Bill 197 and the Pressing Need for New Landfills in Ontario

Here is one of the realities that there’s no getting around these days. With population growth and increasing urbanization, there’s a whole lot more needed in the way of responsible yet effective waste management for metro regions. The GTA and Southern Ontario is a good example of this in the same way you’ll find it is for big cities in pretty much any country anywhere.

As a waste disposal service provider in Colborne and Trenton, the need for more waste disposal facilities to handle the increases in volume is something that we can definitely relate to.

Most people, however, won’t be in the know the same ways as those of us doing dumpster rentals in Colborne and Trenton. But there’s probably a whole lot that your professional specialty makes you knowledgeable about that we wouldn’t have the first clue about.

But here’s the thing, if you’re a homeowner living anywhere in Southern Ontario you’ve probably heard about how there’s an increasingly pressing need for more and / or expanded landfill facilities in Ontario.

So all of our dumpster rentals in Trenton and Colborne are only a drop in the ocean with everything they contribute to waste disposal volumes here, but in the bigger picture it’s becoming clear that politicians can’t be pushing this issue down the road any longer.

Problem in the Making

If you’re not familiar with Bill 197 here in Ontario, it’s the COVID-19 Economic Recovery Act. Obviously there’s good intentions there, but what it does is put the provincial economy and the health of the environment at risk.

How? By making it virtually impossible to build new landfills in Ontario. Something the Province needs, whether you approve of them or not.

What the act has done is created a requirement for approval of local councils in municipalities within 3.5 kilometres of a proposed landfill. Almost every major landfill proposal in Ontario is essentially killed by this, including projects that are already under review by the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks.

What’s the problem? Well, this will have a negative impact on all residents and businesses in Ontario. Let’s keep in mind that we send 70% of our waste to landfills every year. Waste disposal costs will increase, and local disposal options are going to be increasingly harder to find.

What will happen instead is that Ontario will rely more on trucking waste to landfills in Michigan and other U.S. states. Instead the Provincial government should understand that Ontario needs new landfills to manage the growing amount of waste generated every year.

Consider this – at the current rate of waste generation and remaining disposal capacity of 122 million tonnes, Ontario will run out of landfill space by 2032 if no expansions or refits are done.

Need more facts? With projected population growth and economic trends taken into account and with average waste generation levels per-year continuing as they have, Ontario will need to build – or find – 16 new or expanded landfills by the year 2050.

Balance Required

If you find yourself calling us or any other waste disposal service in Colborne and Trenton for dumpster rentals or drop off and pick up, give some thought to how much waste is being created with just one demolition job or whatever else it is you’re doing that requires job site clean up in the Trenton or Colborne. Waste reduction initiatives are important, but we also need to take into consideration some of the unavoidability.

Need dumpster rentals in Colborne and Trenton? We are your best choice with same-day delivery and pick up and proper waste disposal here. Have an upcoming job? Give us a call now and we’ll set you up with everything you need for trash disposal.

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