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OPINION
Blocking fake coins from the wishing well Leaving behind business-as-usual Imagine being awed by a wishing well with scores of coins shimmering just below the surface of the water. But on closer inspection, when the coins are scooped up, it becomes clear they’re not only fake, but caked with mud and algae. China’s new National Sword Initiative is the equivalent of adding a warning sign and a security guard to its wishing well. Sometimes it takes someone to speak up to stop bad momentum. China has become that voice. And for the most part, North America seems to be nodding and listening. Of course, China dug its own hole by wanting the best wishing well in the world. It affixed a giant sign to its fountain that read “Everyone’s Welcome.” It became a prolific purchaser of waste – by far the biggest in the world – simply because it wanted to grow its economy and saw an opportunity. It was inevitable that many players around the world were going to take advantage of China’s welcome sign and its open arms. Like many things on our planet, the few ruined it for the many. Many players in North America are not remotely surprised that the jig is finally up. They are more surprised that things have gone on so long. Even other waste markets, like the Philippines and India, have slowly been closing their doors to questionable imports. Of course, one of the first warning signs of impending change occurred in 2013, when China launched Operation Green Fence to limit imports of scrap materials. That gentle fence turned into an aggressive sword, and here we stand today. Particularly in light of China’s new ban, the Solid Waste Association of
Credit: Keitma/Shutterstock.com
By David Nesseth
China dug its own hole by wanting the best wishing well in the world. It affixed a giant sign to its fountain that read “Everyone’s Welcome.”
North America (SWANA) has established a new Recycling Task Force to guide its members through new challenges facing recycling programs in the U.S. and Canada. With China’s waste ban already in place and the 0.5% contamination standard taking effect March 1, SWANA’s Recycling Task Force will develop and support strategies for ensuring sustainable recycling programs continue, and reducing
contamination will be a key part of the new initiative. In reaction to the China ban, sustainability advocate Zero Waste Canada advised local and national recycling entities to “move away from playing the catch-up game that will simply allow loads ‘to move’ or ‘get cleared’ until the next set of restrictions are in place.” The group further says that, “it is of paramount importance that the emphasis not only be on initial collection, but equally on the durability and frequency of use in addition to the actual value of recovery.” At the very least, many Canadian municipalities may start to follow in the steps of places like Ontario’s Peel Region, which is ponying up some $280,000 for a seven-month experiment to get its recyclable material to a cleaner standard, or as China sees it, the new status quo. Next to Peel, in Toronto, waste department inspectors have been taking stock of the contents in residents Blue Bins curbside. Their findings confirmed what everyone in the business already suspected: That about about 26% of the items residents are trying to recycle are actually waste. This carelessness not only contaminates Blue Boxes across North America, but costs cities millions of dollars. More aggressive education programs are needed, and yes, perhaps even homeowner fines. Perhaps we need to fix our own wishing well coins before we once again try to use China’s fountain. Spring/Summer 2018 5
BRIEFS: Canada News
Credit: Algoma Country
New SWANA recycling task force
Sault eyes full privatization After 53 years of using a hybrid model with both private and municipal waste collectors, officials in the northern Ontario city of Sault Ste. Marie are now considering going fully private in the footsteps of neighbouring North Bay. The city’s current contract with Municipal Waste and Recycling Consultants (MWRC) expires on July 29, 2019. According to the city, its annual labour, equipment and fuel costs for each stop is $39.38, compared to $33.70 for MWRC. Meanwhile, waste collection in neighbouring Thunder Bay and Timmins is handled entirely by city workers.
The Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA) has established a new Recycling task force to provide guidance in the wake of China’s waste ban, already in place, and the 0.5% contamination standard taking effect March 1. SWANA’s recycling task force will include representatives from the association’s technical divisions, its international board, local government officials, private sector materials recovery facility owners, and equipment manufacturers. “Now that China’s waste import restrictions have taken effect, reducing contamination will be an obvious focus,� said David Biderman, SWANA executive director and CEO. “However, the task force will also evaluate strategies for increasing demand for recycled material, and educate elected officials about the job growth opportunities associated with improving domestic recycling operations to meet this challenge,� added Biderman.
