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Bringing Down the Trash

waste diversion landfill
waste diversion landfill

We have a garbage problem.

Landfills across the country are filling up, and what’s in them is hurting our environment. Like methane gas, a major cause of global warming.

In Canada, 23% of methane comes from landfills, mostly from food scraps that could have been composted or used as renewable gas.

Keeping waste out of the garbage is a major challenge in apartment and condo buildings. In Toronto, only 28% of this waste is diverted, much lower than single-family homes.

single family home vs apartment waste diversion

Single Family Home Vs High-Rise Buildings Waste Management

A new study in St. James Town, Toronto, explores how high-rise residents deal with waste.

The study found that:

    • 90% want to keep waste out of the garbage.
    • 78% say this is part of their own daily routine.
    • 91% see this as protecting the environment.
    • But, 51% find waste diversion difficult to do in their buildings
single family home waste sorting
High-Rise buildings waste diversion

Single Family Home Vs High-Rise Buildings Garbage Disposal

Sorting different types of waste to keep them out of the garbage is: very important to me

Sorting different types of waste to keep them out of the garbage is: part of my daily routine

Sorting different types of waste to keep them out of the garbage is: a way of protecting the environment

Sorting different types of waste to keep them out of the garbage is: inconvenient and difficult to do

Figures may not all add to 100% due to rounding.

The Challenges

Why? Poor information to residents. Weak regulation of landlords. Private rentals don’t have to provide organics bins, and are allowed to make separating recyclables confusing and difficult.

Some results of this? Our survey found that residents who sort their waste mistakenly put a lot of it in the garbage:

  • 31% put sorted recyclables in the garbage chute.
  • 60% put sorted organics in the garbage chute.
  •  61% put batteries in the garbage, and 10% put them in the blue bin. 
  •  51% put medicines in the garbage, and 11% in the toilet.

It doesn’t have to be this way. High-rise renters know how to reduce garbage and want to do it. It’s time to listen to them.

Read more about it in “Bringing Down the Trash: Problems and Possibilities for Waste Diversion and Reduction in Rental High-Rises in St. James Town, Toronto.“

Garbage chute waste disposal

This study is a joint venture between St. James Town Community Corner​ and Department of Sociology – University of Guelph

The Research Team

Picture of Lisa Kowalchuk

Lisa Kowalchuk

Associate Professor
Department of Sociology and Anthropology
University of Guelph

Picture of Trisha Einmann

Trisha Einmann

PhD Candidate in Sociology
University of Guelph

Picture of S. Harris Ali

S. Harris Ali

Professor of Sociology
York University

In their own words: the survey participants

Here is what St. James Town residents had to say about household waste management in their buildings:

 

We only have access to the garbage chute and there is no way to separate garbage, so because of that and because of my living situation, we have a tiny kitchen, I don’t separate my garbage and I felt guilty when I went through the survey. I don’t like that if we have bigger things that need to be disposed properly, even when we bring them out here [to the enclosure], they are all compiled together.
Anonymous survey respondent
Anonymous survey respondent
I wish that we had an organics program. Currently we do not have any program, and also dealing with recycling is quite inconvenient because we have to take it all the way downstairs and walk a little bit to get to the recycling center. I realize it’s an older building and it might be expensive to put these things in place, but I wish that was something that existed.
Anonymous survey respondent
Anonymous survey respondent
I want to be a very responsible tenant and neighbour, but I have noticed some of the people they don’t put all the garbage inside the chute, it’s all over the floor. But I just want to be mindful to separate all the waste and I always try to dump the recycling… Because of that we have lots of smell and the cockroaches, and sometimes bed bugs.
Anonymous survey respondent
Anonymous survey respondent
I’m willing to do it. I never heard anybody talking about it. There are never any fliers about it or anything.
Anonymous survey respondent
Anonymous survey respondent
The first thing is more awareness and more clear understanding. The important thing is clear direction because I believe most people are willing to dispose of waste the right way. If we provide a clear direction and the right tools, things can be much better.
Anonymous survey respondent
Anonymous survey respondent

In their own words: green team members

Observing the waste disposal system in my building has consistently reinforced my belief that small efforts from everyone can result in significant positive change, transforming the neighborhood into a better living space. Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, I have found myself spending more time in my unit, and one of the most important tasks in my daily routine has become the disposal of household waste. I have come to realize that a lack of awareness and a clear understanding of proper waste disposal practices often leads to greater confusion and inefficiency, rather than contributing to cleanliness. Simply removing trash from one’s unit is insufficient; it is equally important to dispose of it correctly, ensuring that we achieve a meaningful impact on our own well-being, the community, and the environment. I am honored to serve as a volunteer with the Green Team to discuss waste management and identify solutions that can transform this process into a more effective and impactful one. Our discussions have been insightful, highlighting the complexities of waste management in high-rise buildings compared to smaller structures. We have identified several challenges, including tenant awareness, maintaining consistent ethical behavior, cooperation from property management, and the need for investment in the right processes and tools. Additionally, we were introduced to the Toronto Environmental Alliance (TEA) and its commendable initiatives to combat climate change. I am deeply grateful to Professor Lisa Kowalchuk and the Corner for initiating this project. I also extend my thanks to all Green Team members for their time, research, and invaluable feedback. I look forward to many more projects of this nature that will contribute to making the St. James Town neighborhood even more vibrant, safe, and prosperous.
Green team member
Green team member
When I first learned of this new study - Waste Diversion and Reduction in Rental High-Rises in St. James Town, Toronto - I was instantly intrigued. I love my neighbourhood and I enthusiastically welcome any opportunity to support bringing positive attention to our wonderful community, especially academic, research and positive development attention that has the potential to improve our neighbourhood. As a long term resident of our culturally diverse and very densely populated vertical neighbourhood, I'm very interested & invested in high rise community engagement and innovation. As a life long equity & accessibility activist & advocate, I really appreciated the prospects of this study's willingness to address the multi-faceted challenges of high-rise waste management accessibility -- physically, cognitively, psychosocially, perceptually, economically, culturally, etc. I very much appreciated the opportunity to gather with like-minded residents in social and academic settings, to engage in conversations of conservation, sustainability and urban environmentalism successes, shortcomings and oversights federally, provincially and municipally, as well as at a very practical local level specific to our St James Town neighbourhood.
Green team member
Green team member
S. Harris
S. Harris Ali | Contributing Author

