Solid Waste Management Services plays an important role in your daily life.
We provide services such as garbage and recycling collection that you probably know about and
others that you may not be aware of because they happen behind-the-scenes.
They are all important in getting the job done.
Our mission is: To provide innovative waste management services
to residents, businesses and visitors within the City of Toronto in an efficient, effective
and courteous manner, creating environmental sustainability, promoting diversion and maintaining
a clean city.
This is a big statement to live up to and here's how we do it:
Toronto is a unique Canadian municipality.
Half our population lives in houses, and the other in apartments, condos or units above
retail businesses.
This affects how we do our job.
Many of you see our collection trucks picking up garbage, recycling and food waste.
We also pick up old furniture, toilets, electronic equipment, mattresses, leaf and yard waste
and Christmas trees.
Solid Waste Management Services is also responsible for transporting, processing, composting and
safely disposing of all these materials.
We manage your household hazardous waste too (things like leftover paint, pesticides and
used motor oil).
We do this so that residents, businesses and visitors in the City of Toronto can enjoy
a clean and healthy city.
Did you know that we collect and manage about a million tonnes of waste each year?
And, we recycle or compost 52% of all that waste.
City staff support our operational programs by planning and implementing promotion and
education campaigns to reach you, our customers.
We need you to understand what to do.
We want to help provide the necessary tools for you to reduce waste.
We're in this together.
Ever wonder what happens to your stuff after collection?
Let's go behind-the-scenes.
Different types of materials arrive at City transfer stations.
If it's food waste, it goes to one of our organics processing facilities.
Recycling goes to a special sorting and processing facility that gets it ready to sell to the
open market.
Household hazardous waste goes to drop-off depots located across the City.
Certified haulers are responsible for collecting it and properly managing the material for
safe disposal.
The City's Reuse/Recycle Centre is where your old mattresses, toilets, furniture and electronics
go to be packaged up for recycling.
Our job also includes cleaning Toronto's public spaces.
Crews pick up litter, empty litter and recycling bins located on sidewalks and in City parks.
We also clean up after 1,000 special events a year (you know - the Santa Claus and Easter
Parades; July 1st fireworks; and street festivals).
We also coordinate annual Community Environment Day events.
We've got lots of equipment, vehicles, facilities, drop-off depots and Works Yards.
These are our assets.
We maintain them in good working order so they will last as long as possible.
One of our major assets, the City-owned Green Lane Landfill near London, Ontario.
It takes all our garbage.
We also have many closed landfills to maintain to keep residents and the environment safe.
Out of sight, but not out of mind.
Staff keep an eye on industry trends.
How can we enhance our programs, what new technology is available, when is a new policy
or bylaw required?
Careful planning prepares for future needs.
Because we are a self-sustaining utility operation, we need to generate enough revenue from user
fees, the sale of recyclables and industry funding to cover our operating and capital
program costs.
Our business focuses on the 3Rs.
Reduce is the first of the 3Rs.
When we acquire less, we reduce the need to reuse, recycle and, most importantly, decrease
the amount of garbage going to landfill.
We try to recycle what remains to the point that we've introduced a fourth "R" - Recovery.
An example of recovering additional benefits from waste could be producing energy from
waste.
Keep participating in our recycling and waste diversion programs as well as you do.
Encourage others to do the same.
We've got a ways to go before reaching our goal of 70% waste diversion from landfill.
With your help, we'll get there.
When we do, which we hope will be by 2016, we'll be able to keep the Green Lane Landfill
open until 2036.
Toronto's waste diversion rate puts us among the best of North American cities of our size.
We continue to research, test, introduce or expand waste reduction programs to more participants.
Solid Waste needs a Long Term Waste Management Strategy to handle waste diversion processing
and disposal needs for the next 30-50 years.
All options and best practices for new and emerging waste diversion and disposal methods
will be considered and evaluated.
Our goal is to find solutions that are cost-effective, socially acceptable and environmentally sustainable.