Trash Talk: Organics key in York Region success
June 18, 2010
Ellen Moorhouse
SPECIAL TO THE STAR
York Region holds the gold star for keeping garbage out of landfill, topping the list among larger Ontario municipalities.
Its diversion rates have moved up smartly: 45.7 per cent in 2007; 53 per cent in 2008; an estimated 57 per cent in 2009; and a projected 60 per cent this year. That last figure is the target set for municipalities by the province.
By comparison, Toronto hovers around 44 per cent, but Canada’s biggest municipality faces huge challenges, including a full half the population living in multi-family dwellings and limited organics processing capacity that has slowed the roll-out of the green bin program to condos, apartments and schools.
So how did York Region, an umbrella for nine municipalities with a population of 1 million, achieve such diverting success?
“Our residents are so enthusiastic in participation,” says Erin Mahoney, York Region’s environmental services commissioner.
We saw that enthusiasm recently at Trash Talk. The first- and second-place winners in our garbage contest for students both came from two of the region’s schools in Thornhill and Newmarket.
The green bin program has also been key to the regional municipality’s achievement. “We dealt with all of those barriers to participation by making sure the program was convenient for residents,” says Mahoney, an engineer who transitioned to municipal work from private-sector consulting.
That meant allowing residents to use plastic bags for their green bins to mitigate the “yuck” factor and make dealing with the soggy, smelly mess as easy as possible.
Like Toronto, the region takes pet waste, diapers and sanitary products in its green bin, which boosts diversion admirably. Consider Durham, east of Toronto, where pet waste accounts for an astonishing 16 per cent of residual garbage now going to landfill and you realize the challenge these materials pose.
Next year, starting May 1, York Region makes it mandatory for residents to use certified compostable bags as green-bin liners. The reason? Boost diversion just a little bit more — in this case. a tiny one percentage point in the push for that 60 per cent diversion grail.
“We’ve done all the easy stuff and some of the difficult stuff, too,” says Mahoney. “There’s no fruit on the ground any more. There’s no low-hanging fruit.”
The industrial composting facilities in London and Welland now used by York Region handle plastic in a way that allows the compostable bags to break down. (Toronto’s city-owned organics processor strips plastic off at the start.)
The delay in requiring the compostable bags, Mahoney says, has allowed the prices for the bags to come down. Plus, Toronto’s policy introduced last year of having retailers charge 5 cents a plastic bag has spread far and wide: “That makes our point of moving to the certified compostable bags easier because people are now used to paying for bags.”
New collection calendar
Toronto’s new garbage collection calendar is going out to lowrise households, and while you’re probably not waiting for it with bated breath, have a look when it arrives.
Descriptions of what goes in and stays out of the blue bin and green bin are much easier to read. And banned items are clearly highlighted.
If you think you’re household has been missed (ours was, because we live in a duplex), you’ll have to hold off until after mid-August when door-to-door distribution is finished. Then call 311 (which I’ve found effective for reporting missed trash pickup) and request a calendar.
This year your guide comes with a clear plastic bag to put out small electronic items on your garbage pick-up day. Toronto is ramping up its curbside collection of e-waste, and for its trouble gets paid under the Ontario Electronic Stewardship program, the body funded by manufacturers and distributors and the eco-fees you’ve no doubt noticed on new TVs and computers.
For sure, the city wants to make it easy to get rid of stuff on collection day, and is gradually streamlining the process. Starting in September, for example, you’ll no longer have to call for special pick up for old appliances.
The Waste Wizard is another city initiative, adapted from Peel Region software, aimed at helping diligent residents get rid of items correctly. At Toronto.ca/recycle, this electronic guide explains the proper disposal route for everything from toothpick to toilet (plurals weren’t working for these words when I searched). See if it answers your questions, and if you find deficiencies, we can forward comments to the city.
Trash Talk reader Rosemary Tessier searched the site in November to find out about clear plastic food containers, with ambiguous results.
“I just tried it again and the answer was much longer and covered more than I could have thought of,” Tessier reports. “So, I'd have to say it's much better.”
Trash Talk appears Saturdays in New in Homes & Condos. Send questions or comments to e_moorhouse@sympatico.ca.
Read previous Trash Talks
- These
kids really know how to talk trash
- The
scoop on poop
- Going
green in the garden
- Earning
EcoSchool status
- Garbage
issues are on their minds
- All
of that gum gives city workers something to chew on
- Recycling
your closet hang-ups
- Not
your average food processor
- A
green dream: three bin bathrooms
- Winter
composting
- Reusable
bag a lesson in stewardship
- Signs
of the times and what they mean
- Campaign
targets takeout trash
- Consider
coming clean in 2010
- Eco-paint
container isn't that green
- Stewardship
program to drive tire recycling
- Loft
reno represents extreme recycling
- Hitting
the dead mattress problem
- Modest
proposals for Waste Reduction Week
- Battery
recycling doesn't always make sense
- This
PET's a big problem
- Sorting
through the blue box conundrum
-
Got
the blue bin blues? Don't overstuff
- The
not-so-green side of gardening waste
- Overcoming the blips
of electronic waste
- Pet
food, aluminum
foil and another twist on caps
- Don't chuck it, use
it
- Don't
flip your lid over cap conundrum
- From
milk cartons to
toilet tissue
- Bin there? Hidden
radio frequency tags know all
-
Answers for all
those 'irritating garbage questions'