Location: Ministry Home > News > Minister's Speeches > Speech

Remarks prepared for:

by

The Honourable Laurel Broten
Minister of the Environment

2007 Annual General Meeting of the Ontario Waste Management Association
“The changing climate of waste management”

Renaissance Toronto Airport Hotel, Toronto
Thursday, February 22, 2007, 6:30 p.m.

(Check against delivery)

Thank you Rob (Cook – OWMA President) for that kind introduction.

Good evening, everyone.

I’m glad to be here tonight.

Last year, I wasn’t able to join you. Instead, I sent greetings by video.

So, it’s great to be here in person, especially since it gives me the opportunity to congratulate you on your 30th anniversary.

That’s an impressive milestone.

To me, it demonstrates the ongoing strength and success of your association.

Your sector has a critical role to play in helping make our province a strong, healthy and vibrant place to work, live and do business.

From what I understand, your meeting today has ranged far and wide.

I know that a number of our ministry staff were here today and you’ve heard presentations from Keith West and Agatha Garcia-Wright.

So, let me wrap up the day with a few thoughts.

It’s a great privilege for me to serve as Ontario’s Minister of the Environment. It’s a job that I love and a responsibility that I take very seriously.

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

That’s why we’re working so hard to improve the air we breathe … protect our drinking water … and create a more effective, long-term framework to manage waste.

We are doing it for ourselves and for our communities. But more importantly, we are doing it for our children and for their children.

We’re a government that believes the environment and the economy are inextricably linked — that investing in the environment will also help grow a greener, more prosperous Ontario along with thousands of new jobs.

Je suis fière de faire partie d’un gouvernement qui se veut résolument écologique.

C’est pourquoi nous travaillons si fort pour améliorer la qualité de l’air que nous respirons, pour protéger nos ressources en eau potable et pour concevoir des moyens plus efficaces et de plus longue durée pour gérer nos déchets.

Nous le faisons pour nous-mêmes et pour nos collectivités. Mais plus important encore, nous le faisons pour nos enfants et les enfants qu’ils auront à leur tour.

Nous sommes un gouvernement qui croit que l’environnement et l’économie sont indissociables. En investissant dans l’environnement, nous aiderons aussi à ériger un Ontario plus vert et plus prospère, qui favorisera la création de milliers de nouveaux emplois.

This evening I want to talk about the actions our government is taking to make our great province cleaner, greener and healthier.

But first, let’s talk about climate change.

After all, it’s the topic of the moment. In fact, I’d say it would be hard to avoid even if you wanted to! But why would you? It has gained extraordinary momentum in our media and our lives. And I believe, for good reason.

The debate is over. The science is clear. Climate change is now recognized by top international scientists as unequivocal, and most certainly the result of human activities.

Clearly, this is the defining issue of our generation. What is equally clear is that this is a global issue.

Climate change is going to affect everyone, rich or poor, no matter where you live.

No surprise then that recent polls show that climate change is the top concern with Canadians.

What we do in the months and years ahead to tackle this issue will have the power to fundamentally reshape the future and the kind of world our children will inherit.

The fact is governments everywhere will have to act to take on this challenge.

But they cannot act alone.

Taking on climate change is going to involve a far-reaching, comprehensive approach. At the same time, it’s going to require that many people take many small steps.
Every person, every business, every industry and every sector in our economy has a responsibility to act. Just as we all share a stake in the outcome.

I’m pleased to say Ontario 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.

From curbing urban sprawl to energy conservation … to our commitment to closing coal plants and investing in renewable energy … to our transit investments … Ontario’s integrated approach to climate change and clean air covers a wide range of coordinated actions.

And that includes dealing effectively with the waste our society produces. Not just today, or tomorrow or next year … but for the long-term.

There’s a lot to do — but I don’t need to tell you that!

We need to keep increasing diversion rates, recycling more materials and developing more made-in-Ontario waste solutions.

The fact is, when we took office in this province, we recognized that to get to these solutions we needed to reach out to municipalities. We needed to provide the right tools for communities to better manage their waste.

We needed to pull away the veil and acknowledge, frankly, what had been de-prioritized for many years.

