Solid Waste & Recycling February March 2012 by Annex Business Media

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Solid Waste & Recycling Canada’s magazine on collection, hauling, processing and disposal February/March 2012

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RECYCLING STAR 3Rs Certification is In the House! — page 8

Space-Saving Landfill Daily Cover — page 30

Energy creation. Recycling programs. Closed-loop solutions. All to keep your business moving forward.

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Solid Waste & Recycling

CONTENTS February/March 2012 Volume 17, Number 1

Canada’s magazine on collection, hauling, processing & disposal

COVER STORY

RECYCLING CERTIFICATION

8 Cover art by Charles Jaffe

Organizations want to do the right thing and divert more waste from disposal, but would like their achievements verified. The Recycling Council of Ontario’s (RCO) new recycling certification program allows these organizations to demonstrate their waste diversion success! by David Hanson

FEATURES

CLEANTECH

MRF EQUIPMENT: OPTICAL SORTATION Optical sorters from Van Dyke Baler by Guy Crittenden

LANDFILL TECHNOLOGY: DAILY COVER The Enviro Cover System, improved method for ADCs. by Mark Cadwallader 30

DEPARTMENTS Editorial

Up Front

Recycling Products

OWMA Report

Organic Matters

Waste Business

Regulation Roundup

Ad Index

Blog

WM’s new large MRF, page 12.

WASTE-TO-ENERGY: MOBILE DESTRUCTION Eco Waste Solutions (EWS) mobile incinerators. by Jean Lucas 19 TRANSPORTATION TECHNOLOGY: WASTE MANAGEMENT New Rotopress trucks and CNG fuel at WM. by Wes Muir

NEXT EDITION Bonus Distribution: Waste Expo, Las Vegas, Nevada SWANA’s 6th Canadian Waste Symposium, Niagara Falls, Ontario Editorial: Industry survey results. Two-stream recycling. Landfill gas-to-energy. Baler shredders & conveyors. Space closing: March 21 Artwork required: March 26

Cool organics bin, page 25.

Alternate daily cover, page 30.

February/March 2012 www.solidwastemag.com 3

EDITORIAL

by Guy Crittenden “The great thing about this report is that its recommendations are grounded in real-world observation.”

We Can Do This!

n January, a report entitled Closing the quality materials. Best practices include investments in state-of-the-art sorting techLoop: Road Map for Effective Material nology (e.g., optical sorters at MRFs) and Value Recovery was published by Greenclear, nationally-coordinated waste policies, Blue, a nonprofit consultancy specializing including extended producer responsibility in sustainability issues. The research was (EPR) legislation. Ongoing public educafunded primarily through a grant from the tion campaigns need to encourage particiCalifornia Department of Resources Repation in recycling and composting, and the cycling and Recovery (known as CalRereport suggests “hub and spoke” regional cycle) and GreenBlue’s Sustainable Packrecycling in rural areas. aging Coalition. While the Road Map’s insights and recommendations are directed The great thing about this report is that its recommendations are grounded in realspecifically toward the State of California, world observation, and most of its suggesthey should be of significant interest and tions are happening to some extent anyway. utility to any jurisdiction seeking to divert The most challenging recommendations for greater amounts of waste from disposal. free-enterprise North America will be greater The 93-page Road Map provides a dehomogenization of packaging materials and tailed systems analysis of international national coordination of programs. (Hopepackaging recovery systems, including successful collection, sorting, and reprocessing Glass recycling stations built into the ground in Antwerp. With 93 per fully our federal government and the CCME technologies and infrastructures, as well as cent recycling, Belgium has the highest waste diversion rate in Europe. will envision a greater role in this regard.) the waste management policies that support The Road Map asks policymakers to or limit recycling. This report focuses on material recovery in several EU start by determining the system’s goal: recovery of materials, quality of nations — namely, Belgium, Germany, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, materials, environmental benefit, diversion from landfill, targets, deAustria and the Netherlands — as well as Australia and Ontario, Canada. velopment of local secondary markets, and so on. Underlying policies A series of “snapshots” are presented of advanced recycling systems and must be coordinated and not work against each other, creating conflictbest practices that could improve recovery in the United States and Caning incentives. ada. (Most of the report is focused on urban areas, but a section on rural A sustainable financing model is needed to alleviate the financial settings is included). I was only sorry GreenBlue didn’t include British burden on local governments. Of the materials collected and collection Columbia and Nova Scotia in its research, as I think those provinces have method across a state or country are standardized, collection and sorting an awesome story to tell. infrastructure can also be standardized, creating a more efficient system. Each section is interesting, but Belgium stands out as the packaging The Road Map advocates collection and recycling only of the materials waste-diversion leader with some jaw-dropping numbers. In 2008, total rethat make sense economically. covery stood at 96.6 per cent, with 93 per cent recycling and only 2.6 per “Apart from recycling,” the report states, “supplemental waste mancent of packaging sent for waste-to-energy. The breakdown of each material agement options allow for system optimization. Look to advances being shows Belgium far exceeding the EU Waste Directive targets: paper (89%), made in anaerobic digestion and industrial composting to find beneficial glass (100%), plastic (39%), and aluminum/steel (94%). And Belgium end-of-life options for food waste and compostable packaging. Reachieves this without a deposit-refund system for used beverage containers! evaluate the use of waste-to-energy technologies for materials that are It’s clear from the report’s summary of circumstances in the EU that not economically recyclable and for which landfill is currently the only some of the EU’s “top down” approach couldn’t easily be adapted in Canoption.” (For more on advances is mechanical/biological treatment ada and the United States where waste management is more of a state/ [MBT] in Europe, see the Blog column on page 34.) province concern than a federal one. And yet, the report looks at jurisdicThe collection of better data is recommended to better assess and tions that are not unlike California in terms of geographical size and GDP, enforce recycling targets. “A good recovery label can help,” the authors the implication being that this is “mission possible.” The report seems to note. Interestingly, the Recycling Council of Ontario (RCO) has just say, “Hey, we could actually do this!” — a welcome message these days introduced a recycling certification program for organizations just like when competing strategies confuse and sometimes stymie us. this. (See the Cover Story, page 8.) Summarizing successes within various jurisdictions, GreenBlue idenThe authors conclude that there’s no one-size-fits-all recovery system tifies emerging best practices that could be adopted in most North Amerand that there are many ways of achieving success in packaging recovery. ican states and provinces. Recommendations include a harmonized sys“The vision of this document is a harmonized, efficient, cost-wise tems approach for all packaging materials, formats, and end-of-life system that effectively recovers the value of all packaging materials… It options. In other words, there’s too much needless variety of difficult-towill not happen overnight and it will certainly not be perfect, but that recycle packaging on the market. The report advocates source separation, vision can still guide our discussions, policy-making, and investments in suggesting four- or five-bin collection systems to yield the cleanest, highmaking better use of our natural resources.” Guy Crittenden is editor of this magazine. Contact Guy at gcrittenden@solidwastemag.com 4 www.solidwastemag.com February/March 2012

Solid Waste & Recycling

UPFRONT

Canada’s magazine on collection, hauling, processing & disposal

Guy Crittenden Editor gcrittenden@solidwastemag .com Brad O’Brien Publisher bobrien@solidwastemag .com Jamie Ross Account Manager jross@solidwastemag .com Kim Collins Market Production Anita Madden Circulation Manager Carol Bell-Lenoury Mgr EcoLog Group Bruce Creighton President Business Information Group Contributing Editors Michael Cant, Rosalind Cooper, Maria Kelleher, Clarissa Morawski, Usman Valiante, Paul van der Werf, Award-winning magazine Solid Waste & Recycling magazine is published six times a year by EcoLog Information Resources Group, a division of BIG Magazines LP, a div. of Glacier BIG Holdings Company Ltd., a leading Canadian businessto-business information services company that also publishes HazMat Management magazine and other information products. The magazine is printed in Canada. Solid Waste & Recycling provides strategic information and perspectives on all aspects of Canadian solid waste collection, hauling, processing and disposal to waste managers,haulers, recycling coordinators, landfill and compost facility operators and other waste industry professionals. Subscription Rates: Canada – $51.95 (add applicable taxes) per year, $82.95 (add applicable taxes) for 2 years, single copy $10.00. USA and all other foreign – $82.95 per year US single copy US10.00 Canadian Publications Mail Product Sales Agreement No. 40069240 Information contained in this publication has been compiled from sources believed to be reliable, thus Solid Waste & Recycling cannot be responsible for the absolute correctness or sufficiency of articles or editorial contained herein. Articles in this magazine are intended to convey information rather than give legal or other professional advice. Reprint and list rental services are arranged through the Publisher at (416) 510-6798. Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to: Circulation Department, Solid Waste & Recycling 12 Concorde Pl, Ste 800, Toronto, ON M3C 4J2 From time to time we make our subscription list available to select companies and organizations whose product or service may interest you. If you do not wish your contact information to be made available, please contact us via one of the following methods: Phone: 1-800-268-7742 Fax: 416-510-5148 E-Mail: jhunter@businessinformationgroup.ca Mail to: Privacy Officer Business Information Group 80 Valleybrook Drive Toronto, ON M3B 2S9 We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Periodical Fund (CPF) for our publishing activities. © 2011 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced without prior consent. Print edition: ISSN-1483-7714

