Ontario s Blue Box Program Plan delivered in February and was still on Ministers desk awaiting approval 2004 is likely timeframe;

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1 WASTE MANAGEMENT AND RECYCLING The Future of Recycling Waste management collection programs in major Ontario cities are changing is YOUR condominium in the know? By Jason Tower, BES, EMPD With the garbage and recycling landscape changing across Ontario, specific focus is being placed on reaching diversion targets in Ontario municipalities. Certain municipalities, specifically those with large urban centres, are turning their attention to their greatest challenge in meeting those targets. That bull s-eye is aimed at residential highrises, which can represent 50% of a city s total population. Gord Day is the manager of research and analysis at Corporations Supporting Recycling (CSR). CSR is an industry not-for-profit, private-sector organization that represents the packaging stewardship interests of consumer products and packaging industries. CSR has been retained by Stewardship Ontario to provide secretariat services to develop and implement the blue box program plan under the new Waste Diversion Act. Prior to working at CSR, Gord was a consultant for 11 years with Enviros RIS, one of the largest firms that specialized in waste reduction and extended producer responsibility. Gord s presentation on Recycling in Multi-Family Buildings across Canada provided some insight on what other jurisdictions are doing across the country. Highlights of the presentation included: In the Canadian context: The federal government is not responsible for waste it is a provincial responsibility. Provinces provide the guiding regulatory framework and policy direction with regards to waste management. Waste management services are provided at either the municipal or regional level of government. There is a mosaic of rules, requirements, bylaws and levels of service. What s Hot at the Provincial Level? Extended producer responsibility (EPR) is here. EPR refers to industry-managed programs for selected materials. Extended producer responsibility items include beverage containers, tires, used oil, etc. EPR is expanding to include such items as packaging, printed materials and electronic waste (e-waste). Ontario Waste Diversion Act and Quebec s Bill 102 are the first to address blue box wastes (harmonized approach for 65% of Canada). Ontario s Blue Box Program Plan delivered in February and was still on Ministers desk awaiting approval 2004 is likely timeframe;

2 Provides for 50% industry funding of net cost of the system; Provides stable funding for municipalities to expand/upgrade; Funds are treated as revenue and may not be directed to blue box program. What s Happening in Other Provinces? NS and PEI very aggressive; NB/NFLD following NS slowly; PQ Bill 102 (similar to Waste Diversion Organization) to be implemented in 2005; MB focus will be on Hazardous Solid Waste/ e-waste; SK focus on e-waste; AB focus on e-waste and stewardship administration; BC focus is on new regulation and e-waste; Provinces are consolidating EPR programs and moving beyond blue box recyclables municipality is driver. The City of Toronto Closer to home, the City of Toronto s Geoff Rathbone presented the City of Toronto: A Zero Waste Future? Geoff is the director of policy and planning, solid waste management services division, for the City of Toronto. With nearly 20 years of experience in the solid waste management and recycling fields, Geoff is busy trying to accomplish the 100% diversion from landfill goal by 2010 that the City of Toronto Council has adopted. Waste Export Issues. With the closure of the Keele Valley landfill site, all of Toronto s municipal waste is shipped to Michigan. The city currently has a 20-year contract with Republic Services/Wilson Logistics for the transportation and disposal of the waste generated by the City of Toronto s residents. How Did We Get There? The Ontario Ministry of Environment declined any extension of the Keele Valley operation beyond capacity, rated at 28 million tonnes. From 1986 to 1995 Metro Toronto and the Province of Ontario spent $150 million in the search for a new public landfill site. This initiated a competitive private-sector process in 1996, which came up with the Adam s Mine proposal, and various Michigan sites. It is estimated that the City of Toronto will ship approximately 1.1 million tonnes in Of this, approximately 125 transfer trailer loads are required per day, at 35 tonnes per load. The regions of Peel, Durham, York and private companies also ship to Michigan. On the other side, the State of Michigan shipped 61,000 tonnes of hazardous waste to Ontario in Can the Border be Closed? Interstate and international movement of goods is protected by the U.S. Constitution Commerce clause and NAFTA. This includes garbage! Currently, there are 13 pieces of U.S. federal and state legislation proposed, some of which include: Closing the border (to waste) from Canada; Imposing a surcharge on waste;

