Waste and the Circular Economy

Performance measures to divert waste going to landfill and use sustainable building materials. Toronto Green Standard Solid Waste Icon

TIER 1

SW 1.1 Waste Collection

Residential Uses:

Provide a waste collection and sorting system for garbage, recycling and organics using one of the following: 1,2,3,6

  • A single chute with a tri-sorter,
  • Two separate chutes with one of the chutes equipped with a dual sorter,
  • Three separate chutes for garbage, recycling, and organics collection on all floors,
  • A central waste collection and waste diversion facility on the ground floor for garbage, recycling, and organics collection.

SW 1.2 Waste Storage Space

Residential Uses:

Provide an easily accessible waste storage room with a minimum floor space of 25 m² for the first 50 units plus an additional 13 m² for each additional 50 units to accommodate containers and the compactor unit. 1,2,3

Non-residential Uses:

Provide dedicated areas accessible to waste haulers and building occupants for the collection and storage of recyclable materials for the entire building. Collection and storage areas may be separate locations. Recyclable materials must include mixed paper, corrugated cardboard, glass, plastics, and metals. Take appropriate measures for the safe collection, storage, and disposal of two of the following: batteries, mercury-containing lamps, and electronic waste. 6

SW 1.3 Bulky Waste

Residential:

Provide a minimum of 10m² for bulky items and items eligible for special collection services. 4

SW 1.4 Compaction

Residential Uses:

Developments with 31 units or above must ensure that all garbage is compacted by means of a compactor unit. The waste storage room must provide sufficient space to accommodate the compactor unit, to accommodate containers and the compactor unit.

SW 1.5 Household Hazardous Waste

Multi-unit residential: Provide a minimum 1 m² for every 100 units, of dedicated space for the collection and storage for household hazardous waste and/or electronic waste. 5

Specifications and Resources

  1. Apply these standards to residential apartment developments with 31 units or more where front-end collection is required.
  2. For details on how to apply these standards, refer to the City of Toronto Requirements for Garbage, Recycling and Organics Collection Services for New Developments and Redevelopments (2021) and Chapter 844 of the Toronto Municipal Code, Waste Collection for Residential Properties.
  3. Waste is defined as garbage, recyclable materials, organic materials, yard waste and prohibited waste.
  4. Bulky items are defined as household items that are greater than 1.2 m in any one dimension or weigh in excess of 20kg including furniture.
  5. Household Hazardous Waste includes car products, motor oil, windshield fluid; household cleaning products; paint, glue, primers, stains; pesticides and garden products; cooking oil; batteries; propane tanks; CFLs, syringes, medical sharps; medication; air fresheners, swimming pool chemicals.
  6. Groundfloor waste storage facility is subject to approval by the General Manager, Solid Waste Management Services.

SW 2.1 Building and Material Reuse

(Refer to Specifications & Resources 1 to 5)

Option 1

Path 1) Maintain Existing Structural Elements: Walls, Floors, Roofs, and Envelope

Maintain the existing building structure (including floor and roof decking) and envelope (the exterior skin and framing, excluding window assemblies and non-structural roofing materials) for at least 30 per cent of the project completed floor area.5

AND/OR

Path 2) Maintain Interior Non-structural Elements

Use existing interior non-structural elements (e.g. interior walls, doors, floor coverings and ceiling systems) for at least 30 per cent of the project completed floor area, including additions.5

OR

Option 2

Extra Low Embodied Emissions Materials

Conduct an Upfront Embodied Carbon Assessment for the structure and envelope in accordance with GHG 2.2.6

Specifications and Resources

  1. Refer to LEED v4.1 BC & C: MR Credit Building Lifecycle Impact Reduction for details on how to comply with this requirement.
  2. For Option 1, maintain the existing building structure, envelope, and interior non-structural elements with particular attention paid to heritage preservation and integration into redevelopment and streetscapes.
  3. Reused or salvaged materials from off site that are incorporated into the building can also contribute to the calculations. However, reuse materials contributing toward this requirement may not contribute toward Sourcing of Raw Materials SW 3.1.
  4. Historic, abandoned or blighted buildings: Portions of buildings deemed structurally unsound or hazardous can be excluded from the calculations.
  5. Path 1 and 2 reward projects that reuse structural and/or non-structural elements based on the project completed floor area. Where there is no existing building on the site, SW 2.1 does not apply. Path 1 and 2 can be combined to meet a 30 per cent overall target. The denominator for Path 1 is the total surface area of the structural and envelope elements of the existing building.
    The denominator for Path 2 is the total area of interior non-structural elements in the new building. The denominator if combining paths 1 and 2 is the greater of the two denominators required for Paths 1 and 2. Reused structural and non-structural elements are measured by surface area of each component. Please exclude windows and hazardous materials from your calculations.
  6. GHG 2.2 is a voluntary target to pursue.

