Business Enraged at Toronto Proposals for Reducing Waste
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto 
on 11.12.08
Brand Name Litter by Kevin Steele
The City of Toronto is tired of landfilling and separating and recycling producer waste, so it is considering mandating discounts for customers who bring their own containers, and rules on materials to ensure that they are compatible with the City's recycling programs so that they don't go to landfill.
Not surprisingly, the Plastics Industry Council and the "Canadian Taxpayers Federation" say it will drive up the cost of food for residents, put community businesses at a disadvantage, and kill local jobs.
This is Toronto at its anti-business best," said Kevin Gaudet of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF). "Many of these stores and shops are small, family-run enterprises. Together they employ a lot of people in the community. If the city goes ahead with these intrusive initiatives, there will be disinvestment and job losses in neighbourhoods across Toronto."
Cathy Cirko, Vice President of the Environment and Plastics Industry Council says:
"The better way is recycling. All the city has to do is put in the required sorting equipment and expand the blue bin program, and every bit of this material could be recycled and re-manufactured, creating green jobs right here in the province"
Well Kevin, I am a Canadian Taxpayer, and I have been paying the cost of picking up your crap and paying the cost of recycling it and probably am now paying the cost of storing it now that the market for used paper and plastic has crashed.
And Cathy, who pays for the sorting equipment and the blue bin expansion? Why is picking through garbage and shipping Tim Horton's cups to China a green job?
What garbage.
More on garbage and recycling
Time For Canadians to Boycott Tim Hortons
Brewing Up Change at Your Coffee Chain
It's Time for Deposits. On Everything.
Recycling is Bullshit; Make Nov. 15 Zero Waste Day, not America Recycles Day
Follow @TreeHugger on Twitter & get our headlines with @TH_rss!
Thirsty for more? Check out these related articles:
- Does Recycling Really Make a Difference?
- Reuse Those Plastic Cups As Earrings
- Can You Recycle Teflon Cookware?
- Forget Going Green Because It's the Right Thing to Do—Go Green to Make Your Neighbors Jealous
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- Enter Design Competition for Upcoming e-Waste Recycling Bin Now!
It seems like everyone has forgotten the other 2 r's... Reuse and Reduce.
This plan seems to hit both of them, but since I'm not a member of either the CTF or the Plastics group maybe I'm not privy to some critical piece of information?
Lost jobs? Bullshit! Cost more money? Maybe. Anti-business DEFINITELY NOT!
It's time for business to get with the damn program and start INNOVATING ways to have a lower impact on our communities and planet.
Why is it that North American businesses always seem to cry fowl when they get called on there cheap and wasteful ways.
European and Asian countries have seen this trend developing over the last oh, 10 YEARS! and have developed business plans and models to benefit from it. But all North American companies want is more profits with absolutely NO responsibility for the true costs.
This is especially true for Tim Hortons that created millions of tons of waste every year by used NON-RECYCLABLE PLASTIC COATED coffee cups.
And this doesn't include the BILLIONS of tons of carbon dioxide that Timmie's customers spew into the atmosphere while waiting 20 minutes in the "drive-thru" lines that stretch around city blocks!
I agree with Toronto and think that there should be a large convenience tax added to ALL products purchased from a drive-thru window.
SHAMEFUL!
If businesses didn't need to buy disposable packaging for the products they sold, they would actually save on a lot of expenses (well, maybe except the plastics industry, but who cares about them). The CTF and the Plastics Industry Council have it completely wrong and are lobbying against this proposal for their own financial benefit. So very shameful.
I'm so tired of all the packaging!! Gardening appears one great way to keep the flow of wastes out of my garbage can (or the farmer's market). When I think of my wastes X 6.5 billion, I wonder how we will survive our success... Any holes in my wall gets stuffed with those plastic bags, I usually have my own bag, make my own beverages, with much less sugar, and have a permanent water bottle - Reduce, reuse, repair, produce, and deposits should now be our mantra.