3 Increasing the number of inspections and prohibiting banned materials from the U.S.; Holding congressional and state hearings on foreign waste. Toronto s Contingency Plan. The City of Toronto s waste management contingency plan includes the following provisions: Should the city have up to two days of disruption, it has storage capabilities at the various Toronto transfer stations. If the disruption is more than two days, the city would then require the assistance of the provincial government to issue emergency permits. The City of Toronto is also currently seeking bids for tonnes of capacity in the event of disruption of service. Reducing Toronto s Needs for Disposal. The Mayor s Task Force 2010 was created in January 2001 to obtain public input and provide a plan for the City to reach its diversion goals as defined by council. This task force is co-chaired by the Mayor (David Miller) and the Chair of the Works Committee (Jane Pitfield). These diversion targets are 25% in 2000, 30% in 2003, 60% in 2006 and 100% in In order to accomplish this, one of the methods that has been implemented is the introduction and passing of a new waste management bylaw. Contained in this bylaw is the provision for new waste management requirements for developments. The City of Toronto has created specific requirements for garbage and recycling collection from new developments and redevelopments. These requirements stipulate that recycling must be as convenient to residents as the garbage collection program. For existing buildings, the city has developed a multi-stage approach: Banning all grass clippings; Introducing a bag limit at curbside (six); Introducing a mandatory recycling bylaw for existing properties; Adding new materials to the blue box; Carrying out a multi-family recycling blitz; Encouraging paper bags for leaf and yard waste; Introducing the green bin program (organic collection for single-family houses) in Etobicoke and Scarborough. This equates to approximately 1% diversion per 10,000 new tonnes of diversion. The organic collection program (a.k.a. source separated organics) was introduced in 2002 in Etobicoke, June 2003 in Scarborough, and has a planned roll-out for fall 2004 in Toronto and East York. Spring 2005 will see the introduction in North York and York. Special collection vehicles have been introduced to collect the materials on this program. During Week 1, organics and commingled recyclables are collected, while in Week 2, organics and residuals (a.k.a. garbage) are collected. The program uses an anaerobic method of digestion of the materials using special 45-gallon containers with hinged lids and has wheels for easy movement.

4 Getting to 60% Diversion What s Next? Multi-family organics; Residential pay as you throw a.k.a. user pay; Reuse centres/take-it-back programs; Expanded recycling and industry funding by the Waste Diversion Organization of Ontario. Multi-family buildings are by far the greatest challenge for the City of Toronto to achieve its diversion goals. Currently, the city provides collection services to close to 5,100 buildings totaling 450,000 units. Close to half of the City of Toronto s population live in multi-residential buildings or highrises. Some of the challenges that the city is facing to achieve its diversion goals in multiresidential properties include: Existing buildings are less convenient to recycle than disposing of garbage; Lack of storage space in unit to store recyclables; Must take materials to a common area, often located in the basement or even outside; Anonymity factor, lack of responsibility; Cultural and language barriers; Turnover of residents; Building physical constraints (storage, parking); Building management interest and cooperation; Resident understanding and interest. Multi-family Recycling Blitz In the summer of 2001, an apartment blitz was carried out by summer students in an effort to take stock of the city s multi-family buildings, and to promote and encourage recycling across the city. During this blitz, it was found that there were 1500 buildings either under-served or under-performing in recycling activities. By January 2003, all of the remaining complexes were provided with recycling collection. All complexes receiving city garbage collection (approximately 450,000 units) now receive city recycling collection. Bylaw was enacted in April 2001 and regulates residential waste collection. Buildings that receive City of Toronto garbage collection MUST participate fully with the city s recycling program. The onus to participate is with the owner (i.e., the condominium corporation), and the condo corporation must ensure that specific recycling instructions for residents are posted and the recycling facility is accessible. Failure to comply with the city bylaw will result in the removal of city-provided waste and recycling service from the complex. Support services for building implementation include seminars for property management and site staff on starting and maintaining successful recycling programs, lobby displays, educational materials, and the City of Toronto newsletter, Waste Watch, distributed to residents.

5 To further the City of Toronto s diversion efforts, it is currently testing out alternative collection methods. One method to try and make recycling as convenient as possible in existing buildings is a deep-collection program. Residents bring their materials outside to a large cylinder in the ground where they deposit their organic waste. Another method is an automated recycling system, which can be installed in either existing (retrofit) or new building applications. The results are promising and show an increase in recycling by up to 75% compared to a typical depot-style system located on the ground floor. To find out which methods will prove successful in achieving high resident participation and waste reduction, it is important to understand recycling behaviour in residential highrises (yes, they are a special group of people!). In order to make the world of highrise residential waste reduction work, there are three simple keys to success: 1. It must be simple. 2. It must be convenient. 3. A financial incentive (user-pay) is a big driving force towards waste reduction. Who said garbage was just talking trash? Or your greens? Jason Tower, BES, EMPD, is a partner of The Waste Solutions Group, Aqua-Jett Garbage Chute Cleaning + Odour Control, Toronto Compactor + Chute Service, and Tower Recycling Systems Canada. Jason is also a member of ACMO s associates executive committee where he serves as the associate chairperson for the regional development committee. [SIDEBAR] Resources from the Presentation * * CM Condominium Manager Magazine Spring 2004