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Don't kick Styrofoam to curb, Markham: city aims to recycle material

Latest program part of city's award-winning recycling strategy that aims to divert 85% of residential waste from landfill

Yorkregion.com
Oct. 13, 2020
Heidi Riedner

Styrofoam packaging will be banned from curbside collection as of Oct. 19 in Markham to increase recycling of single-use plastics and to help divert 85 per cent of residential waste from landfills.

The new environmental initiative is part of the City of Markham’s diversion strategy and has been modelled after the city’s successful electronics recycling and award-winning household textile recycling programs.

The city has diverted more than 18,379,692 pounds -- or 8,337 metric tonnes -- of textiles from landfill since they were banned from curbside garbage collection in 2017.

That came on the heels of clear bags being introduced in 2013 as a way for collectors to identify if recyclables, organics, hazardous and electronic material had been improperly disposed.

E-waste, such as TVs and computers, were also banned from curbside garbage collection in 2013 as a way to keep harmful metals out of the landfill and allowing valuable parts like glass, plastic, gold, silver, copper and palladium to be recycled.

As of Oct. 19, Markham residents must now drop off their Styrofoam packaging at any of Markham’s four community recycling depots, where it will be compressed into bricks and then used to make new products including picture frames, crown moulding and benches.

“Markham already has the highest curbside waste diversion rate of any urban municipality in Canada,” said Markham Mayor Frank Scarpitti.

“This is another positive step we are taking to invest in a greener future while ensuring Styrofoam is properly diverted, reused and not placed in our landfill.”

Scarpitti said the goal of the program is to work with residents to increase the city’s current waste diversion rate from 81 per cent to 85 per cent.

“Waste diversion is an important sustainability initiative to reduce waste to landfill sites and minimize waste transportation, thereby playing an important role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions.”

Styrofoam takeout food containers and cups, however, are not banned from curbside collection, so residents can continue to put those items in their clear bag garbage or drop them off at the recycling depots located in Markham Village, Milliken Mills, Thornhill and Unionville.

Single-use plastics are particularly problematic for environmental sustainability because there are few ways to reuse, recycle or compost them. In addition, many end up as litter on roads, parks, trails and creeks.

A 2019 report commissioned by Environment Canada found Canada’s recycling industry was hampered by cost and access, making it cheaper and easier to produce new plastic rather than recycling, reusing or repairing it.

There were fewer than a dozen recycling companies in Canada, employing about 500 people with about $350 million in revenue between them, according to the report, which concluded the market for recycled plastic is small without minimum standards requiring the use of recycled content.

In 2016, Canadians threw 3.3 million tonnes of plastic away, which represents 12 times the amount that was recycled.

Canada currently recycles less than 10 per cent of the three million tonnes of plastic it produces each year.

Along with the provinces, the federal government has set a goal of zero plastic waste ending up in landfills by 2030 and is banning single-use plastics in Canada by the end of 2021.

In an announcement Oct. 7, Environment Minister Jonathan Wilkinson said six single-use plastic items that aren’t easily recycled and already have more environmentally friendly alternatives will be the first to go under Canada’s new restrictions on plastics, including plastic straws, stir sticks, carry-out bags, cutlery, dishes and takeout containers and six-pack rings for cans and bottles.

Many items omitted from the list, however, such as plastic bottles, will be getting new standards to require them to contain a minimum amount of recycled material, he said.

There is also a push to standardize how plastic items are made, from the types and amounts of plastic used to the dyes and adhesives, so recycling them is easier.

For now, however, Markham residents should put items that cannot be recycled in clear bag garbage as of Oct. 19.

That includes:

Residents who are unsure how to properly dispose of an item can use the “What Goes Where” search tool available on the Access Markham mobile app or on the city’s website.

Residents can also use the mobile app to check their collection schedule or set up personalized collection reminders.

For more information, visit markham.ca/StyrofoamRecycling.