Recycling Plant Closes, Leaves Toronto, Canada Looking for Alternatives

The Canadian Polystyrene Recycling Association in Mississauga is closing. Toronto had contracted with them to handle its plastics. Now, the city of Toronto is trying to find alternatives for its trash diversion plans.
Toronto was in the process of launching its new recycling plan with mega blues bins to collect polystyrene and plastic bags. Every Toronto residence will have one by this spring.
Foamed polystyrene has a very large volume. One kilogram of polystyrene packaging can fill more than two household garbage cans. It is used for packaging electronic equipment and food containers.
The company stated that declining revenues were forcing it to close, even though they had just invested $300,000 in state of the art sorting equipment. The plant was the only area company large enough to handle the volume of waste Toronto plans to collect.
“Normally, there’s a backup,” said Steve Whitter, Toronto’s director of transfer, processing and disposal of solid waste. “Someone comes out of the woodwork who’s interested in taking the material if there’s a need, and there’s clearly a need.”
Landfills in Michigan will close to Ontario’s garbage in two years, and all of the regions surrounding Toronto will be affected. At the present moment, 40 to 50 percent of all waste in the GTA including recyclables, yard waste, and organics is diverted from landfills. However, officials would like to increase this to 60 to 70 percent in a few years.