Ontario Landfill gas: Management, regulation & recovery. legal & policy issues

Type :

Research papers

Pages :

17 pages

Format :

.doc

Published date :

04/14/2009

Category :

Political science

Sub category :

Ecology & environment

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Summary :

Introduction
General overview of waste management in Ontario
Some alarming statistics of landfills
The management of Municipal Solid Waste
The impetus for legislation
Legislation discussion
1. Ontario Regulation 232/98 and Ontario Regulation 347
2. The 2008 Amendment to Landfill Gas Regulation
3. The pros and the cons
The British Columbia legislation
Ontario's record and commitment to date
Conclusion
References

Abstract

Landfills seem to be a major part of waste disposal life. Love them or hate them, they are a necessity in dealing with ever increasing amounts of waste. Statistics Canada reported that Canadians threw out about 20 per cent more garbage in 2004 compared to 2000, bringing per-capita output to 418 kilograms a year. On the whole, nearly everyone would rather do without landfills, and if we have to have them, people want them as far away as possible. A landfill is a site where waste materials are buried, and it is one of the oldest ways of managing waste. Although the ontario Ministry of the Environment (MOE) gives emphasis to the 3Rs (reduce, reuse, recycle), and diverted about 3 million tonnes of waste in 2005 through the 3Rs, landfilling still remains an essential component of waste management (Ministry of the Environment). Landfills also are controversial because of the major environmental issues concerning the gas emitted to air by organic waste through natural biodegradation. The major parts of landfill gas are methane (CH4) and carbon dioxide (CO2) (Jenish, 1997, 11). Methane is of particular concern as it is a potent greenhouse gas with a global warming potential 21 times that of carbon dioxide (Jenish, 1997, 11). The methane stock in the municipal waste stream includes food wastes and yard wastes (referred to as the organic fraction and generally regarded as being about 30% of the municipal solid waste stream) (Jenish, 1997, 12). It also includes many other materials which are capable of providing carbon to support methanogenesis, such as paper, cardboard and diapers (Jenish, 1997, 11). Many of these materials have been landfilled in the past and probably still are being landfilled, particularly if diversion programs do not capture all of these materials (Jenish, 1997, 12).