Professor of Sociology
Department of Sociology and Anthropology
York University

I am a sociologist at York University who researches and teaches in the area of the environmental issues, disasters studies and infectious disease outbreaks.

My research over the last three decades focused on the role that different forms of social inequality (for instance, those based on race/ethnicity, social class, gender, etc.) have on the onset and response to different environmental and health disasters throughout Canada and abroad. Previously I have studied environmental problems arising in different communities, such as landfill issues in Guelph, plastics recycling in Hamilton, and industrial waste in Sydney Nova Scotia. 

It was with that background that I came to be involved in the current research project that deals with household waste diversion within the St. James Town community led by Dr. Lisa Kowalchuk. Waste sorting practices in the downtown, particularly in multicultural neighbourhoods, have been neglected, and the voice of those residing in certain parts of the City of Toronto have long been overlooked in the development of environmental policies. 

This research collaboration with the Corner and community partners will address this deficiency and help us develop more effective recycling policies and programs built on better community buy-in and oversight

Trisha
Trisha Einmann | Contributing Author

PhD candidate
Department of Sociology and Anthropology
University of Guelph +1-519-824-4120 Ext. 56789 lkowalch@uoguelph.ca

I am a PhD candidate in Sociology at the University of Guelph, with a background in Environmental Sociology.
 
My research focuses on postsecondary school-to-work transitions, with particular attention to gender and immigration. I currently work as a Research Data Centre Analyst for Statistics Canada and have taught courses on research methods, as well as gender and work, at the University of Guelph as a Sessional Instructor.
 
Since 2022, I have been a Research assistant on this project, which builds on the sustainability and waste reduction initiatives championed by The Corner @ 240. I was particularly drawn to this project for its focus on community-driven solutions to waste management challenges. What motivates me most is the passion and care shown by the residents of St. James Town for their community and environment.
 
Partnering with them has been a privilege, and I am proud to contribute to research that amplifies their voices and supports their efforts toward sustainability.
Professor Lisa
Lisa Kowalchuk | Lead Author

Department of Sociology and Anthropology
University of Guelph +1-519-824-4120 Ext. 56789 lkowalch@uoguelph.ca

Lisa is also co-producer of the podcast St. James Town Storeys

I have been a Professor of Sociology for the past 25 years, and I’ve been teaching at the University of Guelph since 2004. I teach courses on gender and global inequality, social movements, and social change in Latin America. As a researcher, over my career I have researched and written on nurses’ working conditions in Central America, and land reform and health-care system reform in El Salvador. 
Since 2020 I have been focusing my research much closer to home, in St. James Town, Toronto, studying major issues and events that affect people’s well-being in the neighbourhood. As part of that, with facilitation by the St. James Town Community Corner, and with the help of research assistants from the community, we did a report on COVID pandemic impacts, and how community members and service providers responded to it.
In partnership with The Corner, a team of researchers and I have just finished this study on household waste in rental high-rises in the neighbourhood. The way waste is managed is affects quality of life in any high-rise, and in rental buildings it is made more challenging for residents to keep waste out of the garbage.
The St. James Town focus of my research came about through volunteering that I began doing in 2019, mainly through The Corner and other organizations in the Service Providers’ Network. Through helping out with the seniors’ day program (until the pandemic hit!) and writing stories for the monthly newsletter, my understanding of the neighbourhood steadily grew, as did my admiration for those who live and work there. 
I decided to research the topic of highrise household waste in St. James Town for a few reasons. One, it’s an issue that fits really well with the sustainability and waste reduction initiatives that The Corner, especially its 240 division, has been doing for a few years. Two, having lived as a renter in high-rises for more than half of my adult life, and through visits with friends in St. James Town, I’ve experienced vast differences in waste management systems in buildings. I strongly suspected that in buildings with higher compliance with waste sorting and recycling, and more orderly and clean waste disposal areas, it was not because of the income of the residents. Our study supports the hunch that this has more to do with commitment on the part of building management.
Thirdly, the Toronto Environmental Alliance (TEA) had completed a 15-building study of best practises for waste reduction in Toronto high-rises and had made a set of online tools available to anyone wanting to diagnose the barriers and opportunities in their buildings. We adapted TEA’s tools, and TEA staff generously gave of their time and expertise to us as researchers, and to green team members.
 
From the residents we surveyed and meetings and chats with our green teams, I learned an enormous amount about how people in St. James Town experience their buildings’ waste collection systems. Thanks to the experts we interviewed, my eyes were opened regarding the policies that regulate and incentivize landlords. I am hopeful that our study will reach and influence people in a position to take the values, views and experiences of Toronto renters seriously on the topic of waste reduction, to make the long overdue changes that are needed.
 

NEW STUDY!


How do tenants in Toronto’s St. James Town deal with household waste?

How do they experience waste management in their buildings? And what about landlords? Are they helping residents to sort and reduce waste?

Can the situation be improved? For answers, see the new study by University of Guelph and The Corner, called Bringing Down The Trash