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Remarks prepared for:

by

The Honourable Laurel Broten
Minister of the Environment

“Planning for Tomorrow — Progress and Partnerships”

Association of Municipal Recycling Coordinators
Hockley Valley Resort, Orangeville
Friday, February 16, 2007

(Check against delivery)

 

Good morning, everyone.

Thanks very much, Mike [Birett, Chair of AMRC], for that kind introduction.

Last year, I attended your spring Annual General Meeting for the first time, and I’m glad to be back.

Here in the beautiful, snow-covered Hockley Valley it’s hard to imagine spring — but I do admire your optimism!

I want to begin by congratulating everyone on what I understand has been another highly successful and productive annual meeting.

That’s important. As our front-line experts in coordinating municipal recycling programs, what you do affects every community in Ontario.

Over the past three days, I understand you’ve been looking at the nuts and bolts of municipal recycling, you’ve been sharing best practices and information on your day-to-day business.

You’ve also had an opportunity to take a look ahead to what’s on the horizon in waste management including the critical importance of diversion and recycling in the fight against climate change.

Well, you’re certainly talking about what is topical these days.

I have to tell you, there’s been a tremendous – almost palpable – change in the level of awareness of the environment since I first started this job. (And that was just 18 months ago!)

I don’t need to explain why. How many of you have seen Al Gore’s film “The Inconvenient Truth”?... If you haven’t, you’ve read about it, no doubt… You’ve heard news reports about the polar bears drowning in our Arctic … Just as you have noted the curious weather patterns that we’re now seeing here regularly in Ontario... And you most likely saw the news from Paris a couple of weeks ago: the United Nations reported that climate change experts now agree – global warming is unequivocal, and is almost certainly the result of human activities.

Issues of the environment – and especially climate change – are absolutely top of mind right now.

Well, there may be an increasing awareness in our society of environmental issues. Certainly right now it’s polling as the number one concern of Canadians. But how much of it is really new?

I think it comes down to values.

It’s our collective responsibility to reduce our ‘environmental footprint’ and to work together to build a sustainable world.

Global climate change is the defining issue of our generation.

We need to take action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions – the emissions that cause global warming.

Now, many people assume that all of our greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution come exclusively from the big stacks of heavy industry. The truth – perhaps the “inconvenient truth” – is that each of us in this room probably create as many emissions as industry.

Coal-fired power plants create about 17 per cent of Ontario’s greenhouse gases. Various other industry practices generate about 34 per cent. Agriculture adds another five per cent. That adds up to a little more than half of our climate change emissions.

So where does the remaining 44 per cent come from? It’s us. Transportation alone creates almost a third of our greenhouse gases. Our households produce almost 10 per cent. The waste we generate releases methane in landfills that count for another 4 per cent.

It’s easy to blame industry for all our problems. But the truth is that at least part of the solution lies in what we do in our homes, what we park in our driveways and what we carry to the curb.

Our challenge is to help people understand that there are many real and practical things they can do to reduce their environmental footprint.

We just have to look at the progress we’ve made in waste diversion and recycling efforts — thanks in good part to your work and the support of people in communities across the province.

People want to make a difference. They want to be involved in making this great province cleaner and greener. They know how critical this is to their way of life … to their children and their grandchildren.

Our government is already taking action. We are developing our plan for climate change and clean air. We’ve met with industry leaders, environmental groups, health experts and representatives from sectors as diverse as manufacturing, transportation and agriculture.

Remarkably, there is a lot of agreement on what to do next. There is a broad sense of shared responsibility. Everyone, including industry, wants certainty so that we can make plans now with a clear sense of direction for the future.

We have the opportunity to make real strides. Now that the debate surrounding climate change is finally over, it is time to put words into action. What we do in the months and years ahead to tackle greenhouse gas emissions will have the power to fundamentally reshape the future and the kind of world our children will inherit.

Cette prise de conscience nous donne aussi l’occasion de faire de réels progrès. Le débat sur le changement climatique étant enfin clos, il est temps de passer de la parole à l’action.

Ce que nous ferons au cours des mois et des années à venir pour nous attaquer aux émissions de gaz à effet de serre aura le pouvoir de transformer fondamentalement l’avenir et le genre de monde que nous léguerons à nos enfants.

I’m very proud to be part of a government that is committed to being green.

We believe that together, we can build that Ontario of the future and I am prepared to do what needs to be done to get us there.

I know that I have the support of my Premier and my cabinet colleagues to take the necessary steps that will help us realize our vision for Ontario’s future.

We’ve set our standards high. We are moving in the right direction.

At the same time, we know we can’t do it alone.

We need partners like you to work with us as we move forward with the ambitious environmental agenda we’ve set for Ontario.

Perhaps better than anyone else, you understand the challenges we face and the tremendous opportunities that exist to reduce our environmental footprint.

It’s certainly not news to anyone in this room that for many years in this province — we’ve been reacting to waste issues as they come forward.

And I think you’ll all agree that a case-by-case, crisis-by-crisis approach is simply not an efficient or effective one.

Instead of reacting to situations as they arise, what we need are viable, long term municipal waste management plans.

That’s why I’ve brought forward a plan for our ministry to require municipalities to develop long-term waste plans.

We’ll be posting this on the EBR very soon and asking for your input.

