While almost half of Toronto residents live in apartments, condos or co-ops, only 27% of their waste –compared to 65% of waste from single-family homes – is recycled or composted. With this knowledge, the City of Toronto and Mayor John Tory launched a voluntary program, the Mayor’s Towering Challenge. The waste-diversion program aimed to divert 70% of household waste in multi-residential dwellings from the landfill.
Beginning September 2016 and running for six months, the Towering Challenge spread educational awareness and hosted events to motivate building property managers, superintendents, owners, boards and residents to improve their waste diversion outcomes.
All seven of Concert’s purpose-built rental buildings in Toronto participated in the program. Concert property management staff installed lobby displays, promoted the Concert Simple Sorting App and website, created sustainability posters, and instituted several other strategies to educate and empower residents in this initiative.
“The Towering Challenge is perfectly aligned with Concert’s sustainability goals and objectives,” said Rod Pirie, Director, Property Management at Concert. “It provided our property management team and residents with a great opportunity to get involved and make a real change in our communities. Actively participating in this challenge has made a lasting difference in the way our staff and residents recycle and compost.”
Over the course of the Towering Challenge, a total of 143 registered buildings received resources and support from Solid Waste Management Services, and were invited to attend eight events, including building tours and movie screenings that encouraged recycling and waste diversion. Last month the Towering Challenge celebrated its successes at a closing ceremony held at City Hall. Representatives from Concert proudly accepted certificates recognizing participation in the program.