Household Hazardous Waste

The Works Committee recommends the adoption of the following report (December 31, 1999) from the Commissioner of Works and Emergency Services:

Purpose:

To respond to a request from Council to report on options for a more aggressive program to collect household hazardous waste.

Financial Implications and Impact Statement:

There are no financial implications arising from this report. The recommended program would only be implemented if the Waste Diversion Organization committed to fully fund the program.

Recommendations:

It is recommended that

(1) the Waste Diversion Organization be requested to commit $340,000.00 to the City of Toronto by March 10, 2000, to cover the estimated cost of implementing an intensive promotional campaign encouraging residents to bring their household hazardous waste to the City's year 2000 Environment Days; the $340,000.00 being comprised of $100,000.00 for promotion and $240,000.00 for the collection, recycling and disposal of the increased quantity of household hazardous waste projected to be recovered; and

(2) subject to a funding commitment of $340,000.00 from the Waste Diversion Organization by March 10, 2000, the Department implement an intensive promotional campaign aimed at encouraging residents to bring their household hazardous waste to the City's year 2000 Environment Days.

Background:

At its meeting of September 28, 29 and 30, 1999, Council requested the Commissioner of Works and Emergency Services to submit a report to Council, through the Works Committee, on options for a more aggressive program to collect household hazardous waste, including batteries.

Comments:

Toronto's household hazardous waste (HHW) program currently consists of seven permanent depots, a home pick-up service called the Toxics Taxi, and collection through Environment Days. In 1998, the program recovered 1,268 tonnes of HHW at a cost of $1,236,000.00. Materials recovered through the program include solvents, cleaners, paints, stains, fertilizers, insecticides, pool chemicals, gas cyclinders, batteries and other hazardous products no longer needed by residents. In 1998, approximately 78 percent of the HHW collected was reused or recycled, and the remaining 22 percent was sent to a secure landfill or incinerator for proper disposal.

Options that could be considered to increase the quantity of HHW (including batteries) recovered in the City include the following:

(1) collection from households;

(2) additional HHW collection days/depots; and

(3) intensive promotion.

Collection from Households:

The Toxics Taxi could be expanded or a variation of this program could be implemented to collect HHW from more residents. More Toxics Taxis could be added to the current program, which consists of one vehicle. The Toxics Taxi program requires residents to phone in to arrange a pick-up at a future date. A variation to this program would be for Toxics Taxis to drive through neighbourhoods on designated days. Each neighbourhood would receive one collection per year. Residents would be notified in advance of their neighbourhood's designated collection day, e.g., through collection calendars. As the Toxics Taxi travelled through the neighbourhood, it could ring a bell similar to sharpening services or ice cream vendors to notify residents that it is on their street. Residents would then bring out their HHW and hand it to the driver.

It is estimated that we could recover an additional 1,000 tonnes by expanding the Toxics Taxi program. Each additional Toxics Taxi is projected to recover 100 tonnes of HHW at a cost of approximately $200,000.00 annually ($2,000.00 per tonne) including vehicle costs and HHW recycling and disposal costs. It is projected that ten additional Toxics Taxis would be required at a total approximate cost of $2,000,000.00 to recover an additional 1000 tonnes of HHW annually either through the current call-in system or the one collection per year variation. It should be noted that the Toxics Taxi service, which began in 1989, was expanded in 1990 to include two vehicles, then reduced to one vehicle in 1992 due to budget restraints.

For a Toxics Taxi program, residents must be at home during the pick-up. We do not recommend a curbside program, like the Blue Box program, for HHW since the HHW sitting at the curb unattended could cause a potential danger to children and others, or pose an environmental risk if containers of HHW began leaking at the curb into sewers.

Additional HHW Collection Days/Depots:

Special "HHW Collection Days" could be provided throughout the year, in addition to Environment Days. It is estimated that a special HHW Collection Day would recover 6.5 tonnes of material at a cost, including recycling and disposal, of $5,400.00. Therefore, if for example we were to provide a special collection day on each Saturday throughout the year, we would recover an additional 338 tonnes of HHW at a cost of $280,000.00 annually ($830.00 per tonne).

Currently, the seven depots are open Wednesdays from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. and Saturdays from 7:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Extending the hours of the depots to operate Monday to Saturday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. would increase the depots' availability to residents. Assuming recovery levels at the depots increased by approximately 50 percent as a result of the extended hours, an additional 500 tonnes of HHW would be recovered at a cost of approximately $450,000.00 annually ($900.00 per tonne).

