What are you and your organization doing reduce and divert waste from landfills? Waste Reduction Week is the perfect time to think about how you can do more.
In Canada, most of us are aware of the three Rs - Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. Here in Waterloo Region, the birthplace of the blue box program, there tends to be even more awareness and our efforts to reduce waste are a point of pride. But how is that all working out?
According to a recent report from the Environmental Commissioner of Ontario:
“Ontario produces an astonishing amount of waste: about 12 million tonnes annually. Overall, Canada produces more garbage per capita than most other countries in the world.”
Businesses and institutions in the province are responsible for over half of this waste. They only recycle 15 percent and send 6.7 million tonnes to landfill sites each year.
Clearly, this is a problem. We know we can do better.
In 2001, the national Waste Reduction Week program was launched by Recycling Council of Ontario who now leads the national campaign with support from a coalition of not-for-profit environmental groups and governments from each of the 13 provincial and territorial jurisdictions across Canada.
This year’s Waste Reduction Week program includes a series of themed days, kicking off with the Circular Economy (something Greentec has written about before).
Given the latest numbers on the amount of waste still ending up in landfills, there’s a big opportunity for businesses and institutions to reduce their waste. The Waste Reduction Week in Canada website has a handy resource kit to help you get started.
Reduce is the first and arguably most important of the three Rs — exactly the point initiatives like Waste Reduction Week are trying to make. But for electronics that are at the end of their life, Reuse and Recycling help divert this waste from landfills. For electronic waste, Greentec’s expertise and processing capabilities enable us to do this better than anyone else. We’re proud to have a 95% waste diversion rate for all the e-waste we receive.