SW 3.1 Sourcing of Raw Materials

Ensure at least 25 per cent (by cost) of the total value of permanently installed building products meet the requirements for at least two of the responsible extraction criteria identified below: 1,2,3,4

  • Extended producer responsibility;
  • Bio-based materials. Bio-based products must meet the Sustainable Agriculture Network’s Sustainable Agriculture Standard;
  • Wood products. Wood products must be certified by the Forest Stewardship Council or CaGBC-approved equivalent;
  • Materials reuse. Reuse includes salvaged, refurbished, or reused products;
  • Recycled content. Recycled content is the sum of post-consumer recycled content plus one-half the pre-consumer recycled content, based on weight;
  • Products sourced (extracted, manufactured and purchased) within 800 km of the project site.

Specifications and Resources

  1. Refer to LEED v4.1 BD&C Rating System MR Credit: Sourcing of Raw Materials for more information about how to comply with this requirement. The objective of this credit is to ensure that multiple responsible extraction criteria are being pursued on a project. The minimum requirement to comply with this credit is that within the 25 per cent by cost target, at least 2 criteria need to be represented. The products employed in a project must meet at least one of the above responsible extraction criteria and at least two criteria need to be represented within that 25 per cent product grouping.
  2. Products meeting responsible extraction criteria are valued as a percentage of their cost for the purposes of the calculation to meet the overall requirement. For bio-based materials, the value at cost is multiplied by the bio-based content of the product for the purposes of the calculation.
  3. Prior to starting construction, provide a Sustainable Materials Plan which indicates the estimated total Material Cost of the project (in accordance with LEED) and indicates which products may contribute towards the 25 per cent sustainable materials target.
  4. Any product that adheres to the responsible extraction criteria (25 per cent by cost of products on project), needs only to adhere to a single criterion listed above. However, it is required that multiple criteria be represented in this group. No more than 75 per cent (by cost) of the products can adhere to only one specific criterion. E.g. 95 per cent of products being claimed for responsible extraction adhering to only the “Products sourced within 800 km of the project site” would not be allowed. This is intended to ensure that projects are adhering to a variety of responsible extraction criteria.

SW 4.1 Construction Waste Management

Manage construction and demolition waste in accordance with O. Reg. 103/94, as amended: Industrial, Commercial and Institutional Source Separation Programs. 1,2

SW 4.2 Construction Waste Diversion

(Refer to Specifications & Resources 3,4,5)

Waste Management Plan and Report

All projects must develop and implement a construction and demolition waste management plan and divert at least 75 per cent of the total construction and demolition material from landfill: diverted materials must include at least four material streams.

OR

Generate less than 100 kg/m² of construction and demolition waste through reuse and source reduction design strategies. Salvage or recycle renovation and demolition debris and utilize waste minimizing design strategies for new construction elements. Track all materials generated by the project from start of construction through project completion to determine the project’s total waste generation. Include all waste and diverted materials in the calculation of total project waste. Exclude hazardous materials and land-clearing debris from calculations.

Specifications and Resources

  1. This requirement applies to large construction projects, subject to Regulation 103 94 of the Environmental Protection Act, that contain one or more buildings and have a total floor area greater than 2000m². Provide a source separation plan for the waste that will be generated in the construction of the structure(s).For more information, see Guide to Source Separation of Recyclable Materials for Industrial, Commercial and Institutional.
  2. A source separation program required under this Regulation must include:
    1. The provision of facilities for the collection, handling and storage of source separated wastes described in subsection (2) adequate for the quantities of anticipated wastes;
    2. Measures to ensure that the source separated wastes that are collected are removed;
    3. The provision of information to users and potential users of the program, describing the performance of the program and encouraging effective source separation of waste and full use of the program;
    4. Reasonable efforts to ensure that full use is made of the program and that the separated waste is reused or recycled.
  3. Refer to LEED® V4.1 BD+C MR Credit: Construction and Demolition Waste Management. Calculations must be done by weight. Identify strategies to reduce the generation of waste during project design and construction. Establish waste diversion goals for the project by identifying the materials (both structural and non-structural) targeted for diversion. Describe the diversion strategies planned for the project. Describe where materials will be taken including expected diversion rates for each material. Any comingled materials must be sent to a recycling facility for processing that posts and tracks an average recycling rate (minus ADC – Alternate Daily Cover).
  4. Projects may use a combination of on-site separation and commingled collection, depending on what is appropriate for the project location, material stream, and available facilities and haulers. For on-site separation, common CWM strategies include donation, resale, on-site reuse, recycling, or refurbishment. Crushing asphalt, concrete, and masonry for infill or aggregate is also considered onsite waste diversion.
  5. Provide a final waste management report detailing all waste generated, including disposal and diversion rates for the project. Calculations can be by weight or volume but must be consistent throughout. Exclude excavated soil and land-clearing debris from calculations. Include materials destined for alternative daily cover (ADC) in the calculations as waste (not diversion). Any materials sent to a comingled recycling facility for processing must take the facility average recycling rate and must include any ADC as waste (not diversion).