A case-by-case, crisis-by-crisis approach has not worked. Instead of reacting to situations as they arise, what we need are viable, long-term municipal waste management plans. And to that end, I’ve proposed that our ministry work with municipalities to develop plans that just don’t sound solid, they will be solid.

Have we gone far enough? Not yet. We have a long way to go and we are working on many fronts to get where we need to be.

We are making progress and we are going to continue moving forward.

Of course, it all begins with those famous Three R’s — reduce, reuse and recycle.

We can’t just keep digging bigger holes and filling them with our wastes.

That’s just not economically smart or environmentally sustainable.

In fact, methane gases released from landfills contribute to around four per cent of our province’s greenhouse gas emissions …

Now, that may not seem like a very large amount.

But let me assure you — that four per cent matters.

What does that mean for all of us going forward?

It means diversion is the number one goal.

That hasn’t changed; increasing diversion has been our focus since we began addressing Ontario’s waste management issues.

This is the 21st century. We must find new, innovative ways to deal with the waste our society produces, while ensuring our environment is protected.

That is not to say that landfills will no longer be an integral part of our waste management system.

Building residual landfill capacity has to be part of the picture and it is going to be for a long while yet … but diversion has got to be the central focus in building a cleaner, more sustainable province.

We’ve taken the lead and we are committed to working with municipalities to support them in their efforts to increase diversion.

Our recent successful agreement with Michigan Senators Stabenow and Levin is an important step in helping municipalities get their plans in place and move forward on finding made-in-Ontario solutions.

I’m pleased with the progress these municipalities are making towards completely eliminating exports of municipally managed waste by the end of 2010.

In fact, shipments of these municipally managed wastes out of the province are on the decline.

In 2006, many of the municipalities that export waste demonstrated that they are well on their way to meeting the 20 per cent reduction target set for the end of 2007.

But, while municipally managed waste shipments are declining, IC&I tonnage exports are increasing.

I think it’s obvious to everyone here that this has got to change as well.

So, what’s the solution?

To some, the answer lies with greater — and more targeted — enforcement of the three R’s regulations. You heard Agatha Garcia-Wright earlier report on the results of the ministry’s IC&I inspection work.

Yes, targeted enforcement is part of the solution — and will continue to be so.

But, realistically, we cannot continue to invest our resources in hiring more and more enforcement officers. That doesn’t get to the root of the issue.

We will continue to work with our U.S. counterparts.

And our government is working through political channels with Congress to keep a dialogue open on the Michigan border situation.

You can rely on me to speak up for Ontario. At the same time, we need to keep the lines of communication open, so that together we deliver a strong, consistent message.

But the reality is that municipal waste shipments from Ontario to the U.S. continue to be opposed legislatively in both Washington and Michigan.

We need to see results in other areas as well … in the Construction and Demolition sector, for example, which is responsible for about 10 per cent of wastes going to landfill.

I know that your association has been gathering information in this area and my ministry staff is very interested in working with you on it.

Times are changing — and they’re changing rapidly for every sector and every industry. Education and new best practices are going to be far more effective and sustainable than fines and enforcement will ever be.

Smart, progressive manufacturers are recognizing they need to shift from waste production to resource conservation.

More and more, that means moving toward a model that takes into consideration every stage of a product from beginning to end.

We all need to look at reducing our environmental footprint and look at all the ways we can recycle and reuse our resources, and create a culture of conservation and sustainability across the board.

I encourage you to work with your customers, with industry, with construction and demolition businesses to find ways that they can better implement recycling programs within their facilities.

Wasting resources is not the way to go as a progressive province.

Developing a sustainable and greener economy means finding new and innovative solutions, so, we’re proposing exemptions from the EA process for small pilot and demonstration projects, including those that involve energy-from-waste.

This measure is designed to encourage the use of new technologies and processes.

So far, three innovative energy-from-waste projects are underway.

I’m sure you’ve all watched with interest the developments with the Plasco Trail Road pilot project in Ottawa that will produce electricity from municipal waste.

As well there’s the Dongara Pellet Factory Inc. in Vaughan, which is processing non-recyclable municipal waste into pellets for use as an alternative fuel.

