Text of Mayor Mel Lastman's 2010 Task Force speech on
June 19, 2001

Ladies and gentlemen, we're here to bring you up to speed on the direction the 2010 Task Force is headed - and let me tell you, it's looking like we're on the right track.

To date, the Task Force has held seven focus groups. Conducted 1,126 telephone interviews. Hosted 16 public meetings and met with industry experts and environmental organizations.

We learned that Torontonians want us to meet our waste diversion targets of 30% by 2003, 60% by 2006 and 100% by 2010.

They want us to help them reduce, re-use and recycle - but they also want the solution to be affordable. They want the solution to be convenient - and they want it to be easy to understand.

We already divide our garbage into two streams; dry recyclables like paper and plastic, and garbage.

Task Force Co-chair Councillor Betty Disero is convinced we need a third stream - and I agree.

By separating organic waste at the source, we can reduce the amount of trash we send to landfill sites by 41% and transform our garbage from a liability into a resource in one fell swoop!

Organic garbage from the kitchen goes into one container; paper waste and empty bottles and cans go into a second, and everything else goes into a third.

It's easy to understand. It's convenient. And it's the most affordable option available to us.

There will be capital costs involved - but once this program is up and running, source-separation will be cheaper than once-a-week recycling.

More important are the opportunities we'll realize by having three separate streams of garbage. Councillor Disero will be talking about this shortly.

We are going to meet our 30% target by 2003. We're already diverting 27.2% of our waste - and we have a host of new programs that are kicking in this year.

Milk and juice cartons, drinking boxes, empty paint and aerosol cans have been added to the blue box program.

Grass clippings are no longer being picked up and yard waste is only accepted in biodegradable Kraft paper bags.

But we are going to have to do more if we are going to reach a 60% diversion rate by 2006.

What we have here today is a map of where we want to go - but to get there, the 2010 Task Force needs everyone involved.

We need the federal and provincial government to get involved and we need our private sector partners to get involved.

Most important of all, we need the public to get involved in recycling, in source separation and in working with the city on future initiatives.

Everyone has to be part of the solution.

I would now like to call on Councillor Disero who will outline some of the strategies we are considering.

More information on the Waste Diversion Task Force 2010