The City of Toronto is launching an educational program to cut down the amount of landfill waste generated by occupants of high-rise residential buildings.

The program’s success hinges on getting Torontonians who live in high-rises, condos and apartments (55 per cent of the city) to improve their diversion stats for recycling and organic waste. The program’s goal is to encourage high-rise dwellers  to start hitting the same diversion stats as those living in single-family homes. Toronto’s ultimate goal is to reach 70 per cent waste diversion.

“Now that the city is growing up, rather than out, we must focus on improved participation and diversion in apartments and condominiums,” says Councillor Denzil Minnan-Wong, chair of the public works and infrastructure committee.

“Condo and apartment residents must stop treating their recycling like garbage, and understand their responsibility and role in reducing, reusing and recycling.”

The educational program comes at an important time; a quick look at Toronto’s skyline shows that an extraordinary amount of high-rise development is ongoing.