Online edition: ISSN-1923-3388

Aggregates recycling advocacy group

liminating large piles of concrete and asphalt removed from demolition sites and road reconstruction projects by re-using these materials is the immediate focus of a new Ontario organization. At a recent forum involving municipal engineers, aggregate users/producers and environmental groups, Aggregate Recycling Ontario (ARO) launched its campaign to encourage the use of more recycled aggregate in infrastructure projects. Nearly three million tonnes of recyclable concrete, asphalt and aggregate that have been recovered from GTA construction sites now sit in piles to be processed. Although the Ontario government, through the Ministry of Transportation, and some municipalities have been leaders in using recycled aggregates for years, many municipalities’ specifications do not allow recycled aggregates to be used in construction projects. Processed properly, these aggregates meet all performance requirements and provide a suitable alternative to primary aggregates which come directly from pits and quarries. Member companies would like to expand opportunities for recycling aggregates by permitting more recycling facilities, especially in pits and quarries where companies can better utilize mined primary aggregates by mixing them with re-processed material. As well, ARO plans to engage in research and trial projects to develop new applications for recycled aggregates. Visit www.aggregaterecyclingontario.ca

CP Group acquires Advanced MRF

he CP Group, San Diego, CA, has announced the acquisition of Advanced MRF, also in San Diego. Advanced MRF is the fourth company CP Manufacturing has acquired since 2003. The CP Group consists of CP Manufacturing, Krause Manufacturing, MSS Optical Sorters, IPS Balers, and Advanced MRF. Advanced MRF, a Siemens Solution Partner, is an expert in optimizing Material Recovery Facilities through system automation, providing highly developed industrial automation and control solutions. Richard Price, Advanced MRF General Manager, is bringing his 25 years of experience to the CP Group. The CP Group engineers, manufactures and installs material recovery facilities for residential recycling, municipal solid waste, waste to energy, construction and demolition, e-waste and green waste. CP realized that the addition of a company experienced in industrial automation was the way to bring together its already powerful family of industryproven companies. Visit www.cpmfg.com

The Forest Stewardship Council® logo signifies that this magazine is printed on paper from responsibly managed forests. “To earn FSC® certification and the right to use the FSC label, an organization must first adapt its management and operations to conform to all applicable FSC requirements.” For more information, visit www.fsc.org

6 www.solidwastemag.com February/March 2012

UPFRONT

Trash Tycoon game teaches upcycling

erraCycle, a leader in the collection and reuse of non-recyclable post-consumer waste, has announced the launch of Trash Tycoon, the first social upcycling game for Facebook. The company is on board as a strategic sponsor of the fun, environmentally-conscious game created by Guerillapps, a social gaming startup. In the game, players take the role of recycling entrepreneurs responsible for cleaning up a trash-strewn city; players earn game money and points by collecting trash and “upcycling” it in various ways to create exciting new products. Players can even manage a worm farm and control their “worm families” in a mini-game within Trash Tycoon. The game is tied to TerraCycle’s Brigade programs, which are free recycling fundraisers. In Canada, TerraCycle partners with Canadian leadings brands like Kool-Aid, Mr Christie’s, Nestle, L’Oreal/Garnier, Danone, Glad, Sally’s, to sponsor recycling programs to collect non-recyclable waste. The company says the programs are a great way to earn money for charities, schools, and non-profits through the collection of hard-to-recycle items. Visit www.trashtycoon.com andwww.terracycle.ca/brigades

OVWRC’s 10 Year Anniversary

Blue box optimization study

ccording to the Ontario Waste Management Association (OWMA), 2011 saw the completion of two important blue box processing studies. Waste Diversion Ontario (WDO) completed a study of all publicly owned material recovery facilities (MRFs) while the CIF completed an optimization study of Eastern Ontario MRFs. In 2012 a new blue box optimization study follows up on this work in an effort to seek an optimal system on a “waste shed basis” not confined by municipal boundaries. Ultimately, the system is expected to incorporate more transfer stations, larger regional MRFs, efficiencies in transportation logistics and a mix of public and private sector facilities. Following a public RFP process, WDO selected StewardEdge Inc. and Resource Recycling Systems (RRS) to complete this study. It will be developed during the winter months, with a final report due in the spring.

Bottle to bottle PET recycling plant

anuary 2, 2012 marked 10 year anniversary of the Ottawa Valley Waste Recovery Centre (OVWRC). Implementing an electronics recycling program and installing landfill leachate treatment and landfill gas collection systems have been just a few of the successes the Centre has accomplished since 2002. In addition to other special events, a community celebration will be held September 29, 2012 at the OVWRC.

ce River Springs of Feversham, Ontario has announced plans to proceed with its own PET recycling plant to produce a 100 per cent recycled PET water bottle. Says Jamie Gott, president and co-founder of the company, “Our goal is to eliminate our dependency upon foreign virgin PET resin by self-manufacturing recycled resin (RPET) from baled post consumer plastic purchased from municipal recycling centres.” Ice River Springs is a bottled water company with manufacturing plants in eight locations throughout Canada and the US. This will be the first food-grade RPET manufacturing facility in Canada and Ice River will be the first bottled water company in North America to self-manufacture its resin. The project involves securing an industrial building in Shelburne, Ontario and the purchase of specialized plastics processing equipment from Starlinger and AMUT.

Visit www.ovwrc.com

Visit www.iceriversprings.ca

Recently, five OVWRC staff were recognized for 10 years of service. From left to right are: Elizabeth Graham, Communications Officer; Chris Hoffman, Special Waste Technician; Alan Schutt, Hauling Operator; Mary Ryan, Diversion Line Controller; and Laurie Benjamin, Administrative Clerk. Sue McCrae, General Manager presents the staff with their 10 Year Service pin.

February/March 2012 www.solidwastemag.com 7

Certifying Waste Diversion Innovative program aims to improve recycling and waste diversion Plastic bags gathered for bulk collection at a commercial facility.

8 www.solidwastemag.com February/March 2012

COVER STORY by David Hanson & Jessica Wilkinson "A key resource that will be of significant value is the RCO’s Registered Waste Auditor program."

or decades, government agencies have relied on recycling programs in the residential sector to drive their waste diversion results. In fact, very few Canadian jurisdictions have regulations in place that mandate recycling outside of the home. As a result, diversion rates in the industrial, commercial and institutional (IC&I) sector are low and there is little reliable information to help policymakers make informed policy and program decisions. It’s estimated that more than 65 per cent of the solid waste disposed in Ontario (for example) each year is generated by the province’s IC&I sector. Like many other jurisdictions, the province currently relies on a voluntary survey conducted biannually by Statistics Canada to gain knowledge of IC&I waste compositions and quantify any diversion results. Despite this, there’s growing interest within the IC&I sector to do more. Many organizations want the recognition of being perceived as

an environmental leader; others are coming to understand there may be bottom-line benefits to knowing the wastes they generate and in maximizing the opportunity to eliminate them. To address this issue, the Recycling Council of Ontario (RCO) has introduced the 3RCertified waste diversion certification initiative. This innovative program, which opened for applications in October of 2011, is designed to offer support and recognition to businesses, institutions and industries that want to be recognized by as waste reduction leaders and have made a commitment to improve. The benefits of the program include: • Meaningful and credible public recognition; organizations will be proud to display the 3RCertified logo; • Access to a sophisticated database to track waste reduction and diversion performance;

Recycling for Small and Medium Businesses The Recycle People Corp. The state of recycling in the small business sector would normally be a deterrent for an aspiring entrepreneur — but not for Farid Parhami. Armed with an unshakable faith in the benefits of 3Rs, and his business degrees, Farid set out to help turn the tide for recycling in small and medium business communities. On February 24, 2009 Farid registered his fledgling business, The Recycle People Corp. and plunged right in. Observations from earlier employment at Best Buy confirmed that the 50-odd employees tossed every plastic bottle, can and all the paper into the garbage. Extrapolating those figures made the scope of the problem and the opportunity very clear. But how to make a dent in that entrenched behavior? The road ahead would prove to be a tough one but persistence paid off and slowly, The Recycle People grew their business one client at a time. The Recycle People’s first official client, Intelliware, came from a random inquiry across the desk of the Recycling Council of Ontario. Not long after, a visit to Catholic Community Services of York Region (CCSYR) proved timely as the agency was in the process of deciding what to do with their recyclable materials. A meeting with Doug Loweth, who runs the counseling and group services, resulted in an agreement for flexible service provision at reasonable rates. “Farid has been very easy to work with and understands that we have people in counseling sessions, and in confidential meetings all the time, including when he is on site,” says Loweth. “Access to the usual rooms is not always possible. Farid works around this in an accommodating way. To provide a service in our environment, where one can have a lot of access, is not something that just anybody can do. Farid has earned our trust.” One of the next doors that Farid knocked on was that of Mayor Frank Scarpitti of Markham, who recognized the worth of this new enterprise and put Farid under the wing of Claudia Marsales, Manager of Markham’s Waste Management Department. A good reference from CCSYR and things started to percolate.

