Recycling Council of Ontario appoints new executive director

Suzanne Elston joins the not-for-profit organisation after winning the RCO's 2001 Adult Volunteer of the Year award for her environmental work.

“We're extremely pleased to have Suzanne join the RCO,” said John Jackson, chair of the RCO Board. “She brings a unique combination of skills, energy and compassion for the environment that will take our organisation in exciting new directions.”

The new executive director of the Recycling Council of Ontario, Suzanne Elston

From its formation as a collective of small, community based recycling efforts in 1978, the RCO has helped the Canadian province of Ontario become a world leader in sustainable waste management. It helped launch a &#39b;lue box' kerbside recycling project in 1986, and was rewarded for its efforts with a United Nations environmental leadership award in 1989. Since then, 97% of single family homes in the province have kerbside service and 90% of all homes regularly participate in residential recycling programs.

“The Recycling Council of Ontario has always been a leader on waste management issues,” Ms Elston said. “It is a privilege to serve as the RCO's executive director.”

With an environmental column in syndication since 1989 alongside numerous radio broadcasts, Ms Elston has a background in fund-raising management and served two consecutive terms as public utilities commissioner. She was also the membership and special projects coordinator for the Infant Feeding Action Coalition Canada and is currently chair of the Durham environmental advisory committee

Minimisation
Britain – and Europe – have much to learn from the experience garnered by the RCO in Canada over the last 24 years. However, despite the fact that over 3.7 million households have access to kerbside collection in Ontario, with 600,000 tonnes of material diverted from landfill each year, there is still much to do according to the new executive director.

“Recycling was just the beginning,” Ms Elston said. “We must never forget that the 3Rs of waste management are reduction first, then re-use. Recycling has always been our third and least important option.”

The big issue now is waste minimisation. With solid kerbside schemes in place, large urban centres such as Toronto saw their waste reduction efforts stalling in the early nineties, and even with large tonnages of diversion from landfill, most communities have not managed to reach high diversion percentages.

Though the Quinte area leads the way by recycling 82% of available recyclables, most communities are really struggling with the province's commitment to an overall 50% diversion rate.

The Waste Diversion Act, passed by the Province of Ontario last month, set up Waste Diversion Ontario (WDO) to solve the problem of waste generation. Funded largely by industry, it is formed of representatives from the public, private and municipal sectors to develop product-specific guidelines to bring about a 50% reduction in waste. The RCO was given the only non-governmental, non-industry voting seat on the WDO, and it will be part of new executive director Suzanne Elston's role to represent the RCO on the WDO.

Strike
Ms Elston's appointment also comes on the back of the largest single municipal strike in Canadian history, which left the City of Toronto’s 2.5 million residents without garbage collection for more than two weeks in record temperatures. Staged just days before the Pope's visit to the city this week, the strike revealed to householders exactly how much waste they produce.

“The Toronto garbage strike has been an invaluable public education tool,” Ms Elston said. “Before the Toronto garbage strike, responsible waste management meant simply getting our garbage to the curb in time for pick-up. The general attitude was, 'I pay my taxes, you take my trash.' Thankfully, the strike gave Toronto’s 2.5 million residents a first hand look at ownership.”

In the wake of the strike, public, private and media discussions on composting and aggressive recycling strategies are going very much in the RCO's favour.

Click here for the Recycling Council of Ontario website

Click here for the Waste Diversion Ontario website