Master Plan

The Essex-Windsor Solid Waste Authority (EWSWA) is a joint board of management. This joint board includes the Corporation of the County of Essex and the Corporation of the City of Windsor. The EWSWA administers the Essex-Windsor Solid Waste Management Master Plan (SWMMP) and operates the facilities that fall under the Master Plan. The Master Plan contains the following waste management goals for Essex-Windsor:

• To encourage reduction and reuse wherever possible;
• To recycle everything that can be recycled;
• To compost what is compostable; and
• To landfill the rest.

The Master Plan also set waste diversion objectives that increased over time:

• 50% waste diversion by the year 2000;
• 55% by 2010; and
• 60% by 2019.

In July 2011, the EWSWA reviewed its Master Plan. The review identified waste management strategies and assessed on how they impacted our waste diversion rates. The EWSWA is constantly striving to improve waste diversion in this region.

Reasons for Essex-Windsor to pursue increased waste diversion include:

• Waste diversion targets have been set in the 1993 Master Plan;
• The Province of Ontario has a 60% residential waste diversion target;
• Waste diversion is key to sustainable and environmentally responsible waste management, and the public demands municipalities manage waste in a responsible manner; and
• Many municipal landfills in Ontario are facing landfill capacity issues, and ensuring long-term capacity for the Essex-Windsor Regional Landfill is a best practice.