The Recycle People Corp. Founder Farid Parhami.

On December 9, 2011, The Recycle People cut the ribbon on their new 2,500 square foot space in Markham as they launched a partnership with Shred City, a provider of secure, confidential paper shredding. “The affordability of this new service will be an enhancement for our current clients and a great feature to attract new ones,” said Farid, as he and Mayor Scarpitti cut the ribbon. A second initiative for pharmacies will encourage the recycling of “behind the counter” bulk pill bottles with the potential to recycle approximately 50 lbs. per month of No. 2 plastic from every pharmacy in the program. Leading the charge on this waste stream are: Nadia Filippetto of Bayview Village Shoppers Drug Mart, Shoppers Drug Mart, Lawrence & Kennedy and Pharmasante Remedy’s RX, Richmond Hill. For more information visit www.therecyclepeople.ca

February/March 2012 www.solidwastemag.com 9

COVER STORY

• Access to industry best practices and other performance-improvement tools and resources; and • Certified organizations will be in full compliance with Ontario’s 3Rs regulations. The central element of the 3RCertified program is the set of criteria that participating businesses and institutions are required to meet. These performance criteria touch on all aspects of the way an organization manages its solid waste — from policies and waste audits through operations, procurement of products and services, management reviews, and many other categories. The applicant organization earns a specified number of points for each criterion that it meets; certification is awarded at one of four levels based on the total number of points earned. In conjunction with 3RCertified, the RCO has developed a number of tools and resources to support IC&I organizations as they seek to manage their solid waste in a more sustainable way. A key resource that will be of significant value is the RCO’s Registered Waste Auditor program. In the past, it’s been difficult for organizations to be fully confident in the results of their waste audits. There has been no recognized Continues on page 15

Staff from the Recycling Council of Ontario conduct a waste audit.

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Focusing on Businesses and Institutions More than 60 per cent of the solid waste stream discarded in most jurisdictions is generated by the IC&I sector. The time is right to place greater emphasis on effective waste reduction and recycling programs in the key participants in the IC&I sector, including (but not limited to) the following: • Manufacturing sites • Office buildings • Stand-alone and urban retail buildings • Retail power centres and malls • Food-service establishments • Sporting and amusement venues • Schools, colleges and universities • Health-care facilities • Hotels With the RCO’s new program, a 3RCertified evaluator will schedule and conduct a visit your site to verify your organization’s performance in the area of waste reduction and diversion. The evaluation will measure your organization’s degree of conformance with a set of 28 performance-based criteria. Based on the results of the onsite evaluation, your organization may be eligible for 3RCertified status at one of the following four levels: • Associate: conformance between 60 per cent and 69.9 per cent • Partner: conformance between 70 per cent and 79.9 per cent • Advocate: conformance between 80 per cent and 89.9 per cent • Leader: conformance at 90 per cent or higher The fee for an initial applicant with one site (including the cost of the onsite evaluation) is $1,175 plus applicable taxes. Your organization will also be invoiced for any evaluator expenses incurred as part of the onsite evaluation (i.e., travel costs, parking, etc.) as necessary. The fee for a “surveillance” evaluation required to maintain 3RCertified status is $475, also with any evaluator expenses being invoiced to your organization. For organizations with more than five sites, the RCO will provide

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customized evaluation pricing based on geographic considerations and other factors. To receive a fee quotation that is customized to the requirements of your organization, please contact program manager David Hanson at david@ rco.on.ca or 416-657-2797 x8. During the evaluation visit, the RCO evaluator will be seeking to verify and confirm the information about solid waste reduction and diversion submitted by your organization during the application process. He/she will observe and gather evidence in several ways, including the following: • Interviews with staff members • Document review • Direct observation (of facilities, equipment, etc.) Prior to the onsite evaluation, your evaluator will send you an agenda so that you and your staff members will know exactly what to expect during the evaluation visit. A typical evaluation at a single-site organization typically takes approximately three hours to complete. RCO understands that your organization still needs to run normally during the course of your 3RCertified evaluation. Evaluators do their best to complete their work without disrupting the ability of your staff members to do their jobs. The goal is to minimize the impact of the evaluation on your organization’s day-to-day activities, and to ensure that your staff members find the evaluation to be a pleasant and minimally intrusive experience. One of the intended purposes of the 3RCertified program is to assemble a comprehensive and accurate statistical picture of waste diversion and reduction activity across the province. Therefore, some of the information that you submit to the RCO as part of the 3RCertified process will be retained and reported in aggregate to the Ontario Ministry of the Environment. However, no information that is identifiable and specific to your organization will ever be released to any entity outside the 3RCertified project team, including regulatory bodies. All RCO staff members, contractors and suppliers must adhere to comprehensive policies with respect to confidentiality and data security.

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COVER STORY

Go Big or Go Home! Waste Management announces investment in largest private-sector recycling facilities in Ontario, plus new C&D tool In early 2012 Waste Management (WM) announced it will build major private-sector recycling facilities in Ontario. The company will build a single-stream recycling centre in Cambridge, Ontario, that will process up to 550,000 tonnes of material a year. WM has already acquired the property and existing plant at 505 Conestoga Blvd., and will now begin a major retrofit. Scheduled to begin operations this fall, it will be the largest private-sector recycling facility in the province. The total investment is expected to be approximately $30 million. Approximately 80 local green jobs will be created at the 126,000-squate-foot plant when it becomes operational, and this employment figure could increase as recycling volumes grow over time. As well, the area economy will get a boost during the construction and operation of the centre as WM sources local suppliers and contractors wherever possible. According to the company’s news release a single-stream recycling facility eliminates the need for customers to separate recyclable materials prior to collection, since sophisticated material-handling equipment inside the plant handles the task. This makes it easier for customers to recycle. Experience has shown that collected recyclable material volumes increase an average of 20 to 30 per cent after customers switch to single-stream collection. The Cambridge plant will use advanced technology that includes magnets, screens and optical scanners to separate, sort and process a variety of materials, including residential and commercial cardboard, paper, glass, plastics and metals, as well as C&D waste materials. The plant will also handle used electronic equipment such as cell phones and computers and compact fluorescent light bulbs and batteries. (One of WM’s sustainability goals is to triple the volume of recyclable materials being processed by 2020.) WM also plans to establish Toronto’s most advanced facility for processing con-

struction and demolition waste materials. The plant will divert more than 87,000 tonnes from landfill each year. Scheduled to be in operation this fall, the plant which was acquired in late 2011 will undergo extensive upgrades. The total investment is expected to be $16 million, and 20 new full-time jobs will be created. The semi-automated single stream recycling plant will process an estimated 87,000 tonnes of C&D material in its first full year. As the facility will be equipped to sort waste materials, contractors and developers will no longer have to separate at source, and this will result in increased recovery rates. Located south of the QEW at New Toronto Street, the facility will serve western Toronto and the southern parts of Peel Region. Brad Muter, WM’s vice president for eastern Canada, noted that the site was selected “because continued strong construction activity and population growth are anticipated in Toronto.”

