Organics First: Setting Toronto on the Zero Waste Path
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ORGANICS FIRST: SETTING TORONTO ON THE ZERO WASTE PATH. ORGANICS FIRST: SETTING TORONTO ON THE ZERO WASTE PATH. A zero waste future is about building a vibrant circular Our city is about to choose a path for how we deal with our waste for the next 50 years. This choice will economy that supports our communities and benefits our environment. affect our environment, our communities and our economy. To help set a vision for Toronto’s organics to landfill. waste strategy, TEA released a • Food doesn’t need to go 40% of what is in the average A zero waste vision for Zero Waste Toronto report earlier to waste: There are great Toronto garbage bags is The good news is that To get to zero, Toronto Toronto is about a future this year1. Now, our Organics First community programs that we have the tools right needs to: report outlines the first steps we redistribute edible, surplus organics. We can get this to here in our city and great without waste, where need to take towards our vision of food. zero. examples from around • Make education and effective resources are conserved, zero waste: we need to make sure • Toronto has a good system to the world to divert communications a priority shared and unwanted that no compostable organics - collect and process organics. valuable organics away to help residents use their materials become the raw mostly food and food scraps - end • There are new ways to process from landfill. Green Bins properly and get materials for something new. up in Toronto’s garbage. organics to create renewable organics out of the garbage natural gas that can generate We can divert surplus, edible bag. We need to get all the millions of dollars of revenue food to local food rescue • Ensure all residents have organics out of our garbage. every year and dramatically cut programs, and divert organics equal access to organics Here’s why: greenhouse gas emissions3. to community composters or collection where they live. • Getting all organics out of the facilities that process compost • Require that all businesses • Almost 40% of the half a million garbage means we can avoid while creating revenue- and institutions in Toronto tonnes of residential garbage sending our garbage to landfills generating renewable natural have organics collection to sent to landfill by the city every in other communities who don’t gas. compost food waste and year is organic material that want Toronto’s waste. other organic materials. could be composted in the Green Bin2. 40% • Businesses, retailers and industries send huge amounts of 2 3 WHAT HAPPENS TO FOOD WASTE AND OTHER ORGANICS? The City collects organics in the contractors to be finished as a Toronto was the first major city Unfortunately, most organics do not get composted. Green Bin from all houses and nutrient-rich compost sold for use most multi-residential buildings in in Ontario gardens and farms. The in North America to have Green Most of what’s in your garbage Many buildings in Toronto It is estimated thatToronto’s Toronto. City buildings, schools, and methane can be converted into a Bins to collect organics from 5 doesn’t belong there . Even with don’t have City waste Industrial, Commercial and small businesses on major streets natural gas substitute (Renewable houses. But more than a decade recycling and Green Bin organics services, and don’t get Institutional sector generates also have Green Bins to divert Natural Gas), worth an estimated later, many of our high rise collection at home, over 40% of 840,000 tonnes of waste every 4 Green Bins. organics. $4 million from just one digester . buildings, and most businesses, the average Torontonian’s garbage year - 280,000 tonnes of this is still don’t compost their food bag is organic and compostable Many high rise apartments and food and organics. This is mostly food waste and Unfortunately, the City doesn’t waste and 20% is recyclable condominiums in Toronto pay includes other compostable have enough anaerobic digesters to waste. materials. for waste collection from private Based on TEA’s analysis of City organics such as tissues, soiled process all the organic material it waste companies are not required of Toronto waste audits, more paper packaging, pet litter and collects. Currently, up to a third of We already have the to have Green Bins. Organics organics are sent to landfill each diapers. Toronto’s organics are sent private infrastructure and the technology from these buildings ends up in year (180,000 tonnes) than was contractors to process. to collect organics, process it and the garbage. collected in the residential Green Green Bin organics are sent to two turn it into valuable commodities Bin program in 2015 (105,000 City-owned anaerobic digesters Community composters at like compost and renewable Almost all businesses in Toronto tonnes). in Toronto. These digesters community gardens and recreation natural gas. use private waste companies, and use bacteria to break down the centres allow neighbourhood only a handful collect Green Bin organics, releasing methane in the residents to recycle the nutrients waste, most is going straight to process. At the end of the process, from their food scraps into garden landfill. the digestate is sent to private compost. 