We are pleased to provide…

We are pleased to provide the following comments re. the MOE's draft Policy Statement on Waste Management Planning, dated June 12, 2007: 1. Municipal Waste Management Plan and Diversion Rates Overall, the document provides a general guideline of the framework required for municipalities to develop their Municipal Waste Management Plan. However, many, if not all the principles and guidelines for municipalities, as outlined in the proposed policy statement, are already being applied (or may simply need updating) in the Niagara Region and many other jurisdictions throughout Ontario. Despite this, the MOE diversion target of 60% by 2008 will not be achieved in many instances. Recommendation: The MOE must go well beyond the local municipal level and include the IC&I sector and upper levels of government, if it is serious about waste management and the environment. 2. Local Level Approach Too Fragmented Municipalities face common challenges in trying to maximize waste prevention. Local by-laws and policies are implemented on a fragmented basis. Program planning and waste reduction efforts are based on local priorities such as landfill space constraints, budget/resource availability and political support for environmental programs. This occurs while economic, social and environmental costs, particularly long-term costs (i.e. health and environmental impacts) are carried by all residents of Ontario and beyond, on a global basis. Recommendation: The MOE must coordinate its approach with the Federal Government to address broad-scale impacts and reduce fragmentation at the local level. 3. Local Solutions Must Align With a Provincial Framework In the proposed policy statement, a significant amount of emphasis is being placed on developing local solutions to deal with waste management needs. However, this is a continuation of the status quo. Recommendation: The MOE must improve leadership through a combination of effective regulation, policy and guidelines. Our local solutions would then align with that of these initiatives. 4. Voluntary Targets are Only Partially Successful Voluntary or self-imposed targets and waste diversion efforts are only partially successful and often result in drawn out decision making processes. This can delay or prevent program implementation. In some cases, program funding can be reduced or negatively impacted at the discretion of industry stewards e.g. Stewardship Ontario’s reduced funding for the Blue Box program. Recommendation: The MOE must develop regulation with material-specific targets for waste reduction, reuse, recycling and composting. The MOE must also include requirements for Design For Enforcement (DFE) principles and Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) mechanisms. 5. Primary Areas for Federal/Provincial Action The Provincial government should have improved regulatory frameworks that address the following at a minimum: 1) Design for the environment is needed in terms of improved design to reduce waste, environmental emissions, use of toxic materials and other end of life considerations. 2) Application of EPR for products and packaging specifically having producers and distributors assume full financial responsibility for products and packaging in the waste stream. 3) Establishment and enforcement of waste diversion targets with incentives/penalties by sector i.e. IC&I and municipalities. 4) Establishment and enforcement of material specific targets for diversion of Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE), Municipal Hazardous or Special Waste (MHSW), used oil, tires, and by diversion activity (i.e. reduction, recycling and composting). 5) Bans to prevent disposal of organics and recyclables that can be captured through existing programs. It is recognized that the Province is in the process of implementing WEEE, MHSW and other programs, based on the principles of EPR. 6. Section Comments In reference to specific sections of the proposed policy statement, we would like to offer the following comments: a) Page 12 Figure 1: The Waste Value Chain and Page 19 C. Waste Disposal An additional Disposal alternative could include the option of Mechanical Biological Treatment of residual waste, with a Resource-Derived Fuel component. This technology has been successfully utilized in Europe, as well as Nova Scotia. b) Page 17 1.2: Proximity and 1.4: Cooperation Among Municipalities The messages being communicated in these two points should be clarified so that the two strategic directions are more complementary. The Province is stating that municipalities should be managing their waste as close as possible to the source of generation (i.e. within their own boundaries). Further, the Province is encouraging cooperation among municipalities to seek efficiencies and to find mutually acceptable solutions to waste management (i.e. economies of scale that can be realized by regional facilities). These messages need to be made clearer. c) Page 18 1.6 A: Waste Prevention The Province is placing the onus for waste prevention (i.e. creating programs to encourage reducing waste at the source, such as consumer education programs) at the municipal level. Given the magnitude of this issue, it would be better administered and enforced at the Federal/Provincial level, through such programs as EPR, incentives, enforcement, development of common communication and educations programs (that can be customized for local needs) rather than a piece-meal approach, at the municipal level. The municipalities role would be secondary in nature to that of the Federal/Provincial. d) Page 21 3.2: Goals and Objectives When setting targets, municipalities should consider the provincial goal of 60% diversion from disposal and describe how and by what date this goal will be attained. The Province's goal of 60% diversion from disposal requires timelines for when this target is to be achieved, in order for this to be considered by municipalities. Previously, the Province's target was 2008; however this timeline is no longer referred to. Given that this goal was never approved by the Province, it lacks enforcement. In addition, the Province fails to address the role that the Industrial/Commercial sector would play in achieving this target. e) Page 27 Definition of Municipal Waste The definition of Municipal Waste included on page 27 states any waste, whether or not it is owned, controlled or managed by a municipality. This definition is inconsistent with the description of Municipal Waste included in Section 2.1  Types of Waste the Plan Will Cover, on page 19. In this section, it specifically states municipal waste must be collected by the municipality or received, or to be disposed at a municipal facility, which implies that the municipality must own, control and manage it. This definition should be revised to include only the waste managed by the municipality, as described in Section 2.1. The proposed framework for municipalities to develop their Municipal Waste Management Plan must be firstly based on a clearly defined Provincial role in establishing waste as a resource and secondly improved Provincial regulation, policy and guidelines. The waste prevention program funding, DFE, EPR plans and other initiatives can then be leveraged by local municipalities in order to develop local solutions based on the upper tier system/strategy.

[Original Comment ID: 103644]