Toronto's Solid Waste Shipments to Michigan on the Decline

TORONTO, Jan. 31 /PRNewswire/ -- Michigan's Department of Environmental
Quality's Annual Report of solid waste landfilled in Michigan, issued
January 31, reflects a reduction of solid waste shipments from Canada.
In response to this report, the City of Toronto is pleased to note that it
has met and slightly exceeded its 2007 target to reduce waste shipments to
Michigan. The City of Toronto's solid waste and wastewater by-products
shipments have decreased by 27% since the 2005 baseline was established
between the Province of Ontario and Michigan's two U.S. Senators.
At its peak in 2003, Toronto shipped 142 truckloads of waste per day to
Michigan. Currently, Toronto averages 80 truck shipments daily. Waste
landfilled in Michigan by Toronto is shipped to a single landfill, the
Carleton Farms landfill in western Wayne County.
Toronto has taken two major steps to ensure that all of its shipments of
waste will stop by 2010 and continue to be reduced annually in the interim.
In April 2007, Toronto finalized its purchase of the Green Lane Landfill,
located within Ontario, thereby securing a local Canadian solution to
its landfill needs. The Green Lane Landfill will continue to meet Toronto's
disposal needs after 2010.
In June 2007, Toronto's City Council passed a Target70 Plan, endorsing a
target goal of 70% diversion of waste from landfill by 2010. This will result
in continued reductions in cross-border waste shipments from 2008-2010. This
Plan commits an additional $540 million to new waste diversion efforts over
the next decade.
Toronto is Canada's largest city and sixth largest government, and home to
a diverse population of about 2.6 million people. It is the economic engine
of Canada and one of the greenest and most creative cities in North America.
In the past three years, Toronto has won more than 70 awards for quality,
innovation and efficiency in delivering public services. Toronto's
government is dedicated to prosperity, opportunity and liveability for all its
residents.
Visit our website at www.toronto.ca
SOURCE City of Toronto

City Councillor Glenn De Baeremaeker, Ward 38, Chair Public Works &
Infrastructure Committee, +1-416-392-0204; or Geoff Rathbone, General Manager,
Solid Waste Management Services of City of Toronto, +1-416-392-4715