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kvws jrk0f it xf3- environment or j gc discourage i v lyedueihgandfmsingfi vifc i v 41 ji bymikeadler v 5- staff writer rthe blue box a ramiliarpart of- k 2 life in ontario turns 20 this month ileitis an environmental icon that dmetcritics argue is holding us participa tionmercwbsiderewclrng box is v- an absolutelyresounding huge jj success jed goldberg president of earmpaylcahadasaid this iweek i but goldberg- whose group encourages hew ways to improve waste management believes the jbox is also ascheme that lets com- panies off the hook for wasteful- packaging we are discarding more each year hesaid and the program isnt catching up itsbeen presented as j having much more environmental impact than it actuallydoes j ii first dropped oh the streets of kitchener in 1981 the box or an equivalentrecycling program is m90percent dfontario 7 thomes 0 but the box is also being recori- sidered and experimented on p tl the program has almost always money for the municipalities whb must rurut for the first time industries are ready to j pledge rmoney to support it- y how much money they actually promise isin doubt according to j york regional councillor gord jlandon s waste diversion ontario a vgroup with membership dominat- wby representatives of soft drink 7newspaper and other industry interests has agreed to support 50 iper cent of program costs but the provinces proposed l waste diversion act which wpuld r thoto mike rtclrp in may stevand sandi mckibboh talked to the media about their expe rience with mafkhams experimental splitcart recycling system ita takeoff of the traditional blue t program translate that fiyeyear pledge into zero argued landon law currently reads not more than ofjthe regions waste management 50 per cent cttrsrcommitteer the level of support is that leaves it wide open tobe aiot trivial he suggested this week r- in tec georgina a town with userpay jgarbage collection does the best neighbour vaughan lection backyard composters and markhams lastknown result yard waste recycling programs job iniyork region of keeping was per cent secondbest in waste out of the landfill the region-r- but vaughani which j the regions northernmost is home to the keeleyalley landfill municipaityiiyertetf 375 per cent managed only 1 1 3 per cent the of waste- in according to worstscore and less than half the analysis by jndustrygroup csr t regions average- jcorporatiqns supporthig csrs percentages for 1999 list- recycling ed at the endofthe story are based c csrs results also show on a formula counting waste in a markham does amarkedly better municipality and the means used vaughan job of diverting its waste than its to divert it including bluebox col- york region average markham s whitchurchstouftville georgina newmarket l east gwillimbury- r richmond hilln king r 1 aurora 31 279 375 28 27- 257 235- 232 113 246 blu boxes is 4 million a yeair iand6h saidifrindustries hadv tsptstepped in to subsidizethe pro- r gram they mayi have faced a saffdatqry depositreturn system forifieir products i the price of materials ear- marked for blue boxes has fhictuat- edjvildly said landon addinga current glut in the paper arid glass 1 market will r million less revenue for the region compared to the year before m goldberg however wonders n taxpayers should be covering costs at all the more municipalities pickoip in the box the more they v lqsef he argued ifs costing us a tremendous amount of money meanwhile- every other province except manitoba has depositreturn regulations for its v soft drink containers goldberg vsaid v in other provinces aridiri other- countries the producers or importers of products are responsi- ble for collecting them when they become useless that adds up to far greater waste diversion rates than ontarios the blue box removes the need to ere- ate less- wasteful packaging and it 1 provides no incentive to produce recyclable products goldberg argued york region is aiming at a 50- percent total waste diversion by 2004 the industry group csrf corporations supportingrecycling puts its 1999 performance at about y half that amount 246 per centf although he agreed the box has wt the wau in terms of its ability to divert material from- landfill landqn pointed outnew variations on recycling are being triedin york region in newmarket 580 households are being allowed topiit more into the box for sixmonths milk and juice cartons all plastics except plastic wrap empty latex paint cans aluminum pie plates and tinx foil can be added js lri a markham experimeritthe range of products for the box is the same but trie box hasbecqme bigr ger four and ahalf times bigger some 600 homes in the town have been equipped withasplit cart system of wheeled bins that also include storage and regular pickupof organic kjtcheri waste 4 the size of the cart has encour aged more reyclmg contributing to an unheardof waste diversion rate of mofethan 60 per cent landonsaid l there is now interest in the carts from east gwulimbury and other towns in the region he added ibrief til 0ii ti3 k s v vhatdoyoucthink rmarkhams future h r thatsvatwewmttolmow fv 4 ttiefownfof markhaxh is launchirig engage 21st century markharnaprogr 1 amine the future of the town as the official media sponsor the economist sun is produc ing a special section on the pro gram- j tv and we need your help we want your opinions ihwfirihgl what dp you want the markham of the future to look dike in the year 2020 what do you like and dislike in your corri- munitywhat services need to be provided what will oiir growing population ofsenidrs require what aboutdur young people -7- j v were looking for essays writ- ten byresidente ages in markham pleasevemail your submissions to jrhasonecon- suricom or mail or dropuiem off to bur offices at 9 heritage rd markham l3p 1m3 for more information call the newspapers editorial department at 905 2942200 please contact us byfriday if you want to contribute 1- soiircesearch v kelebfdtingteaehexs r thursday marksworld teacher day where students across jhe riatiqrij celebrate the positive roles teachersplay iri their lives we are16oking students tq write shortvnotes about why their teacher js the best in trie country tobe includ- ed in stefariia rizzisi story drawings are also velcoriie e- mail to srizzierabanriercom fax at 4167987284 v j 5 ill- become web savvy k j jn want a website all yqurpwn r perhaps you want to share pho- tos of a recent trip with family andfnendsoryouwahtto r boost business sales get help frbin the people who kriowhow to site build check but vinvwwebmbnkeyxom or yc 1 wwwtrainirigt6blscohi- for design advice try f wwwlyridacorri pages are ere- j ated from html hypertext markup languagevwhichis iristructioris inserte int a text document telling your browser how to display a page v v f ytfw- f t s4ll 1 i jf f l 1 imucihvi