The province has developed a proposed Food and Organic Waste Framework. Together with the Strategy for a Waste-Free Ontario: Building a Circular Economy and Ontario's Climate Change Action Plan, the proposed Framework will help Ontario build a circular economy and fight climate change. The Framework consists of two complementary components:
Part A: Proposed Food and Organic Waste Action Plan which outlines strategic commitments to be taken by the province to address food and organic waste; and,
Part B: Proposed Food and Organic Waste Policy Statement, to provide direction to the province, municipalities, producers, IC&I sector, waste management sector, and others to further the provincial interest in waste reduction and resource recovery as it relates to food and organic waste.
Ontario is shifting to a circular economy — a system in which materials are never discarded, but reused or recycled into new products and reintegrated into the market. Managing our resources more effectively will benefit Ontarians, our environment and the economy. It will help Ontario fight climate change and achieve its goals of a zero waste future with zero greenhouse gases from the waste sector, as set out in the Strategy for a Waste-Free Ontario: Building the Circular Economy, released in February 2017.
There are serious environmental consequences to sending food and organic waste to disposal.
In 2015, Ontario generated 3.7 million tonnes of food and organic waste, which includes food that could have been eaten or repurposed, as well as unavoidable waste such as food scraps and vegetable peelings. About 60% of this was sent to landfill. When these valuable materials end up in a landfill, they contribute to climate change. As food and organic waste break down in an oxygen-deprived environment, they create methane, a potent greenhouse gas. In 2015, greenhouse gas emissions from the waste sector accounted for approximately 5% of Ontario's total greenhouse gas emissions from all sources. Greenhouse gas emissions from Ontario landfilled food and organic waste represent 93% (8.0 megatonnes) of total emissions from the waste sector.
Sending food and organic waste to landfill is ultimately unsustainable and puts additional strain on our environment by requiring new landfill space. Given the projected population growth and economic trends, it is forecasted that Ontario will need 16 new or expanded landfills by 2050, if no progress is made to keep our resources out of the landfill.
There are also economic consequences to sending food and organic waste to disposal. The amount of food waste each year is staggering. In Canada, about $31 billion worth of food is wasted annually. This equates to about $868 worth of food per person per year and equivalent to about $12 billion for Ontario alone.
Current efforts to collect and recover resources through household food and organic waste programs, and leaf and yard waste programs support approximately 1,700 direct and indirect jobs in Ontario, and generates over $100 million in gross domestic product (GDP). In addition, turning the food and organic materials into compost and digestate creates economic and environmental benefits which can improve soil health, help reduce erosion, and improve water quality. Similarly, renewable natural gas and biofuels can be produced from recovered food and organic waste and their use can help reduce our dependence on greenhouse gas-intensive fossil fuels.
The proposed Framework sets a vision for "a circular economy that moves towards zero food and organic waste and zero greenhouse gas emissions from the waste sector".
This proposal has been posted for a 60 day public review and comment period starting November 16, 2017. If you have any questions, or would like to submit your comments, please do so by January 15, 2018 to the individual listed under "Contact". Additionally, you may submit your comments on-line.