Integrated waste management

The purpose of the symposium and follow-up conference calls was to provide insight into the following questions: what are the essential elements of an integrated waste management system; what would an integrated waste management system look like in Canada; what are the potential benefits of implementing an Integrated Waste Management system; what are the barriers in the way of implementing an inte [...] Integrated Waste Management “considers the full range of waste streams to be managed and views the available waste management practices as a menu of options from which waste managers can select the preferred option, based on site-specific environmental, economic, and social considerations.”3 Elements of an integrated system could include recycling and waste diversion, landfills and energy recovery [...] He noted, in particular, the fact that 65 percent of the waste generated in Canada comes from Ontario and Quebec, and that the majority of waste materials overall are generated by the IC&I sector. [...] Pollock argued, “is that there is a disconnect between the companies that produce and sell products, the consumers that use them and discard them, and the municipalities and waste management companies that manage the resulting waste; as a consequence there is a lack of accountability for solving waste issues.” The solution to this lack of accountability, he suggested, is an integrated waste manage [...] INTEGRATED WASTE MANAGEMENT 5 Neera Shukla, Manager, Policy Development, Waste Management Policy Branch, Integrated Environmental Planning Division, Ontario Ministry of the Environment, provided an overview from the perspective of the Ministry of the Environment (MOE) of the current state of waste management in the province, as well as trends, issues, and challenges in waste management.