Newmarket strives to be leader in waste reduction and diversion

We all must pull together to ensure the future stays green, writes Mayor John Taylor

Yorkregion.com
June 13, 2019
John Taylor

Newmarket has always been known as a municipality that is committed to being environmentally friendly. The town has a wide range of programs and initiatives that demonstrate your commitment. Our residents are as committed as we are. Year-after-year, our diversion rates continue to hover around 94 per cent. This means that 94 per cent of waste is being diverted from the landfills – making us a leader in waste reduction in York Region.

Recently, there was an isolated incident surrounding the contamination of waste streams.

I want to assure you that the Town of Newmarket, York Region and our contractors are dedicated to ensuring that your waste and recycling efforts are not wasted and we strive to be a leader in waste and recycling management.

The town and York Region regularly conduct waste audits at our Material Recovery Facilities (MRF) to verify that appropriate process and procedures are being followed by our contractors. In fact, these MRFs have recently gone through extensive upgrades to help better prevent contamination to our waste streams. We also meet regularly with the contractor and our neighbouring municipalities to discuss ways that we can advance our waste and recycling programs to help combat climate change.

Doing your part can be as simple as reducing the use of single-use plastics such as using a reusable water bottle, eliminating the use of plastic straws and bringing your own reusable shopping bags. Reducing, reusing and recycling saves energy, reduces deforestation, minimizes greenhouse gas emissions and encourages the production of more energy efficiency products.

I am very proud of our community’s efforts and how far we have come with our waste reduction achievements. Please continue to participate in our environmentally friendly programs, as we work together to create an even cleaner and greener Newmarket and world.