[Admiral Beez]

I think the biggest challenge with recycling, both at home and at processing facilities, is distinguishing between what’s clean and what’s contaminated.

Exactly. I finish a plastic jar of mayonnaise and rinse it out with water and toss it in the blue bin. But was I supposed to wash it with soap and warm water to render it recyclable? And what of the empty oil bottle for my motorcycle, it's marked as a #1 so should be easily recycled, but how do I clean that, and if I did use soap and water to make it spotless, would it still be rejected? I don't want to know, and don't want to do any of this. Here's the two simple rules for the province and country to enact:

1. Set a national (or prov) standard, and declare that no packaging is allowed that is not recyclable
2. Set up sorting and recycling that removes the onus on consumers to clean or otherwise take steps to render an item recyclable. Instead the system should sort and where necessary clean items.

 

[DSCToronto]

I'm actually late in reporting that.....

Terry Ricketts has actually been installed as the new General Manager Parks and Recreation. She took over in November.

She arrives by way of Niagara Region where she ran Public Works.

She is a P. Eng by trade.

Because everyone needs to recognize her and keep in touch w/her........this is she:

View attachment 706954

Thanks, it is surprising that there seems to have been no press release or report to Council about this. I guess it shows what the bureaucrats think of Parks!!

 

[PL1]

It takes close to zero effort to separate recycling from garbage and organics. I agree that the should be national standards, but honestly it's not hard.

 

[DSCToronto]

This should not be my (or your) job, nor our problem to solve. One could argue that we shouldn't be recycling anything besides things that can be infinitely recycled, like glass and metals. A lot of other things recycled may be recycled once, and then landfilled anyway. Let's remember that everything we consume came from the earth, so putting it back in the earth after its use is not a moral sin. Recycling enables over-packaging, so the real solution is to produce far less packaging by fining producers and importers per gram or unit of single-use material. The best system is upstream accountability: fine the polluter, shrink the package, or remove it entirely.

As I pointed out, if citizens do not do some sorting and only use one bin, much of what COULD be recycled or turned into compost is too contaminated and must go into landfill. Most cities are running out of convenient and safe landfill sites so it is clearly a good idea to reduce the quantity of material going into landfill. Yes, of course there could/should be less packaging and making producers responsible as the new Ontario system thinks it is doing is a good idea but to just say that sorting waste is not your or my job is really not terribly helpful.

 

[txlseries4]

Thanks, it is surprising that there seems to have been no press release or report to Council about this. I guess it shows what the bureaucrats think of Parks!!

The City put out a post on LinkedIn a few months back

We’re pleased to announce Terry Ricketts, P.Eng. as the new General Manager of Parks & Recreation for the City of Toronto! Terry brings more than 25 years of progressive public sector leadership to… | City of Toronto | 116 comments

We’re pleased to announce Terry Ricketts, P.Eng. as the new General Manager of Parks & Recreation for the City of Toronto! Terry brings more than 25 years of progressive public sector leadership to this role, with extensive experience in strategic planning, program development and delivering...

www.linkedin.com

 

[Monarch Butterfly]

Toronto has been ranked second in the world for the cleanest tap water, according to World of Statistics. The city placed just behind Des Moines and ahead of Stockholm, putting Toronto among the top global leaders for drinking water quality.
The ranking highlights safety, treatment standards, and overall reliability of municipal tap water. For residents, it reinforces why Toronto’s tap water is widely considered safe to drink straight from the tap and a major public infrastructure win.

Toronto Culture

Toronto has been ranked second in the world for the cleanest tap water, according to World of Statistics. The city placed just behind Des Moines and ahead of Stockholm, putting Toronto among the top...

www.facebook.com

 

[afransen]

It takes close to zero effort to separate recycling from garbage and organics. I agree that the should be national standards, but honestly it's not hard.

To properly clean recyclable materials so they are not too soiled for recycling takes a decent amount of effort. See 'wishcycling'.

 

[PinkLucy]

Other than peanut butter or mayo containers, it’s no different than washing any dish. It just becomes part of the routine.

The bonus is that clean recycling containers don’t attract bugs and vermin.

 

[Richard White]

Other than peanut butter or mayo containers, it’s no different than washing any dish. It just becomes part of the routine.

The bonus is that clean recycling containers don’t attract bugs and vermin.

Yep!

Anything with dairy gets washed out before being left outside, especially in the summer.

Sour Cream containers can get rank in the summer if not cleaned.

 

[Full Metal Junkie]

Unless someone proves me wrong, I assume that most of what goes into recycling is sent to landfill.

If our recycling went to our landfills, that would actually be a better outcome for the environment than what actually happens to it. I assume that 5 years since this report was published, not much has changed and the majority of our recycling is still either getting incinerated or ends up in the ocean after we ship it off to third world countries:

 

[Admiral Beez]

It takes close to zero effort to separate recycling from garbage and organics. I agree that the should be national standards, but honestly it's not hard.

It's not about the separation, it's the lack of faith that much of what I separate is ever recycled that's on my mind. This all seems like performative, greenwashed theatre.

 

[Admiral Beez]

If our recycling went to our landfills, that would actually be a better outcome for the environment than what actually happens to it. I assume that 5 years since this report was published, not much has changed and the majority of our recycling is still either getting incinerated or

Japan burns most of their garbage. As for landfill, most of this province is uninhabited, surely we can find some crown land and make a mega landfill to last generations. If we could find a place to bury our nuclear waste, surely we can sort this out.

ends up in the ocean after we ship it off to third world countries:

None of our "recycled" materials should be shipped to the third world. The days of shipping electronic and plastic waste to China to have them dig through and repurpose our waste are over. China's an advanced economy now, they don't need our garbage.

Just like the war on drugs, the battle is only won when you address demand, not supply. If we want to address the waste generated by Canadians, we need to focus on reducing the supply of plastic-based, non-biodegradable packaging and single use food and drink containers. Ottawa and provinces need to pass legislation that no firm can import or sell anything in non-biodegradable packaging. When I see single heads of broccoli wrapped in shrink-wrapped plastic at the supermarket, I think, how is this allowed, or even necessary. Ban it.

 

[Full Metal Junkie]

The days of shipping electronic and plastic waste to China to have them dig through and repurpose our waste are over.

If you watch the Marketplace report I linked, we sure seem to be doing a lot of shipping of our recycling to other Southeast Asian countries, where they either burn it or dump it into rivers, where it ends up flowing down into the ocean.

 

[Admiral Beez]

If you watch the Marketplace report I linked, we sure seem to be doing a lot of shipping of our recycling to other Southeast Asian countries, where they either burn it or dump it into rivers, where it ends up flowing down into the ocean.

Indeed. Let's burn it here in the immediate term, with scrubbers like Japan does, until we can reduce or eliminate this material.

 

[Full Metal Junkie]

Indeed. Let's burn it here in the immediate term, with scrubbers like Japan does, until we can reduce or eliminate this material.

Why burn it though? Burying plastic in a landfill permanently sequesters the carbon inside a non-degradable material. Burning it releases the carbon as CO2, a greenhouse gas. I would argue that sending plastics to the landfill is a better option of the two (for now), before we figure out how to de-plastify our way of life.

EDIT: never mind, I did not notice the scrubbers part of the incineration process