food waste

The Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change has approved and released the long awaited Framework. The Food and Organic Waste Framework consists of two complementary components:

1. Food and Organic Waste Action Plan, which outlines strategic commitments to be taken by the province to address food and organic waste.
2. Food and Organic Waste Policy Statement under the Resource Recovery and Circular Economy Act, 2016, which provides direction to the province, municipalities, producers, Industrial, Commercial and Institutional sector (e.g. retailers, manufacturers, hospitals, schools), the waste management sector and others to further the provincial interest in waste reduction and resource recovery as it relates to food and organic waste.

The Policy Statement was issued by the Minister of the Environment and Climate Change, pursuant to Section 11 of the Resource Recovery and Circular Economy Act, 2016, on April 30, 2018 and came into effect at that time.

The view the actions and policies, please access the Framework on:

• The Environmental Registry at https://ero.ontario.ca/notice/013-1814, and

The Ministry of Environment and Climate Change website at https://www.ontario.ca/page/food-and-organic-waste-framework .

Call for Papers: Interested in presenting at the 2020 CWRC?

This conference is of primary interest to waste generators, stewards, brand owners, municipalities, private waste sector companies and property management companies. If you are involved in any of the following; you will gain insight and be able to share ideas with facility owners and operators, regulators and policymakers, academia and students.

Presentations at the conference will be assigned to different ‘tracks’ outlined in the Call for Papers form. Speaking opportunities include: general sessions, opening keynotes, a closing speaker. Members of the CWRC Annual Conference Committee are responsible for ranking proposals, speakers, and timelines of topics. Share your insight and knowledge by presenting a paper at the 11th Canadian Waste to Resource Conference (CWRC). Conference speakers gain visibility in the sector, as well as contribute to the advancement of the profession. Presentation papers relating to all areas of waste management will be considered.

The deadline for submission of papers is February 7th, 2020.

Call for Poster Presentations: Submit your research and/or study for presentation at the 2020 CWRC!

Each year the CWRC provides an opportunity for professors and students to
showcase their research to waste and recycling sector experts from government,
municipalities and leading waste management organizations. Poster presenters will have a chance to present their findings during the conference in the poster exhibit area located in a central event space

The CWRC is recognized across the country as “the place to be” for waste management professionals, providing exposure opportunities for research outcomes and for students, or academia looking to establish links within the sector.

The deadline to submit your poster presentation is August 15, 2020.

Special to OWMA News

By Paul van der Werf

There is a growing conversation among policymakers, producers and waste management professionals about the amount of food waste generated in the developed world.

To date, countries, like Canada, have been relying on very general, indirect estimates of food loss and food waste along the supply chain to support local and national strategies to tackle this challenge.

These estimates are typically calculated by taking old food-commodity-waste-estimate factors and multiplying them with food commodities available for consumption.

The problem is that this calculation involves no actual food waste measurement. Approaching this issue in this way is akin to building the roof of a house before you have built the foundation and the walls.

While this approach identifies that a considerable amount of food is wasted, it does little to help us develop, implement and measure the effectiveness of food waste reduction initiatives.

My colleague, Dr. Jason Gillard, and I took a serious look at this challenge in our recently published paper, “A systematic review of food losses and food waste generation in developed countries.”

This review argues that current indirect estimates, beyond their public service in identifying a problem, are of very little use in solving the problem of food waste.

Instead, we propose that developed countries should adopt a standardized and direct measurement of food waste. Efforts in this regard are ongoing, including in Ontario where some municipalities and some food processors are beginning to measure food waste this way.

To learn more, download our paper for free by clicking here. If you have any comments or questions about this research, please send me an email at 2cg@sympatico.ca. 

The provincial government recently informed stakeholders that it’s no longer a question of if Ontario will pursue a disposal ban for organic waste; it’s a question of when.

This policy direction was emphasized at a recent meeting in Toronto where producers, consultants, waste management professionals and municipal officials gathered to discuss food waste prevention and recovery. 

Following the meeting, the government issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) on April 27, to find a consultant who can assess the impacts of a disposal ban in Ontario.

The disposal ban will play a key role in the province’s Food and Organic Waste Action Plan, which the government committed to developing in the Strategy for a Waste-Free Ontario.

The RFP states that a potential disposal ban would:

• Require generators, including restaurants, households and food processing facilities, to separate organic waste; and,
• Ensure organic waste is sent to a facility for composting, anaerobic digestion, rendering or conversion to biofuels; or is managed through on-site composting.

The government has stated it intends to soon release a draft discussion paper on organic waste, as well as post a disposal ban proposal on the Environmental Registry in autumn.

In light of this development, the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change will bring together stakeholders for a fourth working group meeting on May 11 to provide an update and discuss Organic Materials Diversion. The meeting was to focus solely on organic waste processing capacity, but that topic will now be examined in more detail at a later date.