Additional depots beyond the seven that are currently operating could also be considered. It is estimated that each additional depot operating under existing hours would recover approximately 100 tonnes at a cost, including recycling and disposal, of $97,000.00 annually ($970.00 per tonne). Assuming five additional depots were located throughout the City, an additional 500 tonnes could be recovered at a total cost of $485,000.00 annually.

Batteries could also be collected separately through bins installed in various locations such as the battery bin currently at City Hall. As mentioned in the report before your Committee on September 28, 1999, we are monitoring the City Hall battery bin pilot and will report further at the end of the one-year pilot, which will be in June 2000.

Intensive Promotion:

In 1996, two wards were selected as pilot areas to assess the impact of promotion on the recovery of HHW at Environment Days. Intensive promotion aimed at the collection of HHW at the two Environment Days included door-to-door advertising, mobile signs and fliers placed in libraries and community centres. The quantity of HHW recovered at the two targeted Environment Days increased by 200 percent compared to the previous year. Based on this limited pilot, it is estimated that an intensive promotional campaign for all 28 Environment Days would increase recovery by 420 tonnes at an additional cost of $340,000.00 annually ($810.00 per tonne). This is comprised of $100,000.00 for promotion and $240,000.00 for the handling, recycling and disposal of the increased quantity of HHW that would be recovered.

Summary of Options:

The following table summarizes the estimated recovery and costs of each of the various options:

It has been assumed that the above options would supplement our current HHW program, and therefore the tonnes and costs identified on the table would be over and above the current 1,268 tonnes recovered annually at a cost of $1,236,000.00. All cost figures include amortized capital and operating costs to recycle and dispose of the collected HHW.

Implementation of some of the aforementioned programs could significantly increase recovery of HHW; however, they would be costly to operate and have a significant impact on our operating budget. Product stewardship initiatives by the household hazardous products industry are required to make implementation of such programs feasible. Product stewardship initiatives could be in the form of actual recovery programs operated by industry or through industry funding to municipalities to handle HHW.

One example of an industry-funded program is the Canadian Household Battery Association's (CHBA) recovery program for rechargeable nickel-cadmium batteries (e.g., cellular and cordless phone batteries). CHBA has set up battery collection boxes at many retail outlets and is responsible for collecting and recycling the used batteries. Industry operated programs similar to this could be implemented for other types of HHW, although provincial legislation would likely be required to mandate such initiatives.

In terms of industry funding to municipalities, a key objective of the recently formed Waste Diversion Organization (WDO) is to develop long-term sustainable funding for waste diversion programs including HHW. The Association of Municipalities of Ontario has four members on the WDO, including a representative from the City of Toronto, and we assume that these members will be lobbying strongly for significant long-term funding to municipalities for waste diversion programs including HHW collection.

In the interim, the WDO has allocated $1 million province-wide for municipalities to set up HHW depots in 2000. We recommend that the WDO commit a portion of these funds to Toronto for an expanded HHW collection program not necessarily limited to setting up depots. Based on our review of the various options identified in this report, an intensive promotional campaign to recover HHW at Environment Days is the lowest cost per tonne option in the year 2000. Therefore, we are specifically recommending that the WDO be requested to commit $340,000.00 to the City by March 10, 2000, to cover the estimated cost of implementing an intensive promotional campaign aimed at encouraging residents to bring their HHW to the City's year 2000 Environment Days. We have set a March 10, 2000 deadline since Environment Days generally begin during the second week of April and we would require at least one month's lead time to prepare and implement the promotional campaign, e.g., design of advertisements, printing and door-to-door distribution of flyers, etc. Should we not receive a commitment from the WDO by March 10, 2000, we will report further to your Committee.

Conclusions:

Toronto's HHW program, which includes seven permanent depots, a Toxics Taxi, and collection through Environment Days, provides residents of the City various options to discard their HHW and ensure its reuse, recycling or proper disposal. Other options such as increased collection from households, additional HHW collection days and depots, and intensive promotion of Environment Days could be implemented to increase the quantity of HHW recovered. However, these programs would be costly and have a significant impact on our operating budget. The household hazardous products industry should implement such recovery programs or long-term funding should be provided by the WDO so that we may implement and operate these enhanced programs. The WDO has allocated $1 million province-wide for municipalities to set up HHW depots in 2000. A funding commitment of $340,000.00 to the City from the WDO by March 10, 2000, for an intensive promotional campaign to recover HHW at Environment Days would enable us to enhance our program and recover an additional estimated 420 tonnes of HHW in 2000.

Contact:

Tim Michael, Manager, Waste Diversion

Solid Waste Management Services

Works and Emergency Services

Metro Hall, 19^th Floor

Phone: 392-8506; Fax: 392-4754

E-mail: tim_michael@toronto.ca