Quebec tech in Scotland
Credit: Machinex
Quebec company Machinex has announced that it has a new Material Recovery Facility (MRF) up and running in Lanark, Scotland. The Levenseat Renewable Energy system is processing 42 tonnes of material per hour, and will annually produce a minimum of 100,000 tonnes of high-quality refused derived fuel as a feedstock for the adjacent Levenseat Power Plant, while maximizing the recovery of high value recyclables such as paper, cardboard, plastic, metal, and wood. Machinex installed the latest technologies, including shredders, a Machinex trommel, air separators, MACH Ballistic separators, MACH Hyspec optical sorting units for plastic and paper, one belt dryer, and two Machinex single ram balers.
Curbside hits Lethbridge +P #RTKN CDQWV JQOGU KP Ć‚XG FKHHGTGPV EQOOWPKVKGU YKNN TGEGKXG VJGKT Ć‚TUV TGE[ENKPI DKP CU RCTV of a pilot project, now that Lethbridge, Alta., has ventured into bi-weekly curbside recycling. The program will then go citywide by 2019. In November 2016, city council voted in favour of intro-
6 www.solidwastemag.com
ducing curbside recycling. The council also approved the construction of a materials recovery facility to handle recyclables collected through the curbside program. The facility will be located at the Waste and Recycling Centre and is expected to be operational in early 2019.
Covanta acquires Quantex New Jersey-based Covanta Environmental Solutions has acquired Ontario’s Quantex Environmental, an environmental services company based in Kitchener. Covanta now has 17 material processing and recycling facilities across North America. In 2017 Covanta also acquired Canadian firm Sorinco, based in Chambly, Que. Covanta said the latest acquisition enhances its suite of environmental services offerings, helping customers mitigate risk, solve complex environmental challenges and reach their sustainability goals. Some of these offerings include industrial liquid waste treatment and assured product destruction for industries including pharmaceutical, health and beauty, consumer products, and food products.
Montreal bag ban Montreal’s new bag ban – the first of its kind in Canada – covers the distribution of lightweight plastic bags with a thickness of less than 50 microns, as well as biodegradable bags, which contain an additive that causes them to decompose in heat and light. City staff says Quebecers use about 2 billion plastic bags per year, with just 14% reintegrated into recycling plants. The new ban has an exception for thin bags that are used in grocery stores to transport fruit and vegetables to the cash register or to wrap meat. Thicker plastic bags, paper bags, and cardboard boxes will also be allowed. Merchants have a six-month grace period to comply with the new rules. After June 5, they could face fines of up to $1,000 for an individual and $2,000 for a corporation for a first offence.
Credit: Goodwill
Polycycle, a University of Ottawa-based social enterprise, has won a $150,000 grant for a pilot project aimed at using injection moulding technology to turn recycled plastics into new products. The Aviva Canada Community Fund grant goes toward a program that acquires discarded plastics gathered from collection drives, individuals, and partnerships with local businesses and institutions. The plastic is washed and shredded into smaller pieces before being moulded into new products. The products are then sold to generate revenues for the project, and social employment opportunities are created through the collection and manufacturing processes. The students are part of the university’s Enactus program, which is made up of students, educators, and executives at the University of Ottawa who are “eager to leave the comforts of the classroom and the boardroom” to create projects that apply their knowledge to real-world problems based on a “triple bottom line” principle to create benefits that are social, environmental, and financial.
Credit: CWaterDocs
University of Ottawa snags waste grant
Contract awarded to build new B.C. landfill facility A contract to build a proposed residuals treatment facility at the Hartland Landfill in Saanich, B.C., has been awarded to Bird Construction. The facility will have capacity to treat over 14,000 dry tonnes of residuals per year over the 20-year term of the contract. Part of the Capital Regional District’s Wastewater Treatment Project, it will process residual waste material from the McLoughlin Point Wastewater Treatment Plant to meet environmental regulatory requirements. Bird expects construction to commence in the spring of 2018. The facility is expected to be operational in the winter of 2020.
