THROWING OUT THE GARBAGE

The requirements for approval of international waste disposal by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency:

• A current valid permit or licence from the appropriate provincial (and where required, regional) environmental authority to operate as a landfill is needed.

• A CFIA inspector must be satisfied that the landfill site is “completely enclosed, physically situated, or operated so that no domestic or feral animals have access, direct or indirect” to the international waste site.

• No livestock or poultry are kept on any premises within a halfkilometre of the perimeter of the fence/natural barrier enclosing the site.

• No waste is removed from the landfill site.

• The international waste must be “completely covered” with a minimum of 1.8 metres of domestic garbage or other standard covering materials upon arrival at the approved landfill. The international waste must be covered “as soon as possible” and should “only be accepted at the landfill during hours of operation that ensure that there will be adequate covering material available” at the end of the day.

• A landfill site requiring a lengthy transportation process of international waste on a routine basis through an area with “an intensive livestock population or agricultural crop production” will not be approved.

Source: Canadian Food Inspection Agency