STAFF REPORT
December 13, 1999
To: Works Committee
From: Barry H. Gutteridge, Commissioner, Works and Emergency Services
Subject: 3Rs Pilot Projects - Findings and Actions
Purpose:
To respond to a request from the Works Committee to report on the 3Rs pilot projects
undertaken by the former Metropolitan Toronto.
Financial Implications and Impact Statement:
There are no financial implications arising from this report.
Recommendations:
It is recommended that this report be received for information.
Background:
At its meeting of October 6, 1999, the Works Committee "requested the Commissioner of Works
and Emergency Services to submit a report to the Committee on the pilot projects already undertaken
by the former Metropolitan Toronto."
Comments:
During 1996 and 1997, 13 pilot project aimed at testing innovative approaches to waste diversion
were implemented by the Works Department. A report summarizing the results of the pilots,
including the executive summaries of all the final reports, was submitted to the Environment and
Public Space Committee in September, 1997. Copies of the executive summaries and the full reports
are available from the Department.
A brief summary of the findings of the pilot projects and an update on actions resulting from the
pilots follows:
(1) Enhanced Diversion from Apartments
Various approaches to diversion in apartments were tested in selected buildings. These
approaches included collecting organics and an expanded recyclables stream, door-to-door
visits by trained community group staff, use of resident recycling stewards, and door-to-door
collection.
Diversion rates in the apartment buildings tested ranged from 8 percent to 38 percent. No
particular strategy emerged as being the best way to improve the rate of recycling; however,
a common denominator for the buildings that achieved diversion rates of 20 percent or more
was that the building management and superintendent were cooperative and helpful.
This pilot demonstrated the need for an innovative approach if we are to significantly
increase diversion from apartments. The Mixed Waste Recycling and Organics Processing
Facility, which is scheduled to be operational by the Summer/Fall 2000, is designed to
process a mixed waste stream, a source separated organics stream and the wet stream of a
wet/dry system. The material for the mixed waste test will be sourced from apartment
buildings. The test will occur in conjunction with the existing Blue Box program. Thus, the
mixed waste will be made up of items that end up in the garbage after recycling, including
recyclable material that is not put into the Blue Box. Participants will be setting out
recyclables and waste. Only the waste portion will be collected for processing at the Mixed
Waste Recycling and Organics Processing Facility. The Blue Box materials will be collected
as usual and delivered to a Material Recovery Facility (MRF) for processing.
We are also currently undertaking a six-month pilot project to test fully commingled Blue
Bag recycling systems in two apartment buildings in the Etobicoke Community.
(2) Maximum Diversion from a Curbside Route
This pilot involved weekly food waste collection and expanded blue box collection from
approximately 700 homes in Etobicoke. The pilot provided evidence that single family
households will separate at least 56 percent of their recyclables and organics for separate
collection, and rates as high as 70 percent are not unrealistic. Composting of the kitchen
organics proved problematic during the pilot because of difficulties encountered by the
processing facility in handling material in plastic bags.
Effective organics composting is critical if we are to significantly increase diversion levels.
Source separated organics will be collected from an area of single family households and
processed at the new Mixed Waste Recycling and Organics Processing Facility. This will
assist us in determining whether a city wide three-stream system, which involves residents
setting out their separated recyclables, organic material and remaining waste is the preferred
method.
(3) Curbside Collection of Textiles
In the Spring and Fall of 1996, residents of Etobicoke were provided with curbside collection
of textiles on designated days by Goodwill and Salvation Army. Recovery was lower than
anticipated due to scavenging at the curb and for-profit companies running collection
programs during the same time. The collections did not prove cost effective for Salvation
Army and Goodwill to continue curbside collections.
Subsequently, we continued discussions with Goodwill and Salvation Army to explore
alternative strategies for the recovery of reusable textiles. As a result, used clothing depots
have been set up and are currently operating at 16 City-owned community centres. Used
clothing is also accepted at Environment Days.
(4) Intensive Household Hazardous Waste Promotion and Collection
This pilot demonstrated that an advertising and outreach program, such as door-to-door
advertising, would significantly increase the capture of household hazardous waste at
Environment Days. Environment Days are currently promoted through newspaper
advertisements, radio public service announcements, Toronto's Internet site, telephone
hotlines, in Waste Watch, our newsletter that is delivered to all households in Toronto, and
through Councillor newsletters.
(5) Backyard Composter Distribution
Approximately 2200 backyard composters accompanied by door-to-door education and
promotion were distributed for free in three different neighbourhoods. This free distribution
almost doubled the number of homes in the selected areas that had a backyard composter.
A general attitude survey showed that the majority of residents are willing to pay some
money to obtain a composter. Composters continue to be distributed at a subsidized rate of
$15.00 per bin through Environment Days, truckload sales and courier delivery (an extra
charge of $5.00 applies if delivered by courier). To date, we have distributed over 150,000
composters at a subsidized rate through our Backyard Composting program.
(6) Multi-Residential Composter Distribution
Twenty multi-unit bins were distributed free to various locations such as community gardens,
multi-residential housing and residential schools. The pilot found that the estimated annual
diversion for a multi-bin composter is 1.5 to 2 tonnes. Community composting sites are
efficient at diverting organics from landfill, and we are continuing to distribute multi-bin
units to multi-residential complexes and not-for-profit organizations at a subsidized rate of
$230.00 for a 3-bin unit and $305.00 for a 4-bin unit. To date, over 100 community
composting bins have been distributed.
