Planning strong waste management for the future

Durham Region’s population is projected to increase from 645,000 to 1.2 million by 2041! Durham Region is an exciting place to be—across the 2,500 square kilometres and eight distinct municipalities that make up our region, you’ll find small towns and big cities, suburbs and high rises, family farms and condos, creeks and waterfront vistas. It’s a mix you won’t find anywhere else.

This great quality of life is supported by strong services provided by your Regional government. To ensure that our services continue to meet our communities’ needs, Durham Region will be developing a new Long-Term Waste Management Strategy that will drive how we manage your waste from 2021 to 2040.

Our goal is to implement Regional Council’s vision to manage solid waste as a resource through innovation and adaptability to enhance environmental sustainability. To achieve this, we must both encourage residents to reduce the amount of waste they produce, as well as increase our diversion efforts (reusing, recycling, recovering and composting).

Some projects we are working on to improve how we manage our waste:

Anaerobic digestion

Durham Region Council recently approved a strategy for the future construction of an anaerobic digestion facility. Anaerobic digestion is the natural process in which microorganisms break down organic materials. Anaerobic digestion happens in closed spaces where there is no air. An anaerobic digester will process the organic material into natural gas as well as fertilizer products.

Pre-sort facility

The pre-sort facility will go through all waste before it goes to the Durham York Energy Centre. The process will sort the waste to remove any compostable or recyclable material that was erroneously put in the garbage instead of the blue box or green bin, ensuring it is disposed of responsibly.

Watch for opportunities to provide input on our new Long-Term Waste Management Strategy by visiting durham.ca/waste and following the Region of Durham on Facebook and Twitter.