The provincial government is encouraging more burning of waste as if that’s a solution to Ontario’s growing garbage problem. The real answer is to reduce the amount of garbage we produce in the first place, not pretend we can magically get rid of it. 

Burning garbage doesn’t make it disappear! It leads to air pollution that can cause cancer, asthma and chronic lung disease. It creates piles of toxic ash that have to go somewhere, like a landfill, and can leach poison into soil and water. 

The healthy way forward is right in front of us: making sure food scraps, yard waste and other organics go for safe treatment, like composting, and not to landfills or incinerators; expanding deposit-return to keep all beverage containers out of the garbage and the environment; requiring true recycling of packaging; replacing single-use plastics and packaging with reuse and refill systems; and ensuring we have the ability to repair our electronics, clothing and appliances instead of dumping them in the trash. 

Sadly, the provincial government is moving in the wrong direction. Instead of enforcing and strengthening waste reduction policies already on the books, it is weakening the rules. Producers of packaging, who are now responsible for the blue box program, are now allowed to burn some of this material and call it recycling. The government has also given a green light to Emerald Energy from Waste, a privately-owned waste incinerator in Brampton, to apply for a permit to more than quadruple its operations to become the largest waste burning facility in Canada.

Incineration is not a solution to all this waste. Tell the province you want to reduce waste, not send it to be burned in Brampton or anywhere else.

Your letter will be sent to Ontario's Environment Minister Todd J. McCarthy. CC: Your local Member of Provincial Parliament.