadian municipality. Half our population lives in houses, and the
other in apartments, condos or units above retail businesses. This affects how we do
our job.
Many of you see our collection trucks picking up garbage, recycling and food waste. We also
pick up old furniture, toilets, electronic equipment, mattresses, leaf and yard waste
and Christmas trees.
Solid Waste Management Services is also responsible for transporting, processing, composting and
safely disposing of all these materials. We manage your household hazardous waste too
(things like leftover paint, pesticides and used motor oil).
We do this so that residents, businesses and visitors in the City of Toronto can enjoy
a clean and healthy city.
Did you know that we collect and manage about a million tonnes of waste each year? And,
we recycle or compost 52% of all that waste.
City staff support our operational programs by planning and implementing promotion and
education campaigns to reach you, our customers. We need you to understand what to do. We want
to help provide the necessary tools for you to reduce waste. We're in this together.
Ever wonder what happens to your stuff after collection? Let's go behind-the-scenes.
Different types of materials arrive at City transfer stations. If it's food waste, it
goes to one of our organics processing facilities. Recycling goes to a special sorting and processing
facility that gets it ready to sell to the open market. Household hazardous waste goes
to drop-off depots located across the City. Certified haulers are responsible for collecting
it and properly managing the material for safe disposal.
The City's Reuse/Recycle Centre is where your old mattresses, toilets, furniture and electronics
go to be packaged up for recycling. Our job also includes cleaning Toronto's public
spaces. Crews pick up litter, empty litter and recycling bins located on sidewalks and
in City parks. We also clean up after 1,000 special events a year (you know - the Santa
Claus and Easter Parades; July 1st fireworks; and street festivals). We also coordinate
annual Community Environment Day events. We've got lots of equipment, vehicles, facilities,
drop-off depots and Works Yards. These are our assets. We maintain them in good working
order so they will last as long as possible. One of our major assets, the City-owned Green
Lane Landfill near London, Ontario. It takes all our garbage.
We also have many closed landfills to maintain to keep residents and the environment safe.
Out of sight, but not out of mind. Staff keep an eye on industry trends. How
can we enhance our programs, what new technology is available, when is a new policy or bylaw
required? Careful planning prepares for future needs. Because we are a self-sustaining utility
operation, we need to generate enough revenue from user fees, the sale of recyclables and
industry funding to cover our operating and capital program costs.
Our business focuses on the 3Rs. Reduce is the first of the 3Rs. When we acquire less,
we reduce the need to reuse, recycle and, most importantly, decrease the amount of garbage
going to landfill. We try to recycle what remains to the point that we've introduced
a fourth "R" - Recovery. An example of recovering additional benefits from waste could be producing
energy from waste. Keep participating in our recycling and waste
diversion programs as well as you do. Encourage others to do the same. We've got a ways to
go before reaching our goal of 70% waste diversion from landfill. With your help, we'll get there.
When we do, which we hope will be by 2016, we'll be able to keep the Green Lane Landfill
open until 2036.
Toronto's waste diversion rate puts us among the best of North American cities of our size.
We continue to research, test, introduce or expand waste reduction programs to more participants.
Solid Waste needs a Long Term Waste Management Strategy to handle waste diversion processing
and disposal needs for the next 30-50 years. All options and best practices for new and
emerging waste diversion and disposal methods will be considered and evaluated. Our goal
is to find solutions that are cost-effective, socially acceptable and environmentally sustainable.