Edmonton recycling mattresses The first year’s results are ready after Edmonton awarded a three-year contract to Redemptive Developments for a mattress recycling program in 2017. After previously landfilling mattresses, city data shows approximately 40,000 mattresses were recycled in 2017 through four eco-stations as well as the Edmonton Waste Management Centre. Edmonton currently pays the vendor $15 per mattress to recycle it, bringing the total cost to more than $500,000 per year. Landfilling the mattresses costs about $200,000 per year. Spring/Summer 2018 7
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Bali waste crisis
Waste collection remains one of the most dangerous occupations in North America, with more annual deaths than police or firefighters. In the first 10 days of 2018, the Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA) revealed that seven waste workers had died, hailing from the states of Pennsylvania, New York, Georgia, Virginia, Massachusetts, and North Carolina. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, waste collection remained the fifth deadliest job in the country for 2016, when 31 U.S. collection workers were killed on the job, compared to 36 the year before. “We urge companies and local governments to not only take the time to educate supervisors and employees, but also commit to making safety a workplace priority. Nothing we do at SWANA is more important,” announced SWANA CEO David Biderman.
Crows cleaning the streets A Dutch startup called Crowded is training crows to collect discarded cigarette butts from parks and city streets. The group has designed a system called a crowbar, in which a crow is taught to bring a cigarette filter to a funnel. There, the filter is identified by a camera, and the system then releases a piece of food onto a table in front of the crow, as a reward. “This is done with the intention that the crow will fly away and inform others of this system, so that more crows participate in cigarette butt collection,” Crowded Cities explains in its promotional material.
Cities
Credit: Crowded Cities
Waste fatalities concern SWANA
Credit: AG Act Global
Beautiful Bali, part of the Indonesian archipelago of more than 17,000 islands, is now the world’s second biggest contributor to marine debris after China. Indonesia recently declared a “garbage emergency” across a six-kilometre stretch of coast that includes popular beaches Jimbaran, Kuta, and Seminyak. Officials deployed 700 cleaners and 35 trucks to remove roughly 100 tons of debris each day to a nearby landfill. Some 1.29 million metric tons is estimated to be produced annually by Indonesia. As part of its commitment to fighting microplastic, the government has pledged to reduce marine plastic 70% by 2025. Bali aims to reduce marine plastic waste 70% by 2025, but there is clearly more work to be done.
McDonald’s packaging going green By 2025, McDonald’s has announced plans to use renewable, recyclable or certified materials in all of its packaging, and it will put recycling bins in all of its restaurants. Currently, just 10% of the fast food company’s restaurants offer recycling bins, while less than half of its packaging uses materials certified for recycling. “Our customers have told us that packaging waste is the top environmental issue they would like us to address,” Francesca DeBiase, McDonald’s sustainability officer, said in a statement. Spring/Summer 2018 9
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BRIEFS: Around the Globe
> `w V> i` Ì i > i}>Ì Ã ÃÕL iVÌ Ûi > ` iµÕ>Ìi` the suit to “extortion”. The consultant also claims to have commissioned > `i«i `i Ì ÃÌÕ`Þ Ì >Ì v Õ ` Ì i > `w ` ià not negatively affect surrounding property values. Residents involved in the suit are seeking more Some 108 residents in Dunmore, Pennsylvania, are ÃÕ } Ì i iÞÃÌ i -> Ì>ÀÞ > `w ÛiÀ V > Ã Ì >Ì than $50,000 on each count, of which there are two. A similar class action in the state resulted in a improper odour controls have hurt property values $2-million settlement in 2016 between the Waste and limited outdoor enjoyment. According to a report in The Times-Tribune of > >}i i Ì Ü i` /Õ ÞÌ Ü > `w > ` ÕV à *i ÃÞ Û> >] i V ÃÕ Ì> Ì >vw >Ìi` Ü Ì Ì i Õ ÌÞ Àià `i Ìð / i > `w >ÌiÀ V Ãi`°
Class action against U.S. landfill
Starbucks charging for cups
Credit: Roz Steele
At 35 selected Starbucks cafes in London, U.K, the coffee giant is testing out a latte levy that works out to five pence per takeout cup. The three-month trial is the first of its kind in the U.K., where the company is hoping to reduce its use of some 2.5 billion such cups per year, as well as encourage customers to bring their own reusable cups for takeaway. Baristas will encourage the use of proper ceramic mugs when drinking in the cafe. Disposable coffee cups are not recycled by U.K. systems because they are made from cardboard with a tightly bonded polyethylene liner that is difficult to remove. Just one in 400 cups are recycled, and some half a million cups are littered each day in the U.K. Additionally, some 350 Starbucks stores across the U.K. will be selling any food nearing expiry at a 50% discount. Proceeds from the sale of each item will in turn be donated to Action Against Hunger. Scott Dols