As the experts on the frontline, we very much depend on your feedback as we move forward.

Our government is committed to working with you – our partners in the municipalities.

I know we can step up our efforts to increase diversion and find made-in-Ontario solutions that focus on long-term, effective ways to help cut down the amount of waste that goes to landfills and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

We are making steady progress.

As you all know, waste diversion rates across the province have been increasing over the past several years.

We need to build on that trend. In fact, we need to work even harder to accelerate it.

I have complete confidence in our ability to achieve great things in waste diversion and recycling.

The question then becomes: what are the next steps?

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 tonnes of glass from landfills annually. That’s equivalent to about 80 million bottles every year.

That really adds up.

I know you’ve had an opportunity to hear all about this new program in your workshop sessions yesterday -- not to mention in TV ads and at your local LCBO!

What’s important to know is that this program will divert recycling wastes from landfill sites and free up space in the Blue Box, giving municipalities the opportunity to expand their recycling programs.

Now, of course, we realize there will be a transition period while people adjust to the new program. During that time, municipalities may still be incurring costs for managing wine and liquor containers in the Blue Box.

To address this, the LCBO will continue to provide $5 million per year over the next two years to WDO to help municipalities offset their costs.

Our goal is to recycle 85 per cent of wine and spirit containers into other products including higher value products such as new bottles, insulation, glazes for ceramic tiles, even polar fleece materials.

But, what I really like about the program is that for the first time, when consumers buy wines or spirits they will recognize that they are also buying the container it comes in.

We all know how successful Blue Box has been in making the 3Rs an accepted part of daily life here in our province.

This year, municipalities will receive $55 million from industry stewards for the Blue Box Program.

That brings the total amount provided to municipalities to $148 million since WDO’s Blue Box Program began just four years ago.

Our Blue Box program is a pioneer in environmental protection efforts and one of the best recycling programs in North America — thanks in good part to your work at the municipal level.

In 2005, we had a recovery rate of 58 per cent through the residential Blue Box program — and that number is increasing.

More and more, we have to look at the role packaging plays in creating waste. It’s a big piece of the puzzle. There’s just too much of it. People are increasingly aware of it. No one likes it.

We know we need to work in partnership with business and industry to find scale back. At the same time, corporate and business leaders need to recognize how less packaging will help contribute to a healthier bottom line as well as a cleaner environment.

Along those lines, I know many of you are as concerned and aggravated as we are with the recent move by some companies towards large, non-refillable, non-returnable PET water bottles. It seems they’re going from the water cooler directly to the blue box – and that’s just not workable.

I know this is a serious concern to you —these bottles literally fill the blue box and strain the municipal recycling system.

I’m pleased to tell you that just this week I expressed my strong concern about these bottles to the President of the Association of Post-Consumer Plastic Recyclers in the U.S. We’ll be sure to update you on the situation.

All in all, I feel we are looking forward. We need progressive solutions for a greener, more sustainable future in Ontario and we have no intention of moving backwards.

Along with looking at reducing packaging we also need do more to prevent common household hazardous wastes like paint, aerosols, solvents and batteries from going into the landfill sites.

Many municipalities have been dealing effectively with their household hazardous wastes for years. But what we need is a coordinated, province-wide approach.

That’s why, back in December, I directed Waste Diversion Ontario to develop a comprehensive new program with industry funding to get more of these common household products disposed of safely and conveniently.

We are also looking at a program for electronics.

It seems that life these days is just not worth living without cellphones, blackberries, pagers, computers and the like. But, just as we can’t seem to live without the latest and greatest gadgets, we don’t know what to do with them once we upgrade.

There has to be a better solution to ensure these products don’t end up in our landfill — and that’s what WDO will explore.

Managing our wastes ‘better and smarter’ will play a big role in decreasing our greenhouse gas emissions and protecting our environment.

Part of the answer lies in the opportunities presented by new, cleaner technologies. But new technologies first have to prove themselves. They also must prove they can comply with Ontario’s air standards, which are among the toughest in North America.

We need to see significantly greater progress in waste diversion and recycling in the Institutional, Commercial & Industrial sector. I know the AMRC has an important role to play here by providing the sector with information on how they can reduce their wastes, conduct waste audits and develop plans to reduce the waste they generate.

We are serious about seeing real results from the IC&I sector and we will be stepping up the frequency of inspections as well as implementing stronger enforcement of the 3R’s regulation to help them improve their record.

The fact is that smart businesses are recognizing that good stewardship is not only an environmental issue, but also a basic corporate goal. They recognize the value of reusing resources to cut costs and boost the bottom line. Reducing a company’s environmental footprint makes for healthy business, a better corporate image and happier investors.

We are making progress. But there is much more to be done.

By working together with you and with our partners at the municipalities I know the good work that’s already happening in waste management will continue.

The valuable input and ideas we get by talking to, and listening to all our partners is helping us develop innovative new approaches to meet the challenges of waste management in the 21st century.

It’s clear that going forward, successful jurisdictions will be the ones harmonizing their environmental and economic goals, and working with all their partners to achieve them.

Clean air …safe water … effective waste management and environmental stewardship are important goals in their own right … and part of the legacy we want to leave to our children.

They are also key ingredients that we need to ensure a healthy and prosperous future.

That’s the kind of future we all want to see.

Thank you.

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