GIGO (Garbage In Garbage Out)

Tackling our garbage turns politicians' minds into trash

By JOHN SNOBELEN

What is it about trash that seems to kill brain cells? Particularly the brain cells of politicians.

It is fair to say that more truly dumb stuff has been said about garbage than any other municipal issue.

Those of us with a few wrinkles might remember the interim waste authority. Back in the '90s, millions were spent not locating a new landfill. And that landmark effort at maximizing consultants' fees while finding no solution set the standard for solid waste planning in Ontario.

Toronto seems to have perfected the art of not finding ways to dispose of trash. Energy from waste? It might be clean enough for the Green party in many European cities but it's not clean enough for Toronto. Landfill? What -- and ruin all that good Toronto farmland?

The truth is local politicians will not consider any waste option that is uncomfortable. They will spend any amount and twist logic into pretzels rather than get on about the business of actually citing a disposal facility.

Trash, it seems, is tremendous fertilizer for political hubris. Note the pride of Toronto counsellors as they popped champagne corks at the closing of the Keele Valley Landfill. Those brave souls had solved Toronto's trash problems and, being true environmentalists, they managed to close the landfill. They did all this by simply trucking the trash to Michigan.

Al Gore would be proud.

BAD MANNERS

Dumping you garbage on a neighbour's property is not considered to be good manners out here in the country. Apparently in Toronto it makes you an environmentalist. Go figure.

Believe it or not, photos of champagne sipping Toronto politicians happily closing the landfill ran in Detroit newspapers. This mildly annoyed the politicians in Michigan who set out on a mission to close the border to Toronto's waste.

One would think that might cause those Toronto politicians to get serious about finding disposal options in Toronto. Not a chance.

Mayor David Miller and his cohorts proudly paid a record sum to buy a private landfill in London. What they really bought was a way around going through the political hell of siting a waste facility.

Never mind that the trash will still have to be trucked a long distance. Never mind that Toronto garbage is no more popular in London than it was in Detroit. Like I said, trash kills political brain cells.

Shipping trash all over southern Ontario is not the only evidence of twisted logic on the garbage front. The award for trash hypocrisy has to go to the ongoing sad saga of recycling.

Last week we were treated to the news that Toronto wouldn't be hitting the target of 70% recycling anytime soon. Gosh, what a surprise.

Recycling has been the great false hope for councillors who want to avoid actually dealing with garbage. Heck, rather than dispose of it, just ban it. Brilliant.

Let's be clear, some recycling makes sense. Recycling marketable items, like some metals and paper products, is more affordable than disposal. But when the cost and total environmental impact of the handling and reprocessing of materials is greater than the impact of modern disposal options you would have to be a fool to recycle. A fool or a Toronto politician.

The city hall gang claim recycling avoids the use of "precious" landfill space. They are silent, of course, on the obvious fact landfill space is only limited by the absence of political courage.

Perhaps it's time for the province to relieve municipalities of the burden of waste disposal. There can't be many brain cells left.

JOHN.SNOBELEN@SUNMEDIA.CA