NWRA ‘18 Hall of Fame inductees The National Waste and Recycling Association (NWRA) has announced its 2018 inductees for the Hall of Fame. The inductees are Scott Dols, CEO of Big Truck Rentals; Steve Menoff, senior VP at Civil and Environmental Consultants; James Trevathan, executive VP and COO at Waste Management; and Larry Henk, president and CEO at Premier Waste Services. This year’s inductees were chosen based on five categories: recognition in the industry, enduring legacy (minimum 25 years of service), steadfast values, inspirational leadership, and active industry engagement. Spring/Summer 2018 11
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Food views must keep evolving Think taking food from a landfill By Paul van der Werf
I regularly walk past a panhandling man on my way to lunch. Exposing my own biases, he seems a little too well-dressed to ask for money, and with the embarrassment of my own ignorance, I shuffle by. It makes me think of the not so invisible divide between the materially secure and insecure and what may be if we tread too close to that line. The thing is that we live in a prosperous, materially dense country, where in most respects there is enough for everyone. We just don’t always distribute equitably. Take food for instance. There has been much said lately about the amount of food that becomes waste and its monetary, env ironmenta l and social impacts. Food that should have been eaten ends up in our landfills, composting and anaerobic digestion facilities, but there are leaders for us on this issue. Take the recent Middlesex London Food Policy Council’s Beyond The same retail Waste forum, which know-how that brought together potential allows food retailers food retail and food service to source their food donors with recipient orgacan help them to inventory and ship nizations. I was impressed their surplus food at the level of effort by orgaonwards nizations such as Ontario’s London Convention Centre to those that can and Western University’s use it. Hospitality Services, which already donate much of their surplus food to local agencies. This consists largely of extra meals made during large events. They have managed to work out a symbiotic relationship with various donor agencies that happily receive this food. Grocery stores in London, Ont., are also starting to join. For instance, at least eight of them have been working with the London Food Bank to deliver perishable food, so much so that up to 40% of it is fresh.
If we put this problem through the grist mill of the circular economy, we can partially, if not wholly, excise what is now a waste management issue by tackling food supply chain inefficiency. At its heart, this is what the circular economy is about. We need upstream thinking where we consider the waste implications along each step of the food supply chain. We need to provide the right economic signals to ultimately spur investment and stimulate creativity in how to more fully deal with food and organic waste. That is the circular economy. Mechanisms such as organic restrictions or bans, disposal levies and source separation requirements can all achieve this signal. At the retail-consumer interface, where we as householders purchase the food that we eat (or don’t), this means a clearer strategy of what to do with the food that retailers either do not want or cannot sell. Methods need to evolve in the way we initially saw food waste disposed and sent to landfill, which changed to composting or anaerobic digestion. m co Businesses have formed . k c sto tter around these waste management u h S ingz/ methods. The circular economy means Credit: TSpeedK upstream thinking and considering what to do with waste long before it needs to be considered waste. The same retail know-how that allows food retailers to source their food can help them to inventory and ship their surplus food onwards to those that can use it. A ban on food to landfill forces this upstream thinking. It is clear that avenues for this food have been created by the early adopters. Putting a hard stop to putting avoidable food in the garbage (or the green bin for that matter) will put everyone else on the road to ensuring the better and more equitable distribution of our food. I walked by the panhandling man again, but this time looked him in the eye, asked him his name and put some change in his jar. I have enough. He doesn’t. It shouldn’t be that complicated.
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FEATURE
Cutting Contamination China’s Sword reaching Canadian cities
A
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smeared with mustard, plastics mixed with broken glass – can’t exceed 0.5%. There is a transitional period of five months for China’s scrap trade partners, and Canada is one of several countries that have asked for more time to prepare for the new restrictions. Now, many Canadian municipalities are competing to find new buyers and new ways to deliver a cleaner product without China’s open arms for North America’s recyclables.
