Zero Waste targets manufacturers

Author: Frank Matys

Date: Nov 27, 2009

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Nicole Million

Zero Waste Simcoe is dedicated to reducing the county's garbage as much as possible. Pictured is Gord McKay, chair of the environmental group.

ORILLIA: Gord McKay dreams of a world without landfills.
For now, he’ll settle for Simcoe County.
McKay pines for a day when the region’s recycling-savvy residents no longer generate household trash – a long-term aim of the non-profit environmental group Zero Waste Simcoe.
“It is not going to happen in the next six months, but I would like to believe in the next decade, yes,” said McKay, the group’s chair.
Key to that effort is a need for manufacturers to take responsibility for their products and the packaging that litters landfills, he added.
Provincial legislation now under review aims to ensure producers rather than household taxpayers are made to bear the cost of waste generated by these products, McKay said.
“If you are smart enough to design your products so there is not going to be a lot of waste, then you’ll benefit in the marketplace,” he said.
Practiced in jurisdictions throughout Europe and North America, Zero Waste requires involvement from all levels of government and the general public.
Site 41 was the “catalyst” for the local movement, said McKay, a Midland councillor.
“We had been anguishing over Site 41,” he said of the defeated proposal to create a landfill over an aquifer. “When you look at it, the bigger issue is, what do we do with our waste?”
Consumers are encouraged to reduce their trash output through a variety of measures, such as opting for cloth grocery bags instead of single-use plastic bags.
“It is the cold realization that we buy the waste that we throw out,” he added. “How do we change our shopping habits, how do we change our disposal habits?”
Representatives from the grassroots environmental group will speak at St. Paul’s United Church in Orillia at 7 p.m. on Nov. 26.
“We bring solutions to the table and look for people to work with us,” McKay said, noting a diverse membership that includes teachers, doctors, plumbers, and others.
Landfills are viewed as a last resort, with the group promoting practices that encourage the avoidance of waste as the preferred option.
Reducing, reusing and recycling are cited as the next best solutions, while so-called energy-from-waste facilities – incinerators – rank second from the bottom of the “waste hierarchy.”