February 12, 2009
Ontario Recycling Program Has Huge Carbon Footprint
(Toronto, Canada) Since cities in Ontario do not have facilities to process their own garbage, "recyclables" are loaded onboard ships and sent across the Pacific Ocean. Reportedly, 20,000 tons are transported out each year.
Most residents recycle with the belief they are helping the environment and are unaware that their municipalities are shipping materials to China and South Korea, creating a huge new carbon footprint.Ontario taxpayers cover half the cost of the recycling program which reportedly creates a much greater carbon footprint than if there were no recycling program at all. (more)"It is a contentious issue here," said Jo-Anne St. Godard, executive director of the Recycling Council of Ontario. [...]
To get to China from Toronto, the mixed paper is stacked in bales, placed in shipping containers and sent across country to the port of Vancouver by train, said Jake Westerhof, of Canada Fibres, which sells Toronto's paper to Nine Dragons [Chinese recycling facility].
From Vancouver, it is placed on a large freighter ship and spends several weeks at sea before arriving in one of China's southern ports. It is moved into a truck a driven several hours before arriving at the massive Nine Dragons paper mill in the province of Guangdong.