12 www.solidwastemag.com February/March 2012

In addition, the company has launched an online tool that will help building planners, contractors, architects and owners measure their C&D recycling, tabulate total diversion rates and provide documentation to support LEED® certification. The Diversion and Recycling Tracking tool (DART) is available across the US and Canada, operates online and is accessible 24-hours a day. At every construction site, builders have an opportunity to divert a variety of C&D materials, such as wood, rock, metal, cardboard, plastic, shingles, concrete, fiberboard and paneling. With so many substances to manage, calculating total diversion has traditionally been a time-consuming process. DART technology makes it easy to measure and improve performance. To learn more information about Waste Management visit www.wm.com or www.thinkgreen.com For more information about the DART tool, visit www.wm.com/DART

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COVER STORY

Where to Recycle Carpet? A look at Aspera Recycling In a North American floor covering market estimated at $20 and in order to meet their legislated waste diversion targets). billion, and where carpet represents $12 billion, the demand Municipal waste transfer stations can also be an active point for post-consumer carpet recycling is accelerating. In a proactive of collection. response to this need, Aspera Recycling Inc. was founded in March A sophisticated spectrometer sorting and identification 2011 by Richard White, a seasoned management specialist with process is applied followed by the separation of the various types credentials in numerous industries and the former President of of nylon (N66 and N6), nylon fluff, polypropylene, and polyester National Carpet & Flooring, a Canadian based carpet mill. (PET). All of these elements are harvested, baled and sold. The 95 per cent (6.5 billion lbs.) of all post-consumer carpet in carpet carcass (by product of phase one) is injected into phase North America currently goes to landfill, representing four per two of the process where it is further processed into two products. cent of landfill volume. Carpet is second only to baby diapers as First, Nylon U’s and Polypropylene can be sold into lower the leading single landfill volume offender. Canada represents 10 grade plastics market such as deck board lumber and outdoor Aspera Founder per cent of the overall North American carpet market and more furniture. The second product of this process is sand (calcium Richard White. locally, carpet is Ontario’s number two landfill diversion priority. carbonate) which is sold to mineral purification companies Legislatively, California was the first state to pass a progressive ban of which clean up the product and sell it back to the carpet and plastics industry. post-consumer carpet from landfill in 2010. Others jurisdictions are looking Aspera’s success is being propelled by a growing list of solid at similar bans. achievements: Synthetic carpet is primarily made of three types of plastic; nylon, 1. Launching pilot program with Home Depot in Ontario to divert all carpet polypropylene and polyester. All of these value plastics can be recovered waste from landfill for store customers. from used carpet and re-introduced back into the manufacturing stream. 2. Providing service for waste diversion to many of the major carpet mills Aspera’s business strategy is to utilize industry-leading technology to (Interface, Tandus, Kraus, Shaw). produce recycled plastics (nylon 6, nylon 66, polypropylene, polyester) and 3. Securing an exclusive Technology and Knowledge Transfer Agreement other by-products of the carpet recycling and reclamation process, and sell with InterfaceFLOR — the industry leader in carpet recycling. this output to applicable industries across North America. 4. Establishing 11 depots across Canada for waste carpet collection. How does the process work? 5. Playing a key role in the founding the Canadian Carpet Recovery Effort Carpet is collected/dropped off by flooring dealers/uninstallers and by (CCRE). partner waste haulers (in order to decrease their down-stream cost of dumping For more information visit http://asperarecycling.com

SAVE THE DATE April 22-25, 2012

Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada

14 www.solidwastemag.com February/March 2012

For more information contact: John Lackie, Symposium Co-ordinator Niagaraj.lackie@sympatico.ca Falls, Ontario, Canada email: April 22-25, 2012 phone: 705 835-3560

COVER STORY

Continued from page 10 standard methodology for performing waste audits, and virtually anyone could self-declare as a professional waste auditor. The RCO has developed a series of waste auditing principles and methodologies, and beginning in the spring of 2012, it will offer an intensive training course on how to deploy these principles and methodologies in the context of an accurate, reliable waste audit. Candidates who complete this course successfully will be eligible for the RCO’s Registered Waste Auditor designation. The RCO’s registry of professional waste auditors will make it much easier for client organizations to locate and engage a waste auditor displaying the highest standards of skill and objectivity. Another important feature that sets 3RCertified apart from many other environmental certification programs is its focus on third-party verification of claims. After an organization applies for certification, a trained RCO evaluator reviews the application and conducts a

rigorous and detailed onsite evaluation to confirm the organization’s performance. This evaluation adds a high degree of credibility and objectivity to the certification process; stakeholders can be assured that any business or institution displaying the 3RCertified brand is a legitimately high performer in the areas of solid waste reduction and diversion. “The program is built on the principles of best practices and accountability, but is flexible enough to accommodate any size or type of facility or building,” says Jo-Anne St. Godard, RCO’s Executive Director and creator of the program. “The program elements and processes are fully adaptable and could be transferred anywhere. In fact, we’re exploring opportunities to expand it to other jurisdictions in hopes it can recognized as the global standard.” 3RCertified is now open for applications. For more information (including a complete description of the evaluation criteria), please visit www.3rcertified.ca

David Hanson is Program Manager, 3RCertified Waste Diversion Certification Program, for the Recycling Council of Ontario (RCO). Contact David at david@rco.on.ca / 3rcertified@rco.on.ca Jessica Wilkinson is Technical Manager for the RCO. Contact Jessica at jessica@rco.on.ca

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RECYCLING PRODUCTS

The staff at Solid Waste & Recycling chose a few ideas from our inbox to get readers thinking about how to implement more efficient waste diversion and recycling in their businesses. New products to achieve these goals are always being introduced into the marketplace; these are but a few examples. — ed.

Use environmental packing material

Recycle your polyurethane

Polyurethanes are one of the most versatile polymers in use today: flexible foam in upholstered furniture; rigid foam as insulation in walls, roofs and appliances; thermoplastic polyurethane in medical devices and footwear; paints and coatings, adhesives, sealants and elastomers used on floors and automotive interiors. But polyurethane is a vexing material to dispose, quickly filling up transport trucks and trailers and consuming valuable landfill space. However, a solution is at hand, as Polymer Research Technologies (PRT) signed a deal last summer with Kingspan that will enable PRT to take its polyurethane recycling solution to the pilot level and, having passed all lab tests, eventually to widespread commercial implementation. The company can take 11 different kinds of polyurethane waste and Isocyanurate foams and produce a non-toxic high quality recycled product that’s a good as the virgin stuff (at considerably less cost). It has the potential to remove 1012 per cent of landfill volume, save companies money (esp. the auto industry, insulation, mattresses) and reduce the environmental burden associated oil consumption. With Kingspan on board, PRT is setting up a pilot facility in Burnaby, BC to recycle waste from Kingspan and other polyurethane manufacturers. Visit http://polyresearchtech.com

In the 1960s polystyrene packing foam (packing “peanuts”) became the primary tool for protecting delicates during shipping. But plastic foam carries a high environmental price. Unfortunately, food-based packing materials like cornstarch attract vermin and will break down during shipping. The producers of PaperNuts plan to change all that. Their unique design offers protection for fragile goods with minimal impact on the environment. PaperNuts are an efficient, loose-fill packaging material made from 100 per cent recycled paper, making them fully recyclable, biodegradable and compostable. Their unique interlocking configuration ensures PaperNuts sit tightly against the items in a package, and natural expansion during shipping makes them stronger, ensuring there is minimal product migration in the package during transit. When it’s time to dispose of them, PaperNuts can be recycled or composted. Visit www.papernuts.ca

Switch to “pooled” plastic pallets

Many companies such as food and beverage manufacturers, pharmaceutical producers and consumer goods retailers have reassessed the environmental impact of how they ship and receive products, and have adopted plastic pallets as their shipping platform. Lewis Taffer is with iGPS Company, a company that supplies plastic pallets as a shared or “pooled” resource, equipping each pallet with GPS tracking technology. Taffer says an independent lifecycle analysis conducted by Environmental Resources Management as-

16 www.solidwastemag.com February/March 2012

sessed the “cradle-to-grave” impact of each pallet type, including impacts on global warming, ozone depletion and toxicity. “According to the analysis, plastic pallets have a significantly lighter environmental impact than wood pallets on every regularlymeasured dimension,” says Taffer, “including 65-70 per cent less impact on global warming and over 90 per cent less impact on ozone layer depletion.” Plastic pallets are typically lighter than their wood counterparts, requiring less fuel for transport. Most plastic pallets are fully recyclable. If damaged, the plastic resin from a damaged pallet can be molded into new ones, making its useful life indefinite. Plastic is nonabsorptive and won’t soak up fluids. And they help conserve forests. Visit www.igps.net

Use an energy-efficient compactor

For shipping efficiency, many companies compact their waste. But are their compactors energy efficient? Wastequip, a leading manufacturer of waste handling and recycling equipment, recently introduced its new Super Energy Efficient, four-yard, self-contained compactor. The new compactor features a charge box that uses up to 65 per cent fewer kilowatts of electricity and is twice the size of traditional two-yard self-contained compactors. The energy savings comes from its large charge box that allows operators to fill the compactor with up to 24 bags of waste versus just 12 bags with a typical two-yard self-contained compactor. As a result, the compactor runs 50 per cent fewer cycles, saving energy. Additional energy savings comes from the Super “E” series motor that improves efficiency by enabling the motor to run cooler and last longer. Visit www.wastequip.com Companies that produce or distribute waste management products and equipment should send their news releases via email to Editor Guy Crittenden at gcrittenden@solidwastemag.com

