Ontario province's new Waste Reduction Act to boost recycling

TORONTO (Scrap Monster) : The province of Ontario has proposed a new Waste Reduction Act in a bid to boost recycling services. The proposed legislation would make the manufacturers responsible for recycling their products.

The new proposal would boost recycling activities in the province, thereby generating fresh investments and creating more jobs in the sector. The proposed Act intends to start with recycling of paper and packaging waste and plans to extend into wider industrial, commercial and institutional sector.

The manufacturers of the products have to include the recycling costs in the advertised product price. This would lead to healthy competition among the companies to seek most economical recycling strategies and still offer competitive price to the end-users.

The Act also proposes to form a new Waste Reduction Authority in the province to monitor the recycling procedures and to ensure a cleaner environment. It further encourages battery collection programmes too.

According to estimates, the province of Ontario generates 12 million metric tons of waste per year. Around 60% of them are industrial waste and waste from institutions and businesses. The Ontario Ministry of Environment says that only 13% of such waste goes to the recycling stream.