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Remarks prepared for:

The Honourable Laurel Broten
Minister of the Environment

Deposit Return Event with Minister Caplan

Feb. 05, 2007
Summerhill LCBO and Beer Store
Time: 10:30 A.M.

(Check against delivery)

Hello, everyone and thanks for coming today.

I’m glad to be here with my colleague Minister Caplan, as well as Roy Ecker – from the LCBO, who is doing double duty as our host and MC today, along with Ted Clarke, President of The Beer Store.

We’re here to talk about our government’s new deposit return program.

As a steward of our environment, on behalf of all the people of Ontario, I think this initiative is really great news.

Our government is serious about our commitment to build a cleaner, greener and healthier Ontario.

We’re definitely on the right track with “Bag it Back.”

Like our world-class Ontario blue box system, we are building a world-class deposit return system for wine and spirit containers.

Clearly, on the recycling front, we have come a long way over the past few decades. 

Our highly successful Blue Box program came into being 25 years ago, as more and more people became aware of the degradation of our environment, our depleting resources and our shrinking landfills.

Today, we’re a recognized leader in curbside recycling.  Millions of homes and thousands of schools and businesses across the province are dedicated subscribers to the “blue box” way of life.

Thanks to the Blue Box, the 3Rs — Reduce, Reuse, Recycle — are an accepted part of daily life here in our province.  

We wanted to make a good system even better.

The question was: how can we increase our recycling efforts?

What can we do to divert more from our landfills?

The new Deposit Return Program is part of the answer.

This program will help divert about 25,000 to 30,000 additional tons of glass from landfills annually. That’s equivalent to about 80 million bottles every year.

That really adds up.
 
The “Bag it Back” program is effective, it’s innovative, it protects the environment and, as Minister Caplan will explain, it turns what used to be wasted into a useful product.

The new Deposit Return Program will move us closer to our shared goal of a sustainable society.

It moves us towards becoming true stewards of our own environment, and helps reduce our individual ecological footprint.

All of us have a vital role to play in achieving our collective environmental goals. 

We are all responsible for taking actions that help improve our environment — recycling is one of the fundamental ways we can do that every day.

Le nouveau Programme de consignation fait partie de la réponse.

Ce programme contribuera à réacheminer de 25 000 à 30 000 tonnes supplémentaires de verre. Soit l’équivalent de quelque 80 millions de bouteilles chaque année.
 
Le programme « Bag it Back » est efficace, il est innovateur, il protège l’environnement et, comme le ministre Caplan l’expliquera, il permet de valoriser des matériaux qui auraient été jetés autrefois.

Le nouveau Programme de consignation nous rapprochera du but que nous avons fixé, et qui est commun, celui d’édifier une société durable.

Grâce à ce programme nous pouvons être de véritables intendants de l’environnement, et ce programme contribue à réduire notre empreinte écologique individuelle.

Nous avons tous un rôle vital à jouer pour atteindre nos buts environnementaux collectifs.

Nous sommes tous et toutes responsables de faire ce qui est nécessaire pour améliorer l’environnement — le recyclage est l’un des moyens qui est à notre disposition pour faire notre part tous les jours dans cet effort collectif.

I am proud to be part of a government that is committed to being green.

That’s why we’re providing tools like “Bag it Back” and supporting municipal efforts to increase diversion and manage wastes in an environmentally responsible manner.

Let’s all do our part and keep working together to create a clean, green, progressive and prosperous Ontario.

And we will build a better future for all our children.

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