MRF EQUIPMENT

Optical sorter central to advanced sorting

ecovering recyclables and preparing a conversion technology feedstock from municipal solid waste is a unique challenge. Titech optical sorters from Van Dyk Baler offer a broad range of advanced sensors to identify and sort plastics, PVC, fibre, wood, metals and glass. All Titech machines operate on the same principle; incoming material is transported by a conveyor belt through the sensor area, the information obtained is electronically processed and, depending on the sort criterion setting, the detected materials are separated from the material flow at the end of the conveyor belt by high-precision jets of pressurized air. Titech also has6/11/07 the ability to monitor Walinga VC2336 2:36 PM Page 1

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MRF EQUIPMENT

Van Dyk projects include equipping a waste-to-fuels facility that produces RDF Pellets from residential waste. The plant utilizes Titech optical sorting to recover recyclable containers from the waste stream as well to identify and remove PVC from the fuel pellets. The company has also installed systems to process municipal solid waste for the maximum recovery of recyclables and the production of an anaerobic digestion (AD) feedstock for methane capture and composting. Another project is a C&D processing plant that recovers recyclables prior to the manufacturing of refuse-derived fuel (RDF) with minimal labor.

materials on the belt and provide real-time feedback of BTU value, moisture content, chlorides and more. Van Dyk also supplies additional technologies used in advanced sorting systems, including: pre-shredders for initial coarse shredding, sizing and bag opening; trommels for fines removal, sizing and eliminating jams; starscreens to size and sort; air classification systems to separate good feedstock materials by density; eddy currents and magnets separate ferrous and non-ferrous materials; and, post grinders for finishing. For more information contact info@vandykbaler.com

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CLEANTECH: WASTE-TO-ENERGY

Mobile Waste-to-Energy Eco Waste Solutions serves mining, defense and other sectors

by Guy Crittenden

“Air emissions claims have been verified by Environment Canada’s ETV Program.”

Eco Waste Solutions’ mobile unit deployed at a remote NATO location.

co Waste Solutions (EWS) is a Canadian environmental technology that’s enjoying sales abroad — a concept often touted by the government but not always seen to play out in the real world. But this Burlington, Ontario-based company was awarded two new contracts last fall to bring point-of-need waste solutions to the mining and military sectors, on top of other contracts in North America, South America and Europe to treat biowaste, animal waste, so-called “camp waste” and more. EWS claim to fame is the production and installation of mobile waste incinerators at remote locations. The technology is best suited for places that generate waste

but where transportation logistics and related costs are prohibitive for conventional haulage and disposal. Clean-burning systems also minimize the environmental impacts of operations such as mining and are preferred to the long-term legacy of an onsite landfill. Last fall a multinational mining company operating in West Africa selected EWS to supply three ECO Model batch incinerators. This equipment will process 23 tonnes per day — all the domestic waste generated on-site. With large camps, the installation of these facilities can improve sanitation by reducing vermin and disease vectors, enhancing personnel health and safety. February/March 2012 www.solidwastemag.com 19

CLEANTECH: WASTE-TO-ENERGY

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Schematic diagram of a typical setup.

EWS also has been awarded a contract to supply its system to a foreign Department of Defense. The fully containerized mobile system has been procured as part of a readiness program for public health protection. Another off-beat waste stream for which the systems are suited is animal waste. Recent crises such as the Avian Bird Flu and H1N1 have highlighted the need for governments to react quickly to quarantine and destroy diseased animals. In these emergencies,

20 www.solidwastemag.com February/March 2012

most agencies resort to open pit burning which is inadequate for infection containment and creates air pollution. The ECO Mobile provides rapid response to the site of a disease outbreak and operates at temperatures that destroy even the more resistant prion â&#x20AC;&#x201D; the infectious agent associated with BSE (mad cow disease). The ECO Mobile is designed to international military specifications and has on-board pollution control and monitoring equipment to meet the strictest emissions standards.

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EWS containerized mobile system is designed for rapid deployment; the scalable modular incinerators can offer heat recovery in the form of hot water, steam and small scale energy from waste. The system is available as either a batch or continuous feed operation. The batch process involves the gasification of waste materials as a single batch load, without disturbance to the waste bed, and without adding more waste until the completion of the cycle. This design removes the need for constant attendance to the process, which is fully automated after loading and starting the machine. This is a starved-air, pyrolytic combustion process where oxygen levels are kept to a minimum. The minimal disturbance of the waste during the process results in a very thorough thermal conversion and very low emissions. As waste burns in the primary chamber, the gases generated enter the high temperature, richly oxygenated and turbulent conditions of the secondary chamber for cleansing. Gases are retained for a minimum of two seconds at an internal temperature of 1000°C. After the completion of the burn and cooling cycles, residual materials are removed by manual or automated means and the complete process is repeated. The continuous feed systems operate under the same design principles — pyrolytic gasification in the first stage and thermal oxidation in the second. However, unlike the batch system, waste is charged on a continuous basis to the primary chamber and ash is conveyed out of the system automatically. The continuous feed systems allow the ECO model to economically scale up to meet the need for larger capacities. Also the 24 hour operation is more conducive to energy recovery. For optimal performance an Air Pollution Control Scrubber is added to any of the models. Scrubbers are selected depending on the waste type and are designed to meet specific air regulations. They can neutralize acid gases, remove particulate matter and may also capture heavy metals and other toxic compounds not treated by combustion alone. After waste is processed the volume is reduced by over 90 per cent. What remains is a non-toxic, inert ash and non-combustible materials (primarily metals and glass). The high temperature process will ensure that any infectious material is burned away. Metals and glass remaining will be sterile, safe to handle and can be recycled. Eco Waste Solutions has subjected technology claims to this process to verify performance when processing both municipal solid waste and biomedical waste. The company’s air emissions data performance claims have been verified by Environment Canada’s ETV Program: Eco Waste Oxidizer (ETV 97005) and Bio Waste Oxidizer (ETV 00005).

Guy Crittenden is editor of this magazine. Contact Guy at gcrittenden@solidwastemag.com

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CLEANTECH: TRANSPORTATION TECHNOLOGY

by Wes Muir “WM will be constructing a CNG fuelling station at the Westbrook Road facility in Stittsville.”

New Waste Collection Technology Waste Management pilots Rotopress collection trailers, adopts natural gas fuel

n January Waste Management (WM) announced a pilot program to introduce Rotopress waste collection trailers for the first time in North America to improve the flexibility of its collection operations. The vehicles will first roll out in Houston, Texas, followed by pilot projects in San Diego, and Sacramento, California, Milwaukee, Wisconsin and Camden, New Jersey. The company anticipates the program to provide greater operational flexibility and reduce trips, fuel use, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and improved maintenance costs. Rotopress is manufactured by Faun, a German manufacturer of waste disposal Env Cat bleed ad-may2010-B.qxd

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vehicles, which has been in operation across Europe for more than eight decades. The Rotopress modular technology, combined with a decoupled tractor-trailer configuration using natural gas as its fuel source, provides a number of operational and environmental benefits to meet the challenges of a diversifying waste stream; it also reduces capital costs, exposure to rising fuel prices and emissions. Rotopress is significantly lighter than most compaction-plate vehicles and allows the vehicle to carry up to 14 tons — generally four more tons than a conventional waste collection vehicle. The decoupled tractor-trailer config-

uration allows for better management of assets as chassis and body can be replaced separately on a more effective schedule. In addition, these assets are decoupled, which allows for future, fuel-saving class 6 tractor operations, which will operate on natural gas. Compared with a rigid vehicle, a semitruck trailer has a 40 per cent smaller turning radius, making it more maneuverable, which is very desirable in residential areas with culde-sacs and parked cars and in other tight areas. In the event of a breakdown, the truck and module can be separated reducing downtime and improved utilization of trucks. The unique corkscrew design continuously moves

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waste to the front of the body, which helps prevent overloading of rear axles while keeping sufficient weight on the front axle at all times. (This makes the drive smoother and reduces wear on tires.) Maintenance costs should improve from less stress on the suspension and far fewer moving parts compared to a conventional rear loader. The Rotopress does not directly press any additional liquid out of the waste, but binds it by permanently mixing it with the dry material. This operation reduces the amount of free liquid in the system, lowering damage to the body that can be caused by corrosion and additionally reducing leakage and odors considerably. The entire Rotopress drum is soundproofed and the continuous movement of the waste eliminates noise peaks during loading. This, combined with the use of natural gas engines, will greatly reduce noise. “The Rotopress will help contribute toward our corporate sustainability goal to increase fuel efficiency by 15 percent and decrease emissions by 15 percent by 2020,” says Eric Woods, vice president, fleet and logistics at Waste Management. “Our plan is to save 350 million gallons of fuel and reduce 3.5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide by 2020.” The new vehicles build on the company’s existing fleet of more than 1,400 heavy-duty trucks fueled with natural gas.

