OTTAWA, ON, Sept. 29, 2025 /CNW/ - As we celebrate the International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste, Wade Grant, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change, announced on behalf of the Honourable Julie Dabrusin, Minister of Environment and Climate Change, more than $640,000 to support local government research and capacity-building initiatives to reduce the amount of food and other organic waste sent to landfills. Under the Food Waste Prevention and Diversion: Research and Capacity Building Fund, five Canadian cities are receiving up to $150,000 for their projects.
Food is the largest type of waste that Canadians send to landfills annually. When disposed of in landfills, food and other organic waste produce methane, a powerful greenhouse gas. Reducing food waste disposal is an effective way to lower landfill methane emissions and protect the environment.
Canada is taking action to reduce emissions of methane, as it is one of the fastest and most cost-effective ways to combat climate change. Today's projects contribute to achieving overall national waste reduction disposal goals and support Canada's commitment to the Global Methane Pledge.
Quotes
"By diverting food waste from landfills, we can reduce methane emissions and build a cleaner Canada. Working with local governments, we are creating innovative solutions to ensure that the energy, water, and land resources used to grow our food are not wasted."
– The Honourable Julie Dabrusin, Minister of Environment and Climate Change
Quick facts
- Methane is a greenhouse gas with a global warming potential 84 times that of carbon dioxide over a 20-year period and at least 28 times over a 100-year period.
- Methane accounted for about 16% of Canada's total greenhouse gas emissions in 2023. Methane is responsible for around 30% of the global rise in temperatures to date.
- Slashing methane emissions is a top recommendation made by climate scientists to help mitigate climate change in the most recent report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
- Canada is co-convening the Global Methane Pledge with the European Union and is one of over 150 countries to have joined the Global Methane Pledge. Canada's approach to reducing methane emissions from landfills will help fulfill this international commitment.
- Since 2022, the Government of Canada has invested $1.4 million to support Canadian industry associations, non-profit organizations, academic institutions, and local governments to take action to reduce the quantity of biodegradable waste disposed in landfills annually.
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Associated links
- The Government of Canada Launches Research Fund to Help Prevent and Divert Food Waste from Canadian Landfills
- Food Waste Prevention and Diversion: Research and Capacity Building Fund
- Waste and Greenhouse Gases: Canada's Actions
- Municipal Solid Waste Management in Canada
- Canada's Greenhouse Gas Offset Credit System
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SOURCE Environment and Climate Change Canada
Contacts: Keean Nembhard, Press Secretary, Office of the Minister of Environment and Climate Change, 343-552-2387, [email protected] | Media Relations: Environment and Climate Change Canada, 819-938-3338 or 1-844-836-7799 (toll-free), [email protected]
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