By Keith Currie, Vice President, Ontario Federation of Agriculture
The proposed Waste-Free Ontario Act marks a significant shift in how Ontario considers waste. Known as Bill 151, the proposed Act is intended to improve waste reduction efforts, increase resource productivity, enable efficient and effective collection and recycling systems, and increase the market value of recovered materials.
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The Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA) supports the Waste-Free Ontario Act’s objective to reduce waste, and reduce the province’s dependency on landfills that are typically located in rural areas.
Bill 151 focuses on the manufacturing and packaging sector that produce products that often find their way into the waste stream. The proposed act puts increased pressure on these sectors to adopt practices that result in the production of more resilient, reusable and recyclable products.
The new act is set to replace the current Waste Diversion Act. OFA consulted extensively with industry partners in previous attempts to improve the Waste Diversion Act and believes the goals embraced within the proposed Waste-Free Ontario Act will be favourable to all Ontarians, and our environment.
OFA will be watching the progress of this proposed act and, if enacted, the accompanying regulatory setting process. We don’t want to be surprised by any unintended consequences impacting Ontario farm businesses. Ontario farmers already participate in recycling programs that involve the recycling of pesticide and fertilizer containers, feed, seed and pesticide bags, plastic bale wrap and many other items used on the farm. Expansion of those programs will be an important development under the proposed act.
OFA applauds the waste-free Ontario initiative proposed in Bill 151.
