I believe this Framework is…

I believe this Framework is an effective, cost effective plan to make a large impact on lowering Scope 3 Green House Gas emissions.

Talking to the average Canadian who is not embedded in the environmental movement, I find that most do not fully understand the Green House Gas (GHG) impacts of putting food waste into the landfill. Beyond the current and impending increase in the global food crisis, there are numerous serious environmental consequences to sending food and organic waste to disposal.

For example, according to the Ontario Environmental Registry, 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 breakdown in an oxygen-deprived environment, they create methane, a potent greenhouse gas that is 72% more powerful than carbon dioxide. Methane is produced in a landfill as the buried waste undergoes anaerobic decomposition. Basically, this means that because municipal solid waste is underground in a landfill it does not receive oxygen, and this produces methane.

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.

A compost pile, on the other hand, undergoes aerobic decomposition. Because it is exposed to oxygen, either by turning it or through the use of worms and other living organisms, it produces CO2 (carbon dioxide) instead of methane.

In commercial composting facilities, there are a variety of technologies used, to capture the gases and create biofuels, as well as end use products such as fertilizers and soil enhancers.

Businesses should be jumping on the compost bandwagon - with the right programs in place, composting can actually save money on the cost of disposal. Waste to landfill has 2 costs - transport and tipping fees; a cost per tonne to dump into the landfill. Compost (like recycling), a business only pays for pick up as the end user is picking up a commodity.

[Original Comment ID: 211400]