Enquest Power is going forward with a three tonnes a day gasification energy-from-waste project in Sault Ste. Marie.

We’re hearing increasing interest from municipalities on energy from waste projects.

Forward-thinking innovative projects like these are important, and our government is working hard to encourage more of them.

In the interim, what about capacity?

Well, we have approved more than 50 million tonnes of additional capacity in Ontario over the past two years.

As you know, our government has proposed improvements to Ontario’s EA assessment process.

Of course, I recognize that there are still areas where you want to see further improvements. We value your input.

Still, we know that the basic principles of EA are sound.

We need a process that looks at the potential impact of major projects before they’re built, and ensures environmental protections are in place.

But, I think everyone agrees that fundamental improvements were needed — a slower process does not mean better results for the environment.

We need a faster “yes” for projects that are necessary and constructive … and a faster “no” for projects that are not environmentally sound or viable.

Because we need a better and more efficient waste management framework, we have developed a new regulation under the EA Act specifically for waste management projects.

When the new regulation is passed, all waste projects will be handled under a standardized EA process, based on their type, size and potential impact.

The regulation is currently posted on the EBR, and the deadline for comments is March 7th.

I know that Rob Cook and your executive group have already spent some time reviewing the draft regulation, and that feedback is very much appreciated.

We want the regulation to work and work well… and that means we’ll be carefully assessing all the input before making any final decisions.

And we are making progress on the time it takes to get approvals.

The Plasco project got rolling in six months!

One of the ways we’re working to improve the technical approval process is by assigning a full-time director who will be working to clear the certificate of approval backlogs and we’re adding additional resources to get the approvals process moving.

You’ve no doubt been introduced — first hand, I imagine! — to the province’s new deposit-return program for wine, beer and alcohol containers.

We’re estimating that Bag-it-Back will divert between 25,000 and 30,000 additional tonnes of glass from landfills each year. That’s the equivalent of about 80 million bottles.

It will help reduce municipal recycling costs, ensure that more glass is recycled into high-value products, and help get alcohol containers right out of the municipal waste stream.

We know, for example, that far too many liquor bottles find their way out the back door of licensed establishments, and that they’re piled up in the alley with the rest of the trash.

By putting an economic value on alcohol containers, bars and restaurants will be encouraged to step up their recycling efforts.

It’s also going to help municipalities increase diversion rates by freeing up more space in recycling trucks for new recyclables.

More and more, we also have to look at the role packaging plays in creating waste. It’s a big piece of the puzzle. One of our great challenges in managing wastes is finding ways to reduce packaging.

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

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 and special wastes for years. But, what we need is a coordinated, province-wide approach.

That’s why, back in December, I directed WDO 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.

Just as we can’t seem to live without the latest and greatest gadgets, we can’t seem to get rid of them when the technology becomes out of date.

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

Part of the responsibility we have to protect and preserve our land and water involves looking at the products we buy, use, and then discard when they’ve outlived their usefulness.

In good part, like many other waste initiatives, it revolves around education.

It requires a new understanding and a behavioural change by people in a society, much like what happened with the Blue Box.

It also requires that manufacturers and producers change the way they look at the products they produce and sell.

It’s already happening. The Toronto District School Board recently set up a program with the help of the Recycling Council of Ontario, to recycle fluorescent light bulbs. Now, thanks to this pilot project, fluorescent light bulbs from schools in the Toronto District School Board are going to be properly collected, stored and recycled.

Programs like this are a great example of how manufacturers, distributors, schools and businesses can all work together to do what’s right and reduce our environmental footprint.

Climate change is going to be the impetus for a great deal of change … in how we do business in this province, how we look at our carbon footprint and what we are each doing to make things better for the future.
We all have a stake in creating cleaner, healthier and more prosperous communities across this great province of ours.

Moving forward, let’s keep the lines of communication open. Let’s keep a strong vision before us of the kind of province we all want this to be as we develop new ways of managing our wastes.

By working together with you and with all our municipal partners … I know we can build an effective long term waste management framework, a stronger, more sustainable economy … a greener and healthier Ontario.

And a better and brighter future for our children.

Thank you.

- 30 -