4 5 THE 3R’S OF ORGANICS ZERO WASTE SOLUTIONS We can learn from great community examples from right here in Toronto and Zero waste is about conserving our resources and using them wisely: reducing, reusing and from other cities facing the similar challenges: recycling - in that order. When it comes to organics and food, we can use a similar hierarchy: prevent and reduce food waste, redistribute surplus edible food to feed people, and recycle NOT FAR FROM THE TREE This non-profit group connects property owners with volunteers to harvest fruit from trees the nutrients and energy in food through composting. No organics should be disposed in in Toronto yards to keep it from going to waste. The harvest is split between the owner, the landfill or incinerator. volunteers and local food banks7. SECOND HARVEST Their Food Rescue & Delivery program collects over 3,700 tonnes of food from stores and warehouses and delivers it to food banks and shelters across Toronto8. VANCOUVER A ban on disposing organics since 2015 means all businesses and residences in the city collect REDUCE food waste for composting9. Prevent and reduce food waste. SAN FRANCISCO All of their buildings, including businesses, offices and stores must collect organic waste for REUSE composting. Some businesses divert more than 80% of their total waste10. Redistribute surplus, edible food to NEW YORK CITY feed people. Starting in July 2016, large businesses will be required to ensure their food waste is composted11. TORONTO Small businesses that use Toronto’s waste services and Green Bin divert 64% of their waste, RECYCLE 6x higher than the average12! Recycle nutrients through composting. Anaerobic digesters create compost MAYFAIR ON THE GREEN while capturing methane and This Scarborough high rise turned their garbage chute into an organics chute and now boasts creating “energy-from-recycling.” a diversion rate of 85%13! FOODSHARE Their community composter turns more than 22 tonnes of institutional food waste into rich compost each year14. ZOOSHARE North America’s first zoo-based biogas plant is funded by community bonds. Its anaerobic digester will recycle manure from the Toronto Zoo and food waste from local grocery stores into high-quality fertilizer and electricity, diverting 14,000 tonnes from landfill each year15. THE BENEFITS OF TORONTO’S GREEN BIN ZERO ORGANIC WASTE PROCESSING FACILITIES ARE A zero waste strategy for organics protects the environment, benefits communities A SOURCE OF GREEN ENERGY: and supports a strong local economy. BIOGAS CREATED DURING THE Zero organic waste is good Zero organic waste is good Zero organic waste is good for the environment for our communities for the economy PROCESS CAN BE CONVERTED • When organics break down • Canadians waste an average • Preventing food waste saves in a landfill without oxygen or of $28 each week on uneaten money - for families, for light, it releases methane gas, food. Community education institutions and for businesses. a greenhouse gas 23 times programs teach families how • Unlike other recyclables, INTO RENEWABLE NATURAL more potent than carbon to prevent food waste and organic and compostable dioxide. save money16. waste can’t travel too far to • Composting recycles valuable • A Guelph study showed that be processed, in fact, most of GAS - A FUEL WITH 93% LESS nutrients to create healthy over 60% of food found in it can be recycled right here soil. This improves growing organics bins was ‘avoidable’ in Toronto. This creates local conditions for food and food waste - edible food that green jobs. plants, and increases the soil’s could have been eaten instead • Creating green energy from GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS ability to absorb carbon, a of tossed17. processing organic waste is greenhouse gas. • Community gardens and also good for the economy. • Toronto’s anaerobic digesters community composters Four million cubic metres of THAN DIESEL! break down Green Bin connect people with their Renewable Natural Gas can organics, creating a nutrient- food and with each other be produced from one of the rich material for compost as • Each year ‘food rescue’ City’s organics processors. well as methane gas that will programs redistribute This gas is worth $4 million be converted into a green thousands of tonnes of annually. energy source. food from grocery stores, warehouses and restaurants to feed hungry people in food banks and shelters. 8 9 Mayfair on the Green, a Scarborough high rise, turned their garbage chute into an organics chute and now boasts a diversion rate of 85%! TORONTO CAN ACT NOW TO ACHIEVE ZERO ORGANIC WASTE.