Ottawa CNG conversion Residents of Ottawa can look forward to a cleaner and quieter city when Waste Management introduces 25 new Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) fuelled trucks to collect waste and recycling in 2012 as a result of being awarded a collection district by the city. “We’ve committed to transitioning our diesel fleet to CNG with 80 per cent of our new trucks being CNG fuelled; these 25 trucks in Ottawa are part of this initiative,” says Sherry Stevenson, municipal affairs manager for WM. Stevensen says for each truck converted to CNG, diesel fuel is reduced by an average of 8,000 gallons per year, delivering a reduction of 22 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions. WM will be constructing a CNG fuelling station at the Westbrook Road facility in Stittsville. WM operates 17 CNG fueling stations in North America with plans to have nearly 50 operational by the end of 2012. Earlier this year, Waste Management announced the conversion of its 100 truck commercial fleet in Vancouver to CNG with a fueling station at its collection facility in Coquitlam. The company has also implemented route optimization software that will reduce driving time by several million hours each year. And all truck engines are programmed to shut down automatically after idling for five minutes to save fuel and further reduce emissions.

Wes Muir is Director of Corporate Communications for Waste Management in Brampton, Ontario. Contact Wes at wmuir@wm.com

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OWMA REPORT by Rob Cook “Toronto is the first major municipality to adopt OWMA membership as a mandatory RFP requirement.”

OWMA’s Ethical Business Program

he impact of the Ontario Waste Management Association’s (OWMA) new ethical business program developed over the past two years is beginning to be felt in the marketplace. Over time, many customers in both the industrial, commercial and institutional (IC&I) and residential sectors have come to recognize the value of dealing with service providers that are members of associations like the OWMA. These service providers are generally viewed as better informed and more aware of current or impending changes to regulatory requirements. Information and training also positions associationbased service providers to better anticipate business changes in the future; their business models are more secure and efficient, ultimately resulting in more efficient and competitive services.

The ethical business initiative is the most significant new waste management industry initiative since the creation of the association over 25 years ago. The ethical business program has implications on how OWMA accepts new members and the expectations of the association relative to the ethical business conduct of member companies. The program has been established and implemented to ensure that member companies are beyond reproach and do not engage in unethical or illegal business practices. The program was designed to expand OWMA’s role in the larger waste sector marketplace to provide customers with the security of knowing that thirdparty oversight of service companies was in place. This security was envisioned to lead to recognition and preference being given to OWMA members in the marketplace.

Leadership & Winning Gordon McGuinty to present two workshops in conjunction with OWMA The OWMA is pleased to bring two separate workshops designed by Gordon McGuinty, an author and businessman known for his experience managing people and projects including the environmental approval of the Adams Mine landfill. The workshops will be held in Toronto on April 17 and 18, 2012. Workshop 1: LEADERSHIP “The WORKING WITH WORKSHOP” is an interactive journey on how to lead and motivate people. It will be of value to all supervisors and managers at any level. Workshop 2: WINNING THE WAR The WINNING THE WAR workshop offers tools and strategies on how to manage controversial projects that require dealing day to day with politics, environmentalists and the media. Project managers, operations and engineering personnel, environmental managers, public affairs personnel or senior company officials will greatly benefit from this workshop.

Gordon McGuinty

For further information contact: Michele Goulding, mgoulding@owma.org Ontario Waste Management Association 905-791-9500 www.owma.org

24 www.solidwastemag.com February/March 2012

The recognition of the OWMA program by waste generators and customers has always been viewed as the ‘litmus test’ for the success of the program. Customer organizations like the Ministry of Defence (Canada) have required potential bidders on hazardous waste service contracts to be OWMA members for some time. The recognition of the value of the ethical business program to both service providers and customers was recently acknowledged when the City of Toronto made OWMA membership a mandatory requirement for bidders on two major Requests for Proposals (RFP) for the Green Lane Landfill in London. This is the first major municipality to adopt OWMA membership as a mandatory requirement. It’s envisioned that more municipalities and major private sector companies will adopt membership as a requirement of doing business.

Ontario approvals modernization

Ontario’s Ministry of the Environment has announced the next phase of approvals that will be included on the new electronic registry developed under the Approvals Modernization initiative. Important to the waste sector is the inclusion of “Systems” approvals for waste and recycling vehicles as an approval that will now be electronic. The ministry is discussing the standardized regulatory requirements that will accompany an electronic registration and OWMA is engaged in consultation with the ministry on a number of issues. It’s anticipated that the approval for waste and recycling vehicles will be streamlined and timelier under the new registry. Ongoing reporting requirements on vehicle fleets appear to be eliminated under the new system. The Phase 2 approvals are anticipated to be “live” on the registry in the spring of 2012. Rob Cook is Chief Executive Officer of the Ontario Waste Management Association (OWMA) in Brampton, Ontario. Contact Rob at rcook@owma.org

O R G A N I C M AT T E R

by Paul van der Werf “Ucan recruited leading industrial designers Branko Lukic and Steve Takayama.”

I’m Too Sexy for My Scraps Bauhaus-style design comes to waste management

an design transform people’s ideas about diverting food waste in the kitchen from something yucky and to be hidden into something cool and worthy of display? California’s Ucan Products (www.ucanproducts.com) seems to think so; with wording reminiscent of the “uncola” soft drink campaigns of yesteryear, the company recently started to distribute what it calls the “Untrash Can.” Ucan asserts that form can improve function, and claims that something pleasing to the eye will generate greater participation in source-separation programs for household organics. Applying good industrial design to improve function is nothing new, but it may well be for the aesthetically-challenged waste sector. All we have to do is look at most garbage cans, blue boxes and green bins to understand that they’re meat-and-potatoes utilitarian, and not at all graceful. So, do the hunks of functional plastic into which we place our garbage really need to be aesthetically pleasing? Will it make a difference? It works for IKEA. The Swedish retailer uses industrial design to make strangelynamed and inexpensive mass-produced products appealing to consumers. The late Steve Jobs was heavily influenced by the Bauhaus movement that (in a nutshell) doesn’t distinguish between fine art and applied design. It’s apparent to all that Apple products do cool things and look great at the same time. Jobs revolutionized computing — it’s clear that if it was up to programmers alone, computers would still be ugly boxes with screens as big as microwave ovens.

of IDEO, to re-imagine the kind of kitchen compost bins supplied by cities and waste agencies, and to do so with the intent of increasing program participation. The Untrash Can (see photos) is a sleek white kitchen container with a lime green handle. It’s made from a minimum of 50 percent recycled plastic, with a handle that folds away,

Design project Ucan recruited leading industrial designers Branko Lukic and Steve Takayama, formerly

Photos show the sleek Ucan organics container and it’s hide-away green handle.

February/March 2012 www.solidwastemag.com 25

O R G A N I C M AT T E R

interior bag holder and unique lid design that allows consumers to empty the contents with one hand. Ucan Co-Founder and CEO Anne Morrissey likens most of today’s kitchen organics containers as “buckets to collect food” and contends

they’re a disincentive to diversion. “The vast majority of people put their kitchen container under the sink and then forget about it,” she says. Things may not be too bad in some Canadian jurisdictions, “ugly” containers notwithstand-

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ing. Waste Diversion Ontario estimates that about 2.5 million of the provinces households have access to a green bin program and that on average each household diverts about 160 kg/ year or about 3 kg per week. The capture rate is probably about 60 per cent, representing at least a couple of kitchen-container loads to the green bin each week, which is pretty good. Things may be a bit different stateside. “More than 180 US cities and towns have adopted curbside composting in the past three years,” says Morrissey. “But consumers still throw food in the trash. Ucan gives cities new tools for compliance; these are kitchen cans with high design values that spur adoption through performance, ease of use and aesthetics.” “We designed the can to remove the ‘ick’ factor of food waste recycling,” says Morrissey. “Compliance correlates with ease of use, proximity to the sink and performance. The Untrash Can reduces smells, keeps hands clean and, unlike municipal eyesores, is something that consumers are proud to have in their kitchens.” Morrissey says the container was designed to look like it belongs in the kitchen, and can go on top of or under the sink. My wife Nadia is my sounding board on these matters. She dutifully recycles but does struggle with the organic side of the equation (my job). She assures me that no matter what the container looks like, it’s not under the sink, not on top of the counter! I admit that this is but a survey sample of one person. Ucan is shipping its first Canadian load of Untrash cans to Lloydminster, Alberta for that community’s upcoming pilot program. With no track record here it’s unclear whether the design will make a difference to the three million or so Canadian households that use kitchen organics containers. While the design of this new kitchen bin is probably not an “Apple” moment, there were many that argued Job’s obsession with form did not matter. But for them it did matter. It still matters. Paul van der Werf is president of 2cg Inc. in London, Ontario. Contact Paul at www.2cg.ca

26 www.solidwastemag.com February/March 2012

WA S T E B U S I N E S S

by John Nicholson “TerraCycle has grown into an enterprise in 10 countries that has created over 1,500 products from waste.”

