Improving solid waste management is an important element in achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Modernizing waste management facilities with new technologies is critical to minimize environmental impacts of landfills and to reduce the amount of waste sent to landfills. According to Canada's National Inventory Report, municipal solid waste landfills were responsible for about 23.9% of Canada's methane emissions in 2020. Still, these emissions had decreased by 3.5% from 2005 to 2020. Results from Canada's Core Public Infrastructure Survey for 2020 indicate some improvement in the closure or renewal of aging facilities. In 2020, 47.9% of active waste disposal facilities (including active landfills and dump sites, incinerators, and facilities that generate energy from waste) were built prior to 2000 compared with 70.9% in 2016. Similarly, the share of waste diversion facilities (facilities that divert waste materials through composting, anaerobic digestion or recycling) constructed before 2000 decreased from 25.6% in 2016 to 17.1% in 2020.
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