"Toronto is a recycling leader when it comes to single-family
residences," said Broten. "Now that we're taking a fresh approach to waste
diversion in apartments and multi-family residences, the City of Toronto and the province are set to make real headway."

Ontario has provided $305,000 to six municipalities - Toronto, Windsor,
Hamilton, Peel Region, London and Quinte - for apartment recycling pilot
projects. Ten buildings in Toronto have signed on for the project. The first
phase of the pilot will involve assessing the content of multi-unit garbage,
while the second phase will help to determine the best methods to increase
recycling.
"All Ontarians want to make choices that are good for the environment,"
said Kathleen Wynne, MPP for Don Valley West. "Today our government is
investing in giving residents of multi-unit buildings better options to become
a part of Ontario's waste diversion and recycling efforts."

"Through our waste audits and our ongoing work to improve recycling, we
recognize there is a lot of opportunity to increase recycling at multi-family
buildings," said Toronto Mayor David Miller. "Residents need the tools to make recycling convenient and ultimately part of their daily routine. These pilot buildings will test various in-unit recycling systems and help us determine which one will get us to our overall goal of increasing diversion from landfill."

Today's announcement builds on action the province has already taken to
reduce the amount of waste that goes to landfill. These actions include the
'bag-it-back' program with the Beer Store, an agreement with industry to
reduce by half the number of plastic bags distributed, giving municipalities
and the waste industry new tools to manage and divert waste from disposal, and encouraging new waste technologies by exempting pilot or demonstration projects, including energy-from-waste technologies, from the environmental assessment process.

"The Ontario government's goal is to help municipalities deal with waste
effectively using the 3Rs - reduce, reuse and recycle," said Broten. "This
project will help Toronto to develop real solutions to this waste diversion
challenge."

All Ontarians have a role to play in making our province greener. The
government has already taken action by protecting a greenbelt that stretches across southern Ontario from development, introducing tough new laws that protect our drinking water, producing more renewable energy and doing more to conserve electricity. But we know more needs to be done. That's why our next step will be the announcement of a climate change plan - a step that will help all Ontarians do their part to make our province cleaner and greener while keeping the economy strong.