The last shipment of Toronto trash crossed the border into Michigan on Thursday as the city prepared itself to rely on a local landfill for waste disposal.
The last truck containing the city's garbage left the Commissioners Street Transfer Station for Michigan's Carlton Farms Landfill at 11 a.m. Thursday morning.
Toronto has been sending its trash to Michigan since 1998. Nearly 750,000 tonnes of garbage had crossed the border each year.
Starting on January 1, Toronto will dispose of its waste at the Green Lane Landfill in Elgin County, west of the city.
Toronto purchased the lot from the local First Nations community in 2007 in preparation of the end of their Michigan deal.
Steve Whitter, of Toronto Solid Waste Management said the loads being shipped to the Ontario landfill will be larger, but the same amount of garbage will make the trip through the day.
Coun. Denzil Minnan-Wong, chair of the public works committee, told CTV Toronto that the change will make the city more self-sufficient.
"I think Torontonians feel a little bit uncomfortable exporting our garbage to the United States. They'd like the garbage to stay in Ontario and we should be able to deal with it ourselves," said Minnan-Wong.
"Having our own landfill and having our own responsibility for the garbage that we create, that encourages us to divert more waste and be better recyclers."
The site has the capacity to accept Toronto's trash for at least 20 years.
With a report from CTV Toronto's Alicia Markson
