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Recyclable market drives participation Continued from page 1 9 · Friday, October 21, 2011 OAKVILLE BEAVER · www.insideHALTON.com a dent in the truckloads of plastic bottles, pop cans, magazines, milk cartons and other household garbage that still end up in dumps. A 2010 Ontario's Auditor General's report ranked the province sixth in Canada by waste-diversion rate, behind Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, British Columbia and Quebec and well behind most European countries. The report can be found at http://www.auditor.on.ca/en/reports_en/en10/309en10.pdf ). "There's a good portion of the population who are very devout, who take a lot of time and sort," Beacock said at the Brock Township site, northeast of Toronto. "The rest of them do nothing. It's just all wham bam in a bag and out to the curb. The same items Beacock is pulling out of the Brock dump are cramming municipal landfills across Ontario, contributing to the crisis that worries AMO. Landfills are running out of space or already full. Brock Township will run out of space in two years. Landfills in at least six other municipalities, including Simcoe County, Northumberland and Muskoka, will fill up within 10 years. Brock is fortunate: a new incinerator to replace all Durham Region's landfills should be open in 2014. In the meantime, garbage is diverted from full landfills in the rest of the region to a private landfill in upstate New York. Other communities are scouring for solutions. Some are planning landfill expansions. Those with landfills already closed, including Guelph and Peel, are trucking garbage to other cities in Ontario. Even green bin waste is a problem. York is sending some of its organics to Massachusetts because its Ontario contractor cannot handle the region's full volume. "As long as you have got this escape valve of (sending it south), no one is going to take this issue seriously," said Municipal Waste Association spokesperson Ben Bennett. Municipalities are trying to send less to landfill but falling short of official targets (see chart). Waterloo Region and Northumberland County have not even set a target. The Auditor-General says waste diversion rates are lagging because: Municipalities with enough landfill space are unlikely to reduce curbside pickups and impose garbage bag limits. Municipalities have to compete with each other and the private sector to sell their recyclable and compostable materials. Municipalities say the nearly $80 million provided by industry for their share of the $160million-a-year blue box program is not enough. They also say it is 40 per cent cheaper to landfill materials that could be recycled. Even the types of materials collected in residential blue bin programs differ by municipality. While one may accept aluminum foil, trays and take out containers, another may only take one of these materials or refuse it all. "You go to cottage country and it's different," said Trevor Barton, Peel Region's waste management planning supervisor. "You go to your neighbouring municipality and it's different. It's very frustrating for residents." Each municipality has to be able to find a market or a solution for the recyclable materials it collects, said Lucy Robinson of the Recycling Council of Ontario. "If there is an inherent value in a product or material, somebody is going to want to use it and therefore, there will be a recycling opportunity." For example, much of the plastic packaging that ends up in landfills is not included in municipal blue box programs because there's no market for it, she said. Ontario households trashed 176,500 tonnes of plastics, 116,000 tonnes of printed paper and 122,000 tonnes of paper packaging in 2009, according to a report by Stewardship Ontario, the industry funded organization for the blue box program. The Auditor-General says the result is that one in five municipalities report they don't have enough space to dump their residential garbage. Not many landfills are being built since it's a long, complicated ordeal to get ministry approval. Lafleche Environmental Inc. in Moose Creek, near Ottawa, was the last new landfill approved in 1999 in Ontario, the ministry of the environment said. With landfills tough to build, there is a push to keep waste out, spawning provincewide stewardship programs. Experts also say government needs to push producers to design more recyclable and reusable products, also known as extended producer responsibility. AMO recently ran ads saying consumers and producers of waste should be funding recycling programs so property taxpayers are not left footing the bill. "A senior on a fixed income who doesn't drive, own an iPad or a flat-screen TV shouldn't have to pay for the high disposal costs of other people's tires, smart phones and computers through her property taxes," said McNamara. Along with industry involvement, waste management officials and experts say residents need to watch what they are throwing out. "They would just rather throw it in a bag and get rid of it and throw it in a landfill," said Peterborough's waste management co-ordinator Craig Simmons. "They just think there's an unlimited area where that material can go." ******* There are five major residential diversion programs in Ontario. Blue Box Waste (paper, plastic bottles, aluminum cans) Municipal Hazardous or Special Waste (paints, oil filters, dry-cell batteries) Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (computers, televisions, cellphones) Used Tires (cars, motorcycles, trucks, buses, trailers) Bottle Deposit Return program (wine, spirit and beer bottles) ALL-NEW S SHOW O WITH LIVE ORCHESTRA TorShow.com T 416-248-1168 JAN 19-22 LIVING ARTS CENTRE JAN 12-15 SONY CENTRE LivingArtsCentre.ca 1-888-805-8888 TorShow.com TicketMaster.ca T 416-248-1168 1-855-872-7669 Ad Advertorial il Shen h Yun performance f a musical l gift f There was a time long, long ago when China was known as Shen Zhou -- The Land of the Divine. The arts and the culture there were considered so exquisite and so vibrant that they could only have been bestowed by the heavens. To be worthy, the people held themselves to a higher standard Today, Shen Yun brings these gifts to its audiences. A performance 5,000 years in the making is coming to Mississauga's Living Arts Centre January 19 to 22 for five shows. The storybased musical presentation of traditional Chinese culture is a study in grace, wisdom, and all the virtues distilled from millennia of Chinese civilization. The classically trained dancers, musicians, and singers of Shen Yun Performing Arts share a vision: to restore Chinese culture to its former, glorious state. In addition to the classical forms, Shen Yun features the distinctive colours and styles of ethnic and folk dance. Choreographers draw upon more than 20 dynasties and 50 ethnic groups to create pieces that range from the northern steppes of Mongolia to the lush forests of Yunnan. Shen Yun has also created its own brand of story-based dances, which often depict universal, thought-provoking themes. As noted by Vanessa Harwood, former principal dancer at the National Ballet of Canada, "There's a lot of depth and meaning. It's a new realm of dance." composers of Shen Yun have brought them to us by bathing the distinctly Chinese sounds in a rich sea of Western strings, percussion, woodwinds, and brass. The result? A new and mesmerizing sound. Extraordinary artists "There's just something about them," audience members often remark. At a time when the influence of Taoism, Buddhism, and Confucianism was strong in the Middle Kingdom, art was a means to explore the connection between mankind and the universe. Poets and artists cultivated virtue and engaged in study and meditation because they believed that to create true art worthy of the heavens, there must first be inner beauty and purity. Today, the artists of Shen Yun follow in that noble tradition. Among the company's artists are accomplished choreographers and composers as well as winners of international competitions in dance, music, and singing. A brand new production Months of training and preparation culminate each winter when Shen Yun debuts a spectacular original production with all new dances, costumes, and music. To date, Shen Yun has performed in more than 130 cities, gracing notable venues like the Radio City Music Hall (New York), Kennedy Center (Washington DC), Kodak Theatre (L.A.), and Palais de Congres (Paris). In Canada, Toronto, Mississauga and Hamilton are among the cities included in the tour. For tickets to the Mississauga show go to www. LivingArtsCentre.ca, call the box office at 905-306-6000 or toll free 1-888-805-8888 or visit the box office in person. Two great traditions ­ One new sound Some remarkable instruments such as the See Halton page 11 pipa or erhu date back more than 3,500 years, See Wednesday's Oakville Beaver for Part II but the reality is very few Chinese instruof Trash Troubles. ments have made it to the world stage. The