Canada burns it waste versus recycling?

Ever wonder where your garbage ends up? »

Canada do you really believe in Clean energy from burning garbage? Or do they just want to avoid the issues?

I think it is somewhat misleading that a country that is supposedly as green as Canada incinerates its garbage. So why do Canadian sorts their garbage only to have it incinerated. How does this help reuse materials if they are incinerated? There are NO clean burning coal plants and yet we are suppose to accept these are “clean” burning? In Eastern Canada there are efforts to increase even more incinerators while they continue to ship to garbage to Michigan to be land filled. Yet Canadian really believe their blue bins are solving the recycling problems?

Incineration opposition heats up
Metro Vancouver incinerator plans could affect Chilliwack air quality
Christina Toth, Abbotsford Times
Published: Tuesday, September 08, 2009

Concern over pollution from proposed garbage incinerators in Metro Vancouver is drifting over Fraser Valley communities.

Mission Coun. Heather Stewart has taken a stand against Vancouver burning its trash, and now a group from that community has also started a petition.

Stewart joins Abbotsford Coun. Patricia Ross, also chairwoman of the Fraser Valley Regional District, in speaking out against the proposed incinerators.


Their main argument is that incinerators will create pollution, which historically travels on air currents into the Fraser Valley airshed.

“It’s very clear that the Fraser Valley is a conduit for pollution like that,” said Stewart Monday. “Chilliwack has had poor air quality, even compared to Mission.”

She said when she moved to Mission in 1990, “I had an allergy that mysteriously disappeared.” She has grandchildren living in Chilliwack, and she’s concerned about the effects on their health from airborne particulates and heavy metals released by the incinerators.

There is an argument that it’s clean technology, but Stewart has posted a number of independent studies and reviews on her website (www.heatherstewart.org) that say that is not the case. A Mission group has also begun a petition, which urges Vancouver to rethink its plans.

Metro Vancouver and Abbotsford transport their waste to a Cache Creek landfill site, which is open for another year. While Cache Creek is keen to keep the landfill operating, Metro Vancouver wants to keep their trash close to home.

One option to truck trash to a Washington landfill was dumped last week when the provincial government announced a ban on waste export in its throne speech.

Stewart fears the ban will work in Vancouver’s favour.

“It gives Metro Vancouver another argument to build these incinerators,” she said Monday.

Metro Vancouver proposes to build up to six waste-to-energy incinerators, which would use the area’s trash as fuel to ostensibly then create electric power.

“To keep the monsters, as I call them, fed, you need a lot of garbage,” and that could undermine regional communities’ efforts to recycle, she said.

“Why would Metro communities be motivated to reduce and recycle when they can just pass it off to the incinerators?” she asked.

- To view the petition go to www.petitiononline.com/MRPMEC/petition.html

© Chilliwack Times 2009