Toronto won't meet its ambitious target of diverting 70 per cent of its waste from landfills by 2012, due largely to the fact that only 15 per cent of the city's apartment and condominium buildings have green bins or are in the process of getting them, a city official says.

As of this year, the city expects to divert only about 50 per cent of its waste, said Toronto general manager of solid waste Geoff Rathbone Monday, confirming an estimate he gave CBC News earlier this month.

While single-family homes will divert close to 70 per cent of their waste by 2010, apartments and condominiums continue to lag behind, Rathbone said. Green bin programs are currently being rolled out in apartment buildings across Toronto, and between 30 and 40 per cent of those dwellings should have the bins by the end of 2010, he said.

The city had planned to outfit all apartment buildings with green bins by the end of next year, but Rathbone said that will be delayed by at least a year to because of a big drop in revenue.

Rathbone told CBC News that "we would normally generate almost $25 million worth of revenue from the sale of recyclables. We expect just half of that this year."

New plant integral to diversion goal

Realistically, Toronto can achieve its 70 per cent diversion goal by 2012 or 2013, Rathbone said.

But Rathbone acknowledges making that target is contingent on having a new waste treatment plant near St. Thomas up and running.

The plant would account for approximately eight percentage points of new diversion. Rathbone has said it won't open for at least another two years.

It has yet to be formally approved.

In 2008, Toronto residents diverted 44 per cent of their trash from going to landfill, according to the city. The city had projected a diversion rate of about 46 per cent for this year.