Over the weekend, I was going through files, reluctantly purging some of them, knowing that usually when I do, shortly thereafter, an information request comes in requiring that very same info whose destiny has become the recycling bin.

One of the items that was resting silently in a file, having been clipped by my clipping service (a.k.a. my parents) from the Toronto Star on October 18, 1991 (p. A18 in fact according to my Dad’s printing on the back of the article), is something that I think should be re-typed for this “column”.

Nothing more needs to be said. Here it is:

Minister plans tough trash rules for Ontario
By Peter Gorrie
TORONTO STAR

Environment Minister Ruth Grier has announced legislation that will let her impose tough waste-reduction rules on Metro and the rest of the province.

The Waste Management Act “will make waste reduction a fact of life in Ontario,” Grier said yesterday as she introduced the proposed law in the Legislature.

The plan is aimed at reducing the amount of trash going to dumps by 25 per cent by the end of 1992 and by 50 per cent by the end of the decade.

The law would give the ministry power to:

- Require larger municipalities to implement recycling and composting programs.
- Require businesses and institutions to recycle, conduct annual waste audits and prepare waste reduction plans.
- Require municipalities to set “reasonable” fees for disposing of trash at dumps. Fees at Metro dumps are now $150 a tonne, but are much lower in other parts of the province.
- Regulate all types of packaging, containers and disposable products.
- Speed approvals of waste reduction facilities, such as recycling and composting yards, that meet ministry standards.

The proposed law also deals with the search for new dumps for Metro.