Bill 134 explained in plain English
Diverting Waste from Landfills and Reducing Greenhouse Gases Act, 2026
Ontario legislature bill summary, status, timeline, sponsor, votes, and official sources.
At a glance
Official Legislative Assembly of Ontario snapshot for 44th Parliament, 1st Session. Representative vote breakdowns appear when the Assembly publishes an Ayes and Nays page for the bill.
Our plain-language take, written for civic education.
Source: By PoliticalData.ca
This bill amends an existing act to establish a working group to study organic waste diversion from landfills and requires annual reporting on the issue.
This bill, titled the Diverting Waste from Landfills and Reducing Greenhouse Gases Act, 2026, proposes amendments to the Resource Recovery and Circular Economy Act, 2016. It aims to reduce organic waste sent to landfills and lower related greenhouse gas emissions by establishing a working group to study and report on best practices for diverting organic waste, and by requiring the Minister to produce annual reports on the status of organic waste in landfills.
- Establishes a working group to review source separated organics programs and study methods for diverting organic waste from landfills.
- Requires the Minister to prepare annual reports on organic waste in landfill sites.
- Defines 'landfill site' and 'source separated organics program' for the purposes of the new sections.
- Amends the Resource Recovery and Circular Economy Act, 2016.
- Requires the working group to report its findings to the Minister within six months.
- Requires the Minister to lay the working group's report before the Legislative Assembly and publish it.
- Requires the Minister to provide a response to the working group's report to the Legislative Assembly and publish it.
- The Minister of the Environment, Conservation and Parks (or equivalent)
- Members of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario
- Municipalities
- Landfill site operators
- Companies or organizations that provide services to collect, sort, process or haul waste
- Owners of commercial, institutional and industrial properties
- Resident associations
- The Authority (likely referring to a provincial waste management authority)
- The public
- The Minister is obligated to establish a working group within 60 days of the Act coming into force.
- The working group is obligated to examine specific matters related to organic waste and report its findings within six months.
- The Minister is obligated to lay the working group's report before the Legislative Assembly within 15 days of receiving it and publish it.
- The Minister is obligated to provide a response to the report to the Legislative Assembly within three months of receiving it and publish it.
- The Minister is obligated to prepare and publish an annual report on organic waste in landfill sites.
- Municipalities, landfill site operators, waste service providers, and owners of commercial, institutional, and industrial properties are obligated to provide requested information to the Minister for the annual report.
- The Act comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent. (Section 2)
- The Minister shall establish the working group no later than 60 days after the section comes into force. (Section 7.1(1))
- The working group shall report their findings to the Minister no later than six months after being established. (Section 7.1(5))
- The Minister shall lay the report before the Legislative Assembly no later than 15 days after receiving it. (Section 7.1(7)(a))
- The Minister shall provide a response to the report to the Legislative Assembly no later than three months after receiving it. (Section 7.1(8))
- The Minister shall publish the first annual report no later than one year after the response to the working group's report is provided. (Section 7.2(2))
- The specific composition of 'The Authority' and 'Resident associations' is not detailed.
- The exact budget or resourcing for the working group is not specified.
- The specific penalties for non-compliance with information requests are not detailed in the provided text.
- The bill does not specify the exact members of the working group beyond requiring at least 11 members with expertise and representatives from certain sectors.
Adds new sections related to organic waste, the establishment of a working group, and annual reporting requirements.
Source: Section 1
Provides the definition of 'waste disposal site' for the purpose of defining 'landfill site' in the amended Act.
Source: Section 2 (Definitions)
Generated using AI from official bill text. Not legal advice. It is written by PoliticalData.ca for civic education, automatically checked and spot-reviewed before publishing.
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Vote Summary
This bill is still active. We only show vote counts after the legislature publishes a recorded division.
No published representative vote breakdown
This bill is still moving through the process. When a recorded division is published, representative positions can be listed here.
Official sources
Status, sponsor, votes, and timeline on this page are drawn from these official legislative sources and public records. Each summary above is attributed to its own source.
How this data is sourced