TORONTO — Environment Minister Todd McCarthy said Wednesday that municipalities will not be forced to host new landfills or energy-from-waste facilities under legislation tabled the day before, even as opposition parties warned the plan could lead to more incineration and reduced local say.The omnibus bill streamlines the approval process for additional landfill capacity and energy-from-waste sites. The government has linked the push to a new 50% US tariff on waste exports and the fact that roughly 40% of Ontario’s commercial waste has been shipped to Michigan. Provincial landfills have an estimated seven to 10 years of remaining capacity, and no new landfill has opened in Ontario for 20 years. The legislation is intended to make it faster for proponents to bring forward proposals while still requiring municipal support.McCarthy told reporters there are no specific sites currently in the pipeline. Proponents can bring forward proposals, he said, and willing municipalities will decide whether to accept them.“There is no never going to be the imposition of a landfill on any municipality that doesn’t want it,” he said. He pointed to the Emerald Energy from Waste facility in Brampton, which is in his riding, as an example of a site embraced by the local community. He described energy-from-waste as a clean process subject to strict emissions rules and said Europe has adopted similar approaches where landfill space is limited..Opposition members raised different concerns during the scrum. NDP Leader Marit Stiles said Ontarians want assurances their children will have clean air and pointed to black soot reported on playgrounds in Hamilton. She questioned whether the government is listening to science and local voices after municipal elections.Green Leader Mike Schreiner called the approach a failure of earlier waste planning. He said incineration produces toxic air emissions and toxic ash that still requires landfilling, and he argued the government has reduced recycling rates, increasing pressure on disposal capacity.Liberal MPP John Fraser criticized the short window for scrutiny of the bill after a long legislative break. He said the government is invoking tariffs as a reason to move quickly on major environmental changes without adequate public explanation of the plan or science.McCarthy also addressed related changes in the same bill to the blue box program, saying the government is intervening to improve cost transparency and containment for small businesses after full producer responsibility took effect. He described the underlying diversion program as a success but said cost management requires adjustment. Separate provisions modernize the Environmental Bill of Rights by reducing duplicated processes.
