Toronto to consider incineration as landfill capacity dwindles

Toronto’s main landfill is projected to reach capacity by 2035, and the city is now asking residents and businesses to weigh in on how waste should be managed for the next decade and beyond.
With the Green Lane Landfill not able to keep up with the growing amount of waste, the city is exploring alternative methods of waste management, including the controversial option of incineration.
Now in Phase 2 of updating its Long-Term Waste Management Strategy, the city is asking for insight from the public to help guide waste management from 2026 to 2036.
This phase focuses on evaluating options to address the city’s waste management needs and gathering public feedback on potential solutions.

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The survey consists of a series of questions, including implementing recycling programs, donation drives and energy-from-waste, which involves converting garbage to electricity or heat by burning it at high temperatures.
This method could counter Toronto’s goal of becoming a zero-waste city and transitioning to a circular economy, as stated on the city’s website.
According to a provincial study done in 2021, it found that by 2034, there will be no remaining landfill capacity in Ontario.
The study found municipalities are beginning to utilize private landfills, which as of 2020 made up 53 per cent of active landfills in the province.
Toronto sends an average of 450,000 tonnes of waste per year to the Green Lane Landfill near St. Thomas, Ont., roughly the equivalent of three CN Towers full of trash.
While the city has managed to slightly extend Green Lane’s lifespan through contract renegotiations and improved compaction practices, the clock is ticking.
Last year alone, the city handled close to 830,000 tonnes of waste across all streams, and Toronto has no suitable land within its borders to build a new site.
Provincial legislation introduced in 2020, known as Bill 197, allows municipalities to veto any proposed landfill site within 3.5 km of their residential boundaries, further limiting the city’s already slim options.
The consultation period is open until June 29, and residents are encouraged to participate.
— with files from Aaron D’Andrea
© 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.


An eight-month joint-forces investigation has led to the seizure of 72 illegal handguns and dozens of prohibited devices, with two men from Brampton, Ont., now facing serious weapons trafficking charges.
The investigation, originally focused on alleged cocaine trafficking, led to the discovery of the handguns. when OPP officers intercepted a northbound tractor-trailer near Temiskaming Shores.
The truck, originating in Toronto, was stopped at a Ministry of Transportation inspection station.

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With support from multiple OPP units including the Organized Crime Enforcement Bureau, the Guns and Gangs Enforcement Team, the Northeast Region Community Street Crime Units, the Canine Unit, and Temiskaming OPP, a search warrant was executed on the vehicle.
Officers seized 72 illegal handguns and 66 prohibited devices.
Early tracing suggests all the firearms originated in the United States.
“These firearms originated in the United States, highlighting the importance of partnerships with law enforcement agencies across borders. Thanks to the dedication of our officers and partners, we’ve disrupted a significant criminal operation and taken dangerous weapons out of circulation,” said OPP Chief Supt. Mike Stoddart.
As a result of the investigation, two Brampton men have been charged with 72 counts of weapons trafficking and possession for the purpose of trafficking cocaine.
© 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

Toronto police have charged two additional teenage boys in connection with the fatal stabbing of 14-year-old Abdoul Aziz Sarr, who was killed in July outside a fast-food restaurant in the city’s east end.
Both suspects, a 16-year-old and a 17-year-old from Toronto, were arrested on Friday, Oct. 17, and each charged with first-degree murder. Two of them turned themselves in to police in July, while the third turned himself in to police in August.
They were set to make their first court appearance Saturday, Oct. 18, at the Toronto Regional Bail Centre.
Under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, the identities of the accused cannot be released.
Sarr was fatally stabbed on the night of July 5, 2025. Emergency crews were called to the area of Eastern Avenue and Woodward Avenue shortly after 10 p.m., where they found the teen with life-threatening injuries.
He was transported to hospital but later died.

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In a statement following the arrest, a religious centre, where Sarr was a student, remembered him as a beloved and positive presence in their community.
“Abdoul Aziz was more than just a student, he was a light in our lives,” the statement from Mecca Islamic Centre read.
“He greeted everyone with kindness and carried himself with a grace far beyond his years. His loss has shattered our hearts.”
The centre has launched a fundraiser to support the Sarr family with funeral costs, counselling, and other expenses.
A third youth was previously arrested and charged in the case.
All three accused remain before the courts as the investigation continues.
Anyone with additional information is urged to contact Toronto police.
© 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

TORONTO – Eight-year-old Logan Dorna is cheering on the Blue Jays in their playoff run while sporting their logo on his prosthetic eye.
Logan’s left eye was removed at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto after he was diagnosed with retinoblastoma — an eye cancer — when he was six months old.
Matthew Milne, an ocularist who works with the hospital’s eye cancer team, made Logan’s first artificial eye as a baby and replaces it with a new one about every two years as he grows up.
When Logan came to see Milne a couple of weeks ago for his next prosthetic eye, he had something specific in mind.
“I wanted to get the special eye because I like playing baseball and I like watching it too,” he said in a video interview with his parents from their home in Richmond Hill, Ont., on Friday.
Milne, who hand-paints the artificial eyes, made Logan one with a gold iris and baseball seams.
He painted the Blue Jays logo on top of the eye. Unlike the gold and the seams, it’s not possible to make the logo visible to others because the top is tucked back into the eye socket.
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But Logan knows it’s there and can show others when he swaps that eye out for a second “everyday” prosthetic eye. That one has a brown iris to match his seeing eye.

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It also has a special painting on the top that reflects his interests: a character from the “Zelda” video game series.
Milne encourages his young patients to pick fun images for the tops of their prosthetic eyes.
“When you’re dealing with a very kind of adult issue like retinoblastoma, I want to always give kids the opportunity to kind of customize something for themselves, make it fun for them,” he said.
Logan’s mom, Taline Dorna, said her son has been wearing his Blue Jays eye “every time the Jays have been playing because he believes in his soul that it’s giving them a little bit of extra luck.”
The sports theme is also a celebration of how much Logan overcame in the summer when he started playing baseball for the very first time, she said.
“Having just monocular vision, depth perception is really off. So whenever he hit that ball … (it) really gave him that boost of confidence.”
When he’s not batting — Logan’s favourite part of the game — he’s “usually right field but sometimes middle and left,” he said.
Dorna and Logan’s father, Serge, hope that their son’s embracing of his artificial eye inspires other children with differences to feel proud and be welcomed.
“That’s what we’ve always wanted for him … no social stigma attached to having a prosthetic eye because it is such a visible difference,” Dorna said.
“We want him to always feel confident and not ashamed of who he is because it’s part of his identity.”
Logan’s prosthetic eye is connected to ocular muscles so it can move in sync with his seeing eye when he’s looking around, even though there’s no vision there, Milne said.
Retinoblastoma is rare — there were 15 cases in children 14 years and under in 2019 — but it’s the most common type of eye cancer in children and often found under the age of two, according to the Canadian Cancer Society’s website.
Removing the cancerous eye helps prevent the tumour from spreading elsewhere. After Logan’s eye was taken out, he didn’t need any further treatment such as chemotherapy or radiation, his mother said.
He now goes for checkups at SickKids’ eye clinic once a year and sees Milne every few months to maintain his prosthetic eye.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 18, 2025.
Canadian Press health coverage receives support through a partnership with the Canadian Medical Association. CP is solely responsible for this content.
© 2025 The Canadian Press
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