Halifax
In Halifax, some 80% or more of the city’s recyclables were sent to China in recent years. Suddenly, facing tighter contamination standards, the Nova Scotia city needed a provincial exemption to send plastic film to landfill. It had amassed 300 tonnes of film plastics that could not be sent to
Credit: AlexLMX/Shutterstock.com
sharpened sword greets Canada’s recycling imports at the customs gates of China in 2018. Its sharpeners — Chinese government officials — have used the term yang la-ji, which translates to “foreign trash”, to describe the metaphorical sword’s purpose of cutting contamination and parrying away certain recyclables, all in an effort to defend against pollution and domestic waste problems that have plagued the country for decades. Beijing told the World Trade Organization in November that it would block imports of 24 types of yang la-ji beginning in January 2018. That included plastics waste from living sources, vanadium slag, and unsorted waste paper. Already, this first portion of the new ban has proven effective, with scrap metal imports at their lowest since February 2016. Paper and plastics have plunged, too, according to China’s General Administration of Customs. Remarkably, waste plastics imports dropped 94% in January 2018 to 10,000 tonnes from December’s 180,000 tonnes. The second portion of China’s National Sword initiative is just now getting underway. Previously, the world’s most prolific recyclables buyer allowed 5% of impurities in imported bales of plastic, but as implementation of reduced “carried waste” thresholds began in March, China, which buys approximately two-thirds of North America’s recyclables, requires that contamination levels – newspaper
Credit: Norden A/S
By David Nesseth & Michael Peeling
Remarkably, waste plastics imports plunged 94% in January 2018 to 10,000 tonnes from December’s 180,000 tonnes.
the Asian country. The city had found a home for the plastics in a landfill just outside of Nova Scotia. Sending the plastics to that landfill was the plan as of early January. But in a interview one month later, Matthew Keliher, manager of solid waste for Halifax, said that plan had since changed. Only 100 tonnes of the plastics, which had been degrading in a storage facility since August, were sent to the out-of-province landfill. Keliher said the other 200 tonnes found their way to another recycling facility and a kiln, where they will be broken down and repurposed to make other products. He said the city is pleased to have found an alternative to landfill, but noted that his department can’t take it for granted that they have found a viable solution going forward. “We’re not content yet with any long-term plan,” Keliher said. “The current markets could dry up. We always need to have a backup plan in
Recycling facility managers are saying that residents can help keep processing costs down by cleaning their recyclables before they throw them in Blue Bins.
the hopper and continue to look for the best markets. We’d much rather that than use a landfill.” Last year, Halifax sold recyclables totalling $2.4 million. For 2017-2018, Keliher said the city is anticipating that amount to be about $1.6 million. To help make up for that lost revenue, Keliher said they have found efficiencies that will save approximately $800,000. “We’re taking it month by month to see how sales perform,” Keliher said. “China could change its policies again.” Halifax has a reputation with its old newsprint brokers for supplying product so high in quality they actually have to add some lesser-quality material to make it more saleable. Yet the municipality has opted to not send even newsprint to China for now.
“The general sense is that this is the best option,” Mayes said. “We have been somewhat fortunate that staff did some work in 2017 to prepare for the restrictions by China. And Emterra has contacts in China, so we are not in the dire situation that other municipalities are. We haven’t had to burn anything,” he added. Mayes said Emterra has not had to store any recyclables due to China’s restrictions, which many municipalities have been unable to meet without increasing the sorting and decontamination standards necessary for them to be accepted. “We are going to have to spend a little more money to meet those standards, but we’re hoping to get a return on that investment,” Mayes said. “We have to do that to protect our market share.” The staff report does not address recyclable plastics, which Mayes said staff has raised no concerns about. According to Winnipeg’s website, Emterra sends Winnipeg’s recyclables to companies and brokers in eastern Canada, as well as the eastern and midwestern U.S. After that, they may be sent to markets outside of North America. Glass, however, is kept in Winnipeg to make road base. Metal cans also stay in Manitoba to create building products and auto parts. The next hurdles to get over with the recommended Emterra contract increase is the executive policy committee.