(7)(8) Residential and Commercial Organics Waste Collection
These pilots involved the curbside collection of food waste from 1350 households, two green
grocers and two restaurants. An average of 0.9 kilograms of food waste was collected per
household on a weekly basis. Participation by the restaurants and green grocers was very
low. Barriers such as lack of storage space and willingness of merchants to take the time to
separate organics from their regular garbage must be overcome before a viable commercial
organics collection system was implemented.
The organics from both pilots were successfully composted at an in-vessel facility at the
Ontario Science Centre, which was able to handle the small quantities. However, large
composting plants, such as the Mixed Waste Recycling and Organics Processing Facility,
will be required if we are to maximize organics diversion. Source separated organics waste
will be collected separately from some single family households and commercial locations
and composted at this Facility. We are also currently assessing the feasibility of a pilot for
the collection of organics waste from businesses in the Don River area.
(9) Residential Diaper Collection
Residents in a selected area were provided with curbside collection of diapers. While it
appeared that the majority of households that generate diapers did participate in the pilot, the
majority of residents responding to our survey stated that they would not be willing to have
the cost of recycling diapers added to waste management costs on their tax bills. We are not
planning on implementing the curbside collection of diapers in the foreseeable future. In
fact, we had to close our diaper depots because Knowaste, the only recycler of diapers,
discontinued accepting diapers from municipal programs.
(10) Kensington Vermicomposting Pilot
Food waste from one produce merchant and two coffee shops were composted in a
vermicomposter located in the area. The scale of the pilot was not large enough to determine
the economic feasibility of large-scale vermicomposting for the Kensington Market area.
Waste audits conducted during the pilot indicated that if all the food waste and recyclable
materials were diverted in Kensington Market, a diversion rate of over 80 percent could
possibly be achieved. As mentioned earlier, source separated organics from some
commercial establishments that generate high concentrations of organics waste will be
collected separately and composted at the Mixed Waste Recycling and Organics Processing
Facility. However, we have no immediate plans to site large community composting units
in commercial areas.
(11) Commercial Wet Waste Collection
This pilot involved the collection of organic waste from green grocers in the Dundas/Spadina
and Kensington Market areas without modifying existing set-out practices. The waste in
these areas is very high in organics and collection crews determined which wastes were
organic and picked them out and left behind the non-organic materials for a second truck to
pick up as waste. Approximately 80 tonnes of organic material were collected over a one-month period and taken to Peel Region's Herhof Biocell composting system. The material
was successfully composted and the finished compost met all the Ministry of Environment
quality guidelines. This method of collection which entails collection crews separating waste
at the curb in high organics generation areas, as opposed to generators separating their waste
prior to set-out, would require further study to determine the effect on collection costs.
(12) Kraft Bag Leaf and Yard Waste Collection
Approximately 30,000 kraft leaf and yard waste bags were delivered to 1500 households in
order to test the collection and composting of leaf and yard waste in kraft paper bags instead
of plastic bags. The pilot demonstrated that kraft leaf and yard waste bags were acceptable
to both residents and collection crews. We are currently investigating the ramifications of
moving to a policy of mandating kraft paper bags instead of plastic. This would significantly
improve the quality of our finished compost. In our most recent issue of Waste Watch, the
Fall 1999 edition, we encouraged residents to use kraft bags specially designed for leaf and
yard waste since, unlike plastic, they compost along with the leaf and yard waste, leaving no
contaminants in the compost and no material to be landfilled.
(13) Waste Watcher Volunteer Program
During this pilot, 27 Waste Watcher volunteers were trained in the 3Rs by the Department
and then visited a total of 41 schools reaching an audience of 4,300 students primarily grade
three students. The presentations given to the students by the volunteers were interactive and
emphasized the 3Rs. The teachers who evaluated the pilot were extremely positive about the
program.
The Waste Watcher Volunteer Program is still ongoing and to date over 200 volunteers have
participated in the program. These volunteers have visited over 200 schools and participated
in environmental fairs, 3Rs projects, litterless lunch sessions, school waste audits and
environmental clubs. Over 2,000 English as a Second Language (ESL) students have also
received 3Rs presentations. Waste Watchers have also been involved in promoting the 3Rs
through community centres, condominiums, apartment recycling projects, Environment Days
and Earth Day celebrations.
The Waste Watcher Volunteer Program has been recognized by Environment Canada for its
promotion of healthy communities and environmental citizenship, and in 1997 received the
Outstanding Waste Minimization Promotion Award from the Recycling Council of Ontario.
Conclusions:
The pilot projects provided valuable information, which is assisting the Department in the
development of 3Rs strategies and programs for Toronto. Some of the pilots such as the Waste
Watcher Volunteer Program and the recovery of used clothing have become ongoing initiatives. If
the City is to accomplish its goal of 50 percent waste diversion by 2006, increased recovery of
materials, particularly organics, will be required. A number of the pilots focused on the organics
stream and have led to similar, but larger-scale, pilots which will be implemented in conjunction
with the Mixed Waste Recycling and Organics Processing Facility. These further pilots will be
instrumental in enabling us to determine the preferred waste management system for the City of
Toronto.
Contact:
Tim Michael
Manager, Waste Diversion
Solid Waste Management Services
Works and Emergency Services
Metro Hall, 19th Floor
Phone: 392-8506
Fax: 392-4754
E-mail: tim_michael@toronto.ca
Angelos Bacopoulos
General Manager
Solid Waste Management Services
Barry H. Gutteridge
Commissioner, Works and Emergency Services
TM/ag/swm - 3RsPilot.doc
