Ontario initiatives to keep organics out of landfill are helping to increase residential diversion
WDO announces improvements to leading residential waste database
Statistics recently provided to Waste Diversion Ontario by municipalities across the province show that local initiatives to keep organic materials out of landfill – particularly food waste or "Green Bin" programs – are definitely helping to increase residential waste diversion rates.
Organic waste includes yard waste (e.g., grass clippings and sticks/twigs), leaves, Christmas trees, bulky yard waste (e.g., large tree branches), and household or kitchen organics (e.g., food waste and food-soiled paper waste). Ontario has experienced a 39 per cent increase in the amount of all organics collected since 2007, which represents an average annual increase of 7.7 per cent.
In 2012, a total of 927,351 tonnes of residential organic waste was reported collected across the province, which equals the weight of over 100 million pumpkins. This represents a 5.3 per cent increase over the 2011 organics collection quantity of 880,126 tonnes.
Of the 2012 total I just mentioned, almost half (429,387 tonnes) was kitchen organics collected primarily at the curb, with a small amount from depots. Based on current curbside collection rates alone, if all 5,192,900 households in Ontario had access to curbside collection of organic waste, another 580,000 tonnes of organic material could be diverted from landfill. This would translate into a 12 percent increase in the province's overall residential diversion rate, which for 2012 stood at 47.19 per cent –meaning that the provincial residential diversion rate would rise to nearly 60 per cent.
Back in the early days of urban history, most garbage was food scraps and coal ash. The times may have changed with the introduction of new products and packaging, but people will always need to eat. Kitchen organics contributed 17 per cent by weight to the province's overall residential waste diversion efforts in 2012.
Gains in residential diversion can be achieved by starting a program (or expanding existing programs) to collect household organics. For example, the City of Guelph increased its overall residential waste diversion rate from 48.84 per cent in 2011 to 67.72 per cent in 2012. This 19 percent increase can be largely attributed to 2012 being the first full year of reporting on Guelph's reactivated organics program.
Guelph recently earned the top spot in Ontario for the best residential waste diversion rate in 2012. The city also came in first overall in 2012 for diverting the highest percentage of residential organic waste at 31.63 per cent of all residential waste in their program.
The number of Ontario municipalities that reported operating a residential organics program increased in 2012 over 2011 by five programs, or over 30,000 households. It is important to note that current kitchen organics programs in the province are voluntary. It is up to each municipality to decide if they want to operate such a program.
For many municipalities with smaller populations, doing so might be cost-prohibitive. As well, there is currently no requirement for Ontario municipalities to report the amounts of organic waste collected, other than leaf and yard waste (for those municipalities with populations over 50,000). If you are unsure about whether or not you have access to an organics program, including a Green Bin for kitchen organics, check with your local municipality.
Waste Diversion Ontario Announces Improvements to Leading Residential Waste Database
New System Tested by 11 Ontario Municipalities
On February 11, Waste Diversion Ontario (WDO) announced completion of the project to redesign the Municipal Datacall reporting system, one of North America's top sources of information for data and trends on Ontario's residential garbage. The Datacall is an annual recycling report card that helps municipalities to measure their progress with local initiatives to keep residential waste out of landfills.
The improved Datacall system is more user-friendly and less time-consuming for all municipalities that report residential waste statistics to WDO. It will also provide more accurate data, allow for more consistent reporting among municipalities, provide updated material definitions, and allow municipalities to directly access their own current and historical data to facilitate local waste management budgeting and planning.
The new system will enable WDO to gather better data from all participating municipalities that would help with performance projections for residential waste programs.
"The Municipal Datacall is a valuable, one-stop resource that can be mined over and over again for important and relevant information," said Michael Scott, CEO, Waste Diversion Ontario. "We hope that the changes will make the Datacall more accessible to the people who use it, allowing us to gather data that more accurately reflects Ontario's record on residential recycling."
Earlier this year, 11 municipalities participated in the testing of the improved Municipal Datacall, including: Baldwin Township, Brant County, Carleton Place, Essex-Windsor, Fort Frances, Kawartha Lakes, Mississippi Mills, Niagara Region, Peterborough, Toronto, and York Region.
"We appreciate the time invested by these municipalities in helping us to verify that the changes have streamlined the system for those who input the data every year," said Scott. "We are offering training and other support to Datacall users to ensure a smooth transition to the new system."
Each year, WDO requires municipalities to complete the Municipal Datacall to be eligible for the next year's Blue Box funding. In addition to information about Blue Box materials, WDO asks municipalities to submit tonnage data for all other waste materials the municipality oversees, including organics, hazardous or special waste, electrical and electronic equipment, organics, garbage, and other materials. WDO uses this data to determine residential waste diversion rates for each municipality, municipal grouping and the province overall.
In 2012, reports were submitted under WDO's annual Municipal Datacall by 230 municipal programs, recycling associations and First Nations, representing over 400 municipalities. The 2013 Municipal Datacall was initiated yesterday with a deadline of Friday, April 25 to submit 2013 statistics.
Waste Diversion Ontario (www.wdo.ca) is the not-for-profit organization funded by industry that oversees Ontario's current recycling programs for electrical and electronic equipment ("e-waste"), used tires, Blue Box material, and hazardous or special waste.