“Currently Chinese customs is being very strict and inspecting all materials,” Keliher said. “[Newsprint] is being Bracebridge and Brantford sent elsewhere until we get confirma- Waste Connections of Canada’s tion from our brokers in March that processing facility in Bracebridge, Ont., materials will be accepted in the future has not been affected by the tighter restrictions imposed by China on recybefore we send any to China.” clable products it exports overseas. District manager Iain Wates attributes Winnipeg A staff report recommending an increase the Bracebridge facility’s ability to of $1.4 million to Winnipeg’s two-year handle the restrictions to a 30-pluscontract with Emterra – which handles year history of building strong relationthe collection, sorting, and sale of the ships in recycling markets. city’s recyclables – has been approved by For old newsprint, Waste Connection’s the municipality’s water, waste, and envi- Bracebridge operation deals directly with ronment committee. City councillor and mills that buy the recyclables. “We don’t sell everything based on committee chairman Brian Mayes said the increase will cover the growing costs of who’s offering the better price,” Wates sorting and packaging old newsprint into said. “We’re pretty true to our markets. a saleable and recyclable product in China. It’s easy for us to get rid of our products. Spring/Summer 2018 15
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Credit: Michael Peeling
At another Waste Connections facility, – this time in Brantford, Ont. – Brantford District operations manager Frank Mangialardi says the company is making less revenue on cardboard products due the tighter restrictions placed on recyclables by China. The restrictions have led to a surplus of cardboard for Waste Connections, and the company has had to find new buyers for the surplus. “The cost is still the same amount of money to service our customers, but we’re getting paid much less money for our cardboard products,” said Mangialardi.
Quebec
Frank Mangialardi, Canada’s operations manager for Brantford District, says the company is in fact making less revenue on cardboard products due the tighter restrictions placed on recyclables by China. The restrictions have led to a surplus of cardboard for Waste Connections. The company has had to find new buyers.
You’ve got to be ready for when times get tough, and we’ve always been able to find new homes when they do.” Wates said the proactive approach has paid off as it keeps a close eye on how major recyclables markets such as China shift and change policies. “China has played this game before but nothing like this,” he said. “We’ve been fortunate to find some domestic markets that have opened up. The prices are not always great.”
Impact of Ban
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Calgary Recycling and Waste Services said the city has stockpiled 5,000 tonnes of recycled waste since October. The City of Halifax amassed 300 tonnes of w « >ÃÌ VÃ Ì >Ì V Õ ` not be send to China. Ontario region of Peel paying $250K for sevenmonth pilot to get its recyclables cleaner. the province
Wates said about 80% of the mixed fibres collected by the Bracebridge facility go to China, but now the plastics are shipped to Toronto, which at two hours away is more costly for Waste Connections. Plastics are then sent to a processing plant that grinds and pelletizes the plastic for use in products such as clothing and new containers. “Nothing is being shipped to China,” Wates said. “Not many will risk sending them because they will likely open them up and send them back. The restrictions are so tough to meet, we don’t want to risk them being sent back.” Wates said they have increased their processing fees to meet the higher standards imposed domestically and internationally. “We had to up our game,” he said. “Ours is an older facility and it needs upgrades. When we’re dealing with the high standards of these markets, we believe it’s all about our people. We don’t think machines can make as nice a product as people.” Wates said residents can help keep processing costs down by cleaning their recyclables before they throw them in Blue Bins.
A spokesperson for Recyc-Quebec says the organization is working very closely with 27 sorting centres across the province to help implement new technologies and processes to improve the quality of recyclables, as the contamination portion of China’s ban begins. Sorting at the source, the organization says, is one of many avenues that it’s taking. On Jan. 25, the organization issued a call for proposals to improve the quality and outlets of recyclable materials sent to provincial sorting centres. Recyc-Quebec says 39% of materials sorted by sorting centers are sold to packers or recyclers in Quebec; 13% are sold outside the province; and 48% are sold to brokers where the end destination is unknown. In 2015, Quebec sent and sold 707,000 tonnes of paper to China, which represents 87.5% of the total sold recyclables. The province also sent and sold some 46,000 tonnes of plastic, which represents 5.7% total sold recyclables. “The performance of the recycling system in Quebec is based on shared responsibility between municipalities and industry,” a Recyc-Quebec spokesperson said. “The current regime will be modernized in the near future in order to incorporate quality criteria for recovered and sorted materials.”
