Item - 2017.LS18.1

The Licensing and Standards Committee recommends that:  

1. City Council amend Toronto Municipal Code, Chapter 548, Littering and Dumping of Refuse, as follows:

a. Delete from the chapter title, the words "of Refuse" so that the chapter title reads "Chapter 548, Littering and Dumping";

b. Delete the definition of "REFUSE";

c. Amend the definition of "WASTE" to read: "Garbage, recyclable materials, organic materials, yard waste and prohibited waste";

d. Remove all references to the term "refuse" and replace with the term "waste";

e. Amend the definition of "GARBAGE" to include elements of the definition of "REFUSE" and explicitly include 'cigarette butts, cigar tips, electronic cigarettes and their components, and chewing gum', so that the definition reads:

GARBAGE – Waste other than recyclable materials, organic materials, yard waste and prohibited waste, and includes but is not limited to:

a. cigarette butts, cigar tips, electronic cigarettes and their components, and chewing gum";

b. debris, junk or specific effluent belonging to or associated with a house or household or any industry, trade or business;

c. inoperative vehicles, vehicle parts or accessories; and

d. any other unused or unusable material that by reason of its state, condition or excessive accumulation, appears to:

i. have been cast aside, discarded or abandoned; or

ii. be worthless, useless or of no particular value; or

iii. be used up, expended or worn out in whole or in part.

f. Delete the definition of "SPECIAL COLLECTION MATERIALS" and "Schedule C, Special Collection Materials";

g. Delete the words 'dump' and 'dumped' from § 548-3 A and B;

h. Prohibit persons from depositing or dumping their privately generated waste into:

i. public litter and recycling bins/receptacles, and

ii. regulation containers belonging to another person or entity, without that person or entity's consent;

i. Specify the authority of an officer, employee or agent of the City to enter on land, at any reasonable time, for the purpose of carrying out an inspection to determine compliance with the by-law, a direction or order of the City or a direction or order made under a by-law, or a condition of a licence; and

j. Add a definition of "EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR" to mean: "The Executive Director of the Municipal Licensing and Standards Division, or his or her designate".
 

2. City Council approve amendments to Toronto Municipal Code, Chapter 545, Licensing, to:

a. Add a definition of the term "WASTE" to mean: "Garbage, recyclable materials, organic materials, yard waste and prohibited waste"; and

b. Remove all references to the term "refuse" and replace with the term "waste".

3. City Council direct that the proposed changes come into force on May 1, 2017.

This report proposes a number of amendments to Toronto Municipal Code, Chapter 548, Littering and Dumping of Refuse and Chapter 545, Licensing, with the aim to reduce litter, including cigarette, cigar, e-cigarette, and chewing gum litter; strengthen the City's ability to enforce its by-laws; as well as achieve common terminology among the City's various litter/waste by-laws.

These amendments represent the outcomes of a second phase, of a comprehensive by-law review conducted in 2016.

The first phase involved amendments to Chapter 545, Licensing, to place additional requirements on the City's licensed businesses to maintain areas surrounding their establishments free from litter and to install and maintain temporary receptacles to capture cigarette butt litter.

The amendments in this report are recommended by the City's Multi-Divisional Litter Working Group and respond to directives from City Council and Public Works and Infrastructure Committee.

Specifically, this report proposes the following key changes:

1. An amendment to clarify separate provisions to distinguish littering from illegal dumping;

2. The addition of provisions that will strengthen prohibitions on illegal dumping in public litter and recycling bins/receptacles and in regulation containers (i.e., garbage, Blue Bin recycling, yard waste and Green Bin organic containers), which belong to another person or entity;

3. An amendment to the definition of "garbage" to include elements previously defined as "refuse"  and to explicitly include cigarette butts, cigar tips, e-cigarettes and their components, and chewing gum;

4. The replacement of the term "refuse" with the term "waste" and an amendment to the definition of waste;

5. The deletion of all references to "special collection materials"; and

6. An amendment to clarify the entry and inspection powers of City officials, including the addition of a definition of "Executive Director" of Municipal Licensing and Standards.
 

Solid Waste Management Services (SWMS), Transportation Services, Economic Development and Culture, Toronto Water, Toronto Public Health, and Legal Services were consulted in the preparation of this report.