Stats Canada is reporting we are generating more garbage but we are also recycling more.
Households in Canada generated 14.3 million tonnes of waste in 2012. That was an increase of 27% from 2002. During that same time frame, the percentage of waste that was diverted rose from 25% to 33% as larger amounts of electronics were diverted.
From 2008 to 2012, the amount of electronic waste that was diverted nearly tripled from just over 24 thousand tons to slightly more than 71 thousand tons. An increase in the number of programs that take back electronic products is seen as a big reason why.
In 2013, 85% of households in Canada had at least one cell phone. 2.9 million households reported having an unwanted cell phone. Of these, just under one-quarter sent their unwanted cell phones to a depot, 18% returned them to a retailers but about 5% threw them in the garbage.
In 2013, 3.6 million households representing 26% of all households in Canada reported having at least one unwanted television.
