001-45_EJQR10_FALL26_PT - Flipbook - Page 8
ONTARIO’S DELAYED LANDFILL provision under O. Reg. 406/19 is
quickly approaching and set to take force on January 1st, 2027. The
provision, which was delayed by two years in December 2024, will restrict
land昀椀lls accepting excess soil meeting Table 2.1 residential, parkland and
institutional standards. While bene昀椀cial uses at land昀椀lls for daily cover
remain, the capacity of Class 1 Management sites remains unclear across
the province.
In May, an arti昀椀cial intelligence (AI)-assisted analysis of Ontario’s
Excess Soil Registry traced how nearly 24 million cubic metres of
construction soil moves across the province. This time, we set out to
answer the question, is Ontario ready for the land昀椀ll restriction?
GETTY IMAGES
Building a picture the province doesn’t publish
There is no public register of Class 1 sites, or their approved capacities.
Ontario approves them individually through Environmental Compliance
Approvals (ECAs) and their receiving limits live in written instruments,
not in any dataset. An autonomous AI agent was given a task: 昀椀nd all
waste related ECAs issued or amended since 2022, then match and
compare them to Resource Productivity and Recovery Authority’s (RPRA)
Excess Soil Registry.
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