{"id":1147,"date":"2006-09-17T13:35:27","date_gmt":"2006-09-17T17:35:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spacingtoronto.ca\/?p=1147"},"modified":"2013-01-21T13:49:04","modified_gmt":"2013-01-21T18:49:04","slug":"burning-for-sweden","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2006\/09\/17\/burning-for-sweden\/","title":{"rendered":"Burning for Sweden"},"content":{"rendered":"


\nNow that a deadline has been set to stop trucking Toronto’s garbage to Michigan, the problem of what to do with the city’s trash is on the minds of many gearing up to the election. David Miller has said incineration is not an option, but after reading Christopher Hume’s (other) column in yesterday’s Toronto Star<\/em><\/a>, I can’t help but question why.<\/p>\n

Hume reports that in Sweden, where there are now 30 incineration plants, dioxin emissions in the whole country are one gram, compared with 35 grams in 1985 when only 18 plants existed. In Malmo, Sweden’s third largest city, 40% of the homes are heated by a plant in the region. Writes Hume:<\/p>\n

The plant, built in 1974, has been updated and expanded several times to meet growing demand and stringent European Union emission standards. Thanks to advanced flue-gas cleaning technology, exhaust is 98 per cent water. It’s now so clean the locals didn’t make a peep when the most recent expansion was launched last year. After completion in 2008, the facility will generate fully 60 per cent of the region’s electricity.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

As John Lornic points out is his book The New City<\/em><\/a>, here in Canada, we’ve chosen to emit toxins in a different way: every truck we send to Michigan emits carbon dioxide from its tailpipe, while toxins from our landfills seep into the ground. The only way we can really improve things is to reduce the amount of crap we produce in the first place. (Sweden’s kicking our butt on this front as well, passing legislation that forces companies, such as McDonalds, to organize and pay for recycling.)<\/p>\n

One of the things that makes incineration dangerous (besides that fact that, despite improved technology, it still releases bad stuff into the air) is that it could allow us to become dependent on burning our trash. In the absence of strict regulations to reduce the amount of garbage we produce, knowing we can burn our waste may not do much to encourage further efforts to reduce, reuse, and recycle.<\/p>\n

Another downfall: environment guru (and ward 14 Parkdale-High Park candidate) Gord Perks points out in a column he wrote for Eye Weekly<\/em> this spring<\/a> that, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153burning garbage creates more climate pollution per watt of energy produced. The only thing reduced here,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he says, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153is the millions spent on fuel.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

So is building incinerators like the ones they have in Sweden a reasonable option for Toronto? Perhaps, given the right circumstances. Hume’s column on Sweden paints a pretty compelling picture. It sounds like an option we shouldn’t be afraid to at least discuss.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Now that a deadline has been set to stop trucking Toronto’s garbage to Michigan, the problem of what to do with the city’s trash is on the minds of many gearing up to the election. David Miller has said incineration is not an option, but after reading Christopher Hume’s (other) column in yesterday’s Toronto Star,Continue reading “Burning for Sweden”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4003,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[13,2],"tags":[457,340,425,31,1173,1371,23,3293,423,3291,3290,1085,3292,3289,2242,1295,1482,19,341],"class_list":["post-1147","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-green-space","category-politics","tag-canada","tag-christopher-hume","tag-david-miller","tag-election","tag-electricity","tag-energy","tag-environment","tag-european-union","tag-eye-weekly","tag-flue-gas-cleaning-technology","tag-improved-technology","tag-incineration","tag-john-lornic","tag-malmo","tag-michigan","tag-sweden","tag-the-new-city","tag-toronto","tag-toronto-star"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nBurning for Sweden - Spacing Toronto<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2006\/09\/17\/burning-for-sweden\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Burning for Sweden - Spacing Toronto\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Now that a deadline has been set to stop trucking Toronto’s garbage to Michigan, the problem of what to do with the city’s trash is on the minds of many gearing up to the election. 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