Waste Reduction Week

Waste Reduction Week takes place October 20-26, 2025. It is part of Circular Economy Month — “A Stronger Community for All”

What is Circular Economy Month?

Every October, Canada hosts Circular Economy Month, a national awareness campaign by the Circular Innovation Council. It aims to educate and empower people, organizations, and governments to shift from the traditional “take-make-dispose” model toward a more sustainable, circular approach.

Waste Reduction Week is a key part of that campaign — focusing specifically on ways to reduce waste on a major scale, especially in some of our big waste streams.

Why Waste Reduction Matters

Here are some eye-opening facts from recent data showing how much waste Canada generates — and how much opportunity there is for improvement.

Area	Key Facts
Construction	Over 4 million tonnes of construction waste per year — enough to fill about 640 Olympic-sized swimming pools. Only about 16% diverted from landfill, even though it is estimated around 85% could be diverted.
Repair	Repairing items can prevent 1.6 million tonnes of CO₂e emissions and save extraction of 470,000 tonnes of raw materials. Also, repair makes up $37 billion of the estimated $56 billion value retention processes in Canada annually.
Textiles	Nearly 500 million kg of clothing and household fabric are thrown away in Canada every year. Most of these could instead be reused, repaired, or recycled. Less than 1% of material used to make clothing is recycled back into new clothing.
E-Waste	The world generated 62 billion kg of e-waste in 2022; only about 17.4% was recycled. Electronics contain valuable materials like metals and glass that can be recovered.
Plastic	Only 9% of Canada’s 3.2 million tonnes of plastic waste (from 2016 data) is recycled, while nearly 40% of plastics produced each year are for single-use packaging.
Food Waste	Nearly half (46.5%) of food produced in Canada is wasted. That’s about 21.18 million tonnes annually, much of it still edible. Food waste contributes millions of tonnes of CO₂e emissions and represents lost value in dollars.

How You Can Help Locally

Commit to reducing food waste at home: meal plan, comApost, reuse leftovers.
Reduce plastic use: carry your own bags, avoid single-use bottles, buy in bulk when possible.
Support local businesses that sell durable goods, offer repairs, or use recycled/upcycled materials.
Organize “repair cafés” or repair workshops where volunteers help fix broken items.
Organize or find a clothes or household goods swap in your community.
Participate in or organize e-waste collection events so old electronics are disposed of responsibly.

Benefits to Community & Environment

By participating, our community gains in many ways:

Environmental: less waste in landfills, fewer greenhouse gas emissions, less extraction of raw materials, cleaner waterways.
Economic: savings for households and the municipality, new jobs in repair, reuse, and recycling sectors.
Social: stronger community connections, shared efforts, more resilience.

Waste Reduction Week isn’t just about what you throw in the bin—it’s about rethinking how we consume, use, and discard things. It’s an opportunity to shift habits, demand better design, and build a stronger, healthier, more sustainable future for Russell Township and beyond.

Let’s make Waste Reduction Week count: one action at a time.

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