Waste Exchanges One man’s treasure…

he adage “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure” has never held truer than in recent times. On garbage day in my neighborhood, there’s a man who walks the streets with a shopping cart early in the morning checking the blue bins for liquor, wine, and beer bottles. By the time he passes by our house, his shopping cart is almost full. At 10 cents per bottle, he’s made himself a tidy profit. There are a growing number of recycling companies similar to the man who walks my street on recycling day. These companies work on the business model of either getting their raw feedstock for free or, better still, getting paid for it. The major challenge for waste generators looking to divert material from landfill is finding a recycling company that will to take it. That’s where waste exchanges come in.

Waste Exchanges Materials and waste exchanges are markets for buying and selling (or giving or taking away) reusable and recyclable commodities and residues. Waste exchanges can trace their roots back to the earlier 1970s. Initially, the development of waste exchanges was paid for by government or not-for-profits. Over time, private companies have developed web-based waste exchanges. In the early days, announcements of wanted and available material were mailed to subscribers in catalogues or newsletters. Modern exchanges tend to be internet based. A typical exchange allows subscribers to post materials available or wanted on a web page listing. Organizations interested in trading posted commodities then contact each other directly. The U.S. EPA has a website that attempts to list all the international and national materials exchanges. Some are coordinated by state and local governments, others are run by not-for-profits, and a few are wholly private, for-profit businesses. The exchanges also vary in terms of area of service and types of commodities exchanged. WASTEchange.com, headquartered in Utah, is an example of a private company in the waste exchange business. Its roots stretch back to the 1970s when its founder, Paul Rozel, started a waste exchange via mailed newsletters in Ontario. WASTEChange.com currently has internet links to exchanges in all 10 Canadian provinces, the U.S., and Europe.

A quick review of some of the information on the provincial waste exchanges through WASTEchange.com at the in mid-January showed glass bottles available in Manitoba, a company wanting used polypropylene grains bags in Calgary, and a company looking for clean plastic scrap in Ajax. An example of a successful not-for profit waste exchange is the Recycling Council of British Columbia Materials Exchange (MEX) first established in 1985. MEX is a free BC-wide service facilitating the reuse and recycling of waste. From 2004 to 2010, 558 tonnes of waste was traded, and thus diverted from landfill, on the MEX.

Challenges and results Companies that choose to get rid of unwanted material through a waste exchange will need to develop and enforce rules on what goes into bins destined for trade. The receiving company is expected feedstock into their recycling products, not “contaminated” material. For companies with the next big idea of turning trash into treasure, the two biggest hurdles are often raising capital and getting approval. I’ve spoken to more than my share of companies frustrated by the fact that they need an environmental permit to process feedstock that, in some cases, they’ve paid for. In many cases, the existing waste regulations haven’t been re-written to the new realities that a growing amount of waste is being used as feedstock for recycled products. Transportation is another challenge facing feedstock suppliers (a.k.a. waste generators) and manufacturers (a.k.a. waste reusers/recyclers). That’s why many waste exchanges developed locally and tend remain geographically focused. For examples of the incredible products now being manufactured from waste and the innovative companies behind the recycling evolution, one need only look at TerraCycle, a New Jersey-based company solely focused on making products from waste. Founded in 2001 by Tom Szaky, who was a first year student at Princton University, TerraCycle has grown into an enterprise in 10 countries that has created over 1,500 products from waste. What makes TerraCycle even more unique is how it utilizes social marketing to find new feedstock. The company creates its own waste collection programs, independent of any waste exchange, drawing on volunteers who have a social and environmental conscience.

John Nicholson, M.Sc., P.Eng., is a consultant based in Toronto, Ontario. Contact John at john.nicholson@ebccanada.com February/March 2012 www.solidwastemag.com 27

R E G U L AT I O N R O U N D U P by Rosalind Cooper “The ruling could determine if a company can avoid compliance with remedial orders just by filing for CCAA protection.”

Abitibibowater Supreme Court to decide environmental obligations of insolvent company

he Supreme Court of Canada has heard argument and reserved its decision in a case involving an insolvent company that has been ordered by the government to clean up historic contamination at certain former properties. The decision is expected to clarify whether companies that have sought protection under the federal Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA) can be required to comply with environmental orders issued by the government that require cleanup. The case has implications for any organization that manages wastes or may have historic site contamination on a property.

Facts & Lower Court decision In 2008, Abitibibowater Inc. announced it would close its operations in Newfoundland and Labrador. The province subsequently expropriated several parcels of land owned by Abitibibowater. Those parcels of land were contaminated with heavy metals and chemicals and required remediation. In November of 2009, the province ordered Abitibibowater to clean up environmental contamination at the properties that had been expropriated by the province. However, in the interim, the company had become insolvent and had sought protection from its creditors under the CCAA. The provisions of the CCAA permit a company that is likely to become insolvent to avoid payments to its creditors while it restructures its operations. The court that initially considered the matter characterized the remediation orders from the province as “unsecured liabilities” which meant the province would rank with all other unsecured creditors once the company emerged from creditor protection. This meant the province 28 www.solidwastemag.com February/March 2012

would only be entitled to a fraction (and likely a small fraction) of the amount required to satisfy cleanup obligations. The province took the position that the remedial orders were not monetary claims, but statutory non-monetary legal obligations and, therefore, Abitibibowater could not shield behind the CCAA in respect of the remedial orders. What is unusual, in this case, is that the province now owns the lands in respect of which the cleanup orders have been issued. This means that the decision by the Supreme Court will directly impact the extent to which the province will benefit from the expropriation or the losses it will suffer. Normally, under the CCAA, the government has a lien on any real property that’s subject to an environmental order, and that lien ranks above any other claim. However, in this case, the government already has title to the lands in question.

Issues for the Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Canada has set out three issues for determination. Section 2 of the CCAA includes the definition of “claim” and the Supreme Court will decide whether that definition includes statutory obligations of the debtor, such as the remedial orders under Newfoundland’s and Labrador’s Environmental Protection Act. If the court decides that it does, then a company will be able to avoid compliance with remedial orders issued by governments by filing for CCAA protection. Section 11 of the CCAA provides a court deciding insolvency matters with broad discretion to make any order that it considers appropriate. The Supreme Court will be considering whether that discretion should include barring statutory obligations of a debtor.

R E G U L AT I O N R O U N D U P The last issue to be considered by the Supreme Court is whether environmental orders can survive CCAA proceedings and become enforceable against a newly restructured company. In this case, Abitibibowater has emerged from creditor protection under the CCAA and is now operating as Resolute Forest Products. Abitibibowater’s counsel argued that only orders relating to ongoing operations can survive a CCAA proceeding and that, to rule otherwise, would permit the government to simply await the outcome of CCAA proceedings and then issue remedial orders to the new entity.

Position of the interveners Environmental groups have a keen interest in the outcome of the case because they argue that the CCAA provisions conflict with the concept of “polluter pays” that has been generally accepted and endorsed by the courts in environmental law. They take the position that if the Supreme

Court rules cleanup orders are to be treated as unsecured claims, then the government’s only options are to either take title to the land by lien or comply with the remedial order itself. Both of these options would result in the public assuming the cost of remediating contamination caused by insolvent companies that seek creditor protection. One of the arguments advanced by Friends of the Earth (an intervener) before the Supreme Court, was as follows: While other unsecured creditors of the debtor have made a conscious decision to enter into a business relationship with the insolvent company and therefore voluntarily assumed the risk, the public has not. It is, therefore, unfair to burden the public with this cost. The decision of the Supreme Court will ultimately provide a ruling on this important issue; this case has, therefore, attracted the attention of governments, environmental NGOs and companies that face exposure to environmental liability.

Rosalind Cooper, LL.B., is a partner with Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP in Toronto, Ontario. Contact Rosalind at rcooper@tor.fasken.com

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February/March 2012 www.solidwastemag.com 29

LANDFILL TECHNOLOGY

by Mark Cadwallader “The film degrades to simple carbon molecules and water, leaving behind no toxic residue.”

Alternate Daily Cover The Enviro™ Cover System

lternative daily cover (ADC) technology has continued to improve and one system in particular addresses the cost and environmental concerns of today’s landfill managers, with operational benefits. The Enviro™ Cover System is an integrated approach to landfill daily cover consisting of three parts: 1. A timed degrading geosynthetic film, with degradation initiated through spe-

Enviro™ Cover mass coverage at a landfill site.

30 www.solidwastemag.com February/March 2012

cial additives; 2. Placement of the degradable film panels with a ballasted compression overlap seal forming continuous coverage; and 3. The Enviro Cover Deployer — either a blade or bucket-mounted attachment to common landfill equipment or a specialty tracked self-propelled vehicle to expedite panel placement.

The manufacturer of the Enviro Cover System is EPI Environmental Products Inc. (www.envirocoversystem.com) a Vancouver, BC -based company. EPI is a proponent of oxo-biodegradable plastic additive technology, specializing in making plastics degradable. The system has become the ADC of choice for many landfills including the world famous and trend-setting Puente Hills Landfill

LANDFILL TECHNOLOGY

of Los Angeles County California. There, the needs for cost reduction and expedited coverage have supplemented traditional air space savings and the water-shedding benefits of the Enviro Cover technology. Instead of multiple earth movers (including scrapers, dozers and cover soil compactors) with related personnel,

diesel fuel and maintenance costs, the landfill cuts operational expenses and still meets US EPA requirements â&#x20AC;&#x153;to control disease vectors, fires, odors, blowing litter and scavenging without presenting a threat to human health and the environment.â&#x20AC;? The application of Enviro Cover is fast and

can be implemented year-round, even under the most severe weather conditions. The system does not require removal, thus avoiding the manpower necessary to take off and put back on the cover. Additionally, Enviro Cover effectively has no thickness, so the landfill is able to save air space and lengthen its lifespan.

February/March 2012 www.solidwastemag.com 31

LANDFILL TECHNOLOGY

Deployer model 700.

Deployer model 800.

32 www.solidwastemag.com February/March 2012

The cover provides an uninterrupted barrier to rainwater infiltration with resulting prevention of leachate formation and leachate treatment cost savings, while also blocking the escape of landfill gas. This barrier action is facilitated by the special ballasted compression overlap seal between panels. Fluid flow is blocked at the surface, yet due to degradation of the film within the landfill, fluid migration and collection can take place as needed inside the volume of buried garbage. This enables landfill gas collection because the gas can flow to collection pipes while being contained at the surface by the deployed film. Finally, unlike ground soil or earthen material, the system reduces the cost of importing, moving, placing, spreading and compacting cover material. Degradation of all Enviro Cover products is programmed to occur through exposure of the film to heat, mechanical stress and/or sunlight. Once the process is initiated, the film continues to degrade, becoming brittle and fragmented after burial. The film eventually degrades to simple carbon molecules and water, leaving behind no toxic residue. The ADC is applied using a â&#x20AC;&#x153;deployerâ&#x20AC;? fitted with a roll of film and on-site ballast materials. The deployer unrolls the degradable film and simultaneously secures it to the working face with ballast material (usually soil) released from the deployer in such a way that the film panels are sealed by the ballast soil pressing the top overlapped film panel against the outside edge of the ballast soil on the film panel below. The rolls of degradable film are mounted on a deployer which can be attached easily (blade or bucket mounted), to a range of Prime Movers commonly used in landfills, or be a tracked self-propelled vehicle offering advantages of performance speed and maneuverability. Whatever the size of the working face, there is a suitable deployer to meet landfill operationsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; needs. Mark Cadwallader, M.S., is a material scientist and engineer based in Houston, Texas. Contact Mark at mark@geofailures.com

Advertisers’ Index Company

Page #

February/March 2012

Company

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6th Canadian Waste Symposium . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Miller Thomson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

AMRC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Municipal Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Borden Ladner Gervais . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 BMG Conveyors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Cdn Waste & Recycling Expo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

OWMA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Paradigm Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Paul Van der Werf (2CG) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Serious Lock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Emterra Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Trux Route Management Systems Inc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Environmental Business Consultants (J. Nicholson) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 Van Dyk Baler Corp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 EPI Environmental Products Inc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Eriez Magnetics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Geoware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 OWMA AD

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Italian Trade Commission . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

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Ontario Waste Management Association

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February/March 2012 www.solidwastemag.com 33

BLOG

by Guy Crittenden “Since 2009, at least 25 MBT plants have been newly commissioned per year in Europe — more than ever before.”

Mechanical/Biological Treatment in the EU 450 plants and 46 million tons by 2016

n a study released in December 2011, consultants from ecoprog GmbH describe how the European market for mechanical/biological treatment (MBT) has accelerated recently. About 80 MBT plants for waste have been newly commissioned in Europe over the past three years; installed treatment capacities in Europe will increase to 46 million annual tons by 2016. MBT plants produce refuse-derived fuel from waste or treat this waste in such a way that it can be landfilled according to the specifications of the EU Landfill Directive (which prohibits the landfilling of untreated waste). MBT technology was primarily developed as an alternative to waste incineration, and advancements in the technology and implementation in the EU should be of interest to people in Canada, including those opposed to conventional waste-to-energy (WTE) projects. At present, there are about 330 operational mechanical/biological treatment plants throughout Europe. They have the capacity to treat about 34 million tons of municipal waste annually. Since 2009, at least 25 MBT plants have been newly commissioned per year in Europe — more than ever before. According to ecoprog, about five years ago, the future did not seem to be that bright for the MBT industry: many of the newly constructed MBT plants experienced technological problems, especially the ones in Germany. Some locations, like Buchen or Heilbronn, even had to shut down a few months after their commissioning. Acceptance of MBT plants decreased rapidly. In 2006, only 12 plants went operational throughout Europe. Instead, waste incineration was booming and became the dominant waste treatment technology. Now, however, the demand for MBT plants is high since many “teething problems” have been solved, and the Landfill Directive will be implemented more sufficiently in many European countries soon. Demand is driven in some places from concern about incineration; in other places like Great Britain, there’s demand for refuse-derived fuels (RDFs). ecoprog estimates the number of MBT plants in Europe to increase to about 450 and the plant capacities to rise from currently 34 million annual tons to 46 million tons by 2016. Could it work in Canada? And what are the benefits? “When a full life cycle (LCA) analysis is completed, MBT consistently beats landfill and WTE in terms of a reduced impact on climate change,” says Clarissa Morawski, principal of CM Consulting. “Screening reduces the quantity of waste requiring landfill disposal by further recovery of recyclables.” Furthermore, Morawski says, there’s more flexibility, because MBT

allows site managers to adapt to changes in feedstock more than thermal treatment. “The technology can also reduce vector problems (vermin, birds etc.) as well as gas and leachate generation,” she says. “Much of the waste is composted through anaerobic digestion versus aerobic composting, which offers additional opportunities to recover biogas for energy.” Barry Friesen, P. Eng, is General Manager of CleanFARMS Inc., a stewardship body for agricultural chemicals and packaging. Friesen was formerly the waste manager for Niagara Region where he formed a positive impression of MBT as part of research conducted on MBT technologies and visits to two plants in Germany. “When municipalities invest in mixed waste thermal plants, it’s often only to service what the municipality collects; that is, mixed curbside collected waste,” says Friesen. “While WTE plants reduce the volume of waste landfilled and capture energy, they aren’t as efficient as other types of energy plants. “They require much more emission control equipment than other types of energy plants, and are of little use to local industries. Given that IC&I waste comprises about 50 per cent of all waste in Canada, these plants can ignore half the waste generated in this country.” Friesen says in Germany he saw that when MBT plants are in place, municipalities didn’t invest in expensive mixed waste thermal technologies. “Instead,” says Friesen, “they sent their mixed plastic wastes to privately-run energy plants used by both municipalities and industry. The energy recovery was much higher than in mixed waste thermal plants and required far less emission control equipment because of the ‘cleaner’ fuel.” Consultant Paul van der Werf agrees that in Canada MBT has good potential to deal with residual wastes before they’re landfilled, but notes, “In Canada there’s no landfill directive mandating aggressive diversion targets for organic waste. Therefore the emphasis has been on source separation programs, which result in the production of high quality products such as compost.” “However,” he says, “MBT can be effective to manage residual wastes from sectors where the effective implementation of diversion programs is more challenging, such as the multi-residential sector.” “MBT has the potential to generate Category B composts,” van der Werf adds. “It allows for some biological decomposition of organic waste prior to landfilling thereby reducing its impact in the landfill.” ecoprog’s recently published multi-client study The European MBT market can be ordered at www.ecoprog.com

Guy Crittenden is editor of this magazine. Contact Guy at gcrittenden@solidwastemag.com 34 www.solidwastemag.com February/March 2012

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