Monday, February 8th, 9:30 a.m.- 10:30 a.m. - Zero Waste

Mirka Januszkiewicz, Director of Waste Management Services, Waste Management Services The Regional Municipality of Durham Works Department

Durham is one of five Regional municipal governments established by the Province of Ontario in 1974 in the Greater Toronto Area.  Durham Region is the upper tier level of government, containing eight lower tier area municipalities within its boundaries.  

Durham Region is responsible for all aspects of waste management including collection, processing, diversion, haulage, and disposal programs.  Two area municipalities retain responsibility for the local collection of garbage and food waste, but have partnered with Durham to support its standardized waste management program Region-wide.

The materials managed by the Region include: blue box recyclables, source separated kitchen food waste, leaf and yard waste, white goods, scrap metal, tires, garbage and household hazardous waste. This is done through curbside collection programs and the operation of waste transfer stations.  For 2008, Durham Region’s total waste stream was approximately 232,000 metric tonnes and about 51% of this material was diverted from landfill disposal.  In 2008 the Region of Durham reached the best rate of diversion in Ontario in municipalities with populations of 50,000 and over.

Durham Region has been a leader in the development of proactive and innovative ways of managing residential waste collection and disposal.  It has done so by implementing efficient and cost effective programs to capture household kitchen food waste and recyclable materials, and by holding special collection events on a regular basis to divert household hazardous waste and electronic waste from disposal.  In 2008, the Region received silver and bronze awards from the Recycling Council of Ontario. The Region has received international recognition for its Material Recovery Facility, recently winning the 2008 SWANA Gold Award for Recycling Systems. Waste Diversion Ontario has recently ranked Durham Region as number one in Ontario (for cities/regions with more than 50,000 residents) for its 2007 waste diversion rate of 47.7%.  The generation of electricity and steam and the further recovery of metals and beneficial use of ash will move the Region of Durham to reach the zero waste objective.