The Green Lane landfill site, southwest of London, Ontario, has been the final destination for Toronto’s residential garbage since 2011.
In 2024 alone, the site was home to 420,000 tons of waste.
However, the site is expected to reach capacity by 2035. That means, no room left for the city’s trash.
For years, Toronto shipped its garbage to Michigan before the Green Lane site was secured. Now with time running out, the city surveyed people on how to handle garbage in the future.
One option is to incinerate garbage, burning it to create power.
Sara Little, manager of the Green Lane landfill, says pipes are used to pull gas out of the waste.
“By another series of larger and larger pipes, we direct it (gas) to our flare compound, which is where we incinerate the landfill gas, which breaks the methane down into carbon dioxide and makes it a less harmful greenhouse gas,” said Little.
Incineration: a controversial solution
More than 70% of those surveyed say they support incineration, but environmentalists say the question is flawed.
“We think counselors and the public deserve the facts when they’re asked to make a decision about such a difficult, controversial topic.” said Emily Alfred, Senior Campaigner with the Toronto Environmental Alliance. “A growing number of experts around the world know that incineration is worse for the environment.”
Toronto City Council will consider different options to manage waste in the future. However, at this point, no other Ontario municipality is willing to take Toronto’s garbage.
Alfred says instead of burning, Toronto should focus more on waste diversion with organics, or reducing disposables like coffee cups or takeout containers.