David Nesseth and Michael Peeling are freelance journalists. Spring/Summer 2018 17
PROFILE
Unzipping polystyrene’s potential Pyrowave sees a potential resource
P
yrowave wants to power a revolution. The Quebec upstart sees all the ethylene, propylene and styrene wasting away in Canada’s landfills and knows that it could be deconstructed as a new resource – essentially unzipped like a computer data file. Eight years in, this small company has become a pioneer in the catalytic microwave depolymerization of plastics. It now has a full-scale modular microwave reactor operating at its Valleyfield facility to recycle
Expanded-Polystyrene
styrene monomer from post-consumer polystyrene waste. These days the company is looking to sell its OEM technology to other facilities that want to lead the way toward, not only profit, but a true circular economy. “We are at the dawn of a new industrial revolution,” explains Pyrowave 18 www.solidwastemag.com
CEO Jocelyn Doucet. “We’ve turned from extracting from the ground for energy to using those products again. We’ve been zipping the products. Now we need to unzip them and return them to the chemical stage.” Pyrowave’s achievement has been to scale up microwave technology to an industrial level to depolymerize postconsumer polystyrene – mostly recognized as white food takeout containers – into a styrene oil with up to 95% yield. Put simply, the company is turning plastic waste back into feedstock to make new plastic again. Pyrowave sells the polystyrene back to the polystyrene market, where the price has remained stable for some time. As California’s state legislature currently wrestles with a polystyrene ban, Pyrowave is trying to turn the tide on what it says is not only a misunderstood product, but an underutilized and unfairly maligned one that has the potential to be a key part of an extended producer responsibility market and effectively close the loop on polymers’ lifecycle. Polystyrene is one of the world’s fastest-growing solid wastes, yet only has a recovery rate of about 5%. According to the Canadian Plastics Industry Associ-
Credit: David Nesseth
By David Nesseth
ation, just 35% of Canadian communities accept polystyrene food containers through recycling programs, and some others offer drop-off locations for clean polystyrene. “Polystyrene is a great product with great extruding properties,” says Doucet, as he drinks espresso proudly from a styrofoam cup. “It has great thermal properties, too, but perception is not good because it doesn’t decompose. We can solve that problem.” Polystyrene is lightweight, low-cost, strong, insulating, sanitary, and to the surprise of some, recyclable. But in its foam form, most seen in food packaging, it’s also bulky, and can be
Members of Pyrowave’s team at its Valleyfield facility in Quebec. From left: Jean-Philippe Laviolette, Mustafa Amhaouch, Olivier Leblanc and CEO Jocelyn Doucet.
contaminative if landfilled. Doucet says the company, which recently has garnered a slew of clean-tech awards, has several agreements with
major food retailers that currently have to decide between landfilling their foam food crates or improve the company’s sustainability optics
AWARDS • • • •
First prize at IQ-CHem competition in Russia. 2017 Global Cleantech 100 Ones to Watch list, produced by Cleantech Group (CTG). 2018 Clean 50 Resource Award CPIA 2017 Emerging Leader
PULL FACT:
A polystyrene foam 500 ml cup for hot beverages uses 1/3 less energy, produces 1/3 less greenhouse gases, and 50% less solid waste by volume compared to a paperboard 500 ml cup with a sleeve.
by sending its foam to Pyrowave to be recycled using what it calls “selective chemistry”. Pyrowave currently processes about 200 tonnes per year with a small supply. Its process is able to reduce a product that would produce 2.5 tonnes of greenhouse gases per ton to just 0.5 tons by replacing virgin chemicals. Additionally, the microwave process does not produce undesirable byproducts of ethylbenzene or toluene, which reduce the value of the output. Pyrowave is able to detach the styrene molecules. Foam, which many people equate with polystyrene, is just one product using polystyrene. About 70% of polystyrene is used in packaging, with about the remaining 30% used in electronics. Right now, producers are paying for polystyrene but not getting anything back from it, like they may from paper or plastics. Some municipalities, such as Toronto, have experimented with curbside collection for polystyrene, while other markets, like New York City, have banned polystyrene. A series of government grants and awards have bolstered Pyrowave, but investors have been tough to find. When cleantech industry expectations skyrocketed in the late 1990s, the lack of progress disenfranchised many investors, who remained reluctant until recently. Doucet sees the change as a generational shift in tone about cleantech and waste-toenergy projects. Doucet is optimistic about a new consortium project that represents various actors from the value chain of the polystyrene industry. He’s excited that the company’s first machine outside of its own facility is expected to be hosted in the Ontario border city of Sarnia later in 2018 “There’s good synergy with Sarnia. Lots of action there,” said Doucet. Spring/Summer 2018 19
CONTRACTS
Thinking about Ontario’s breakneck waste shift Blue Box program concerns need to be worked out through the transition By Maria Kelleher more expensive. It is hoped that introducing competition and Waste management in Ontario is going through a tectonic shift choice into the Ontario marketplace will resolve this concern as a result of the Waste-Free Ontario Act, 2016, which incorover time. porates two separate acts: the Waste Diversion Transition Act Transitioning the Municipal Hazardous and Solid and the Resource Recovery and Circular Economy Act. Waste Program mostly involves primary batteries and This is a very ambitious plan for the Ontario Ministry of a few other materials. Paint, the biggest part of the first the Environment and Climate Change. It’s moving along at phase of the program under the Waste Diversion Act, is breakneck speed and everyone in the business is very happy to managed under an industry stewardship plan, which will now see a clear direction and action plan. remain in place under grandfathering provisions in the A separate document – Strategy for a Waste-Free Waste-Free Ontario Act. Ontario: Building the Circular Economy – lays out While municipalities have had some the framework for transitioning to an indirole in managing waste electronics vidual producer responsibility system and electrical equipment, tires, and for managing and paying for the municipal hazardous and solid management of products in the waste, the program with by waste stream. It’s designed to far the biggest impact for identify producers, as well as a Ontario municipalities on way for Ontario to move toward a go-forward basis will a circular economy and reduce be what happens to the waste. Both acts will have a Blue Box program. A joint significant impact on how waste agreement between Stewis managed in Ontario over the short, medium, and long term. ardship Ontario and the The impacts on municipalAssociation of Municipalities of Ontario was announced in ities as well as producers, the summer of 2017 to move and likely consumers, Blue Box contracts to Stewardship should be profound. Ontario over a five-to-10-year period Under the Waste Diversion (depending on contract expiry dates), Transition Act, four programs through an amendment to the Blue Box (Blue Box, waste electronics Plan under the Waste Diversion Act. and electrical equipment, tires, On Feb. 15, Stewardship Ontario and and municipal hazardous or the Resource Productivity and Recovery special waste) will transition Authority announced that a proposal from the Waste Diversion Act to for an amended Blue Box plan the Resource Recovery and Circular would not be submitted to Economy Act over time. When fully the Ministry of the Envitransitioned, existing industry funding organizations will wind up, ronment and Climate Credit: Lightspring/ Shutterstock.com and the programs will be managed Change, and that Ontario by one or more producer responsibility organizamunicipalities and Stewardship Ontario would work tions. One of the objectives of the Waste-Free Ontario Act was Two new legislative acts together to find a long-term to introduce competition into the stewardship/EPR marketfor Ontario will have a arrangement. Since 2004, place in Ontario. Under the Waste Diversion Act, stewards and significant impact on how producers of printed paper producers had to join the industry funding organization desigwaste is managed in the and packaging have paid nated in the legislation. Many producers did not like the lack of province over the short, about half the Blue Box choice for their service provider in a business that is becoming medium, and long term. 20 www.solidwastemag.com
program’s annual costs. The relationship between municipalities and Stewardship Ontario has not been perfect, and a disagreement over funding led to arbitration in 2014. The costs of the Blue Box program have increased for many reasons, including a changing mix of materials. Blue Box program concerns that need to be worked out through the transition, as well in new regulations, include: longer-term service standards that will be imposed as a condition of funding; diversion targets to be reached; acceptable contamination rates; materials included in the standard provincial list of materials to be funded in the future Blue Box program; and the municipal role in processing (likely to transition to stewards/producers over time, like in B.C.). The wind-up letters for tire and waste electronics and electrical equipment programs have been sent to the current industry funding organizations managing these programs. The tire program will transition to full individual producer responsiblity on Jan. 1, 2019, with the waste electronics and electrical equipment program scheduled for July 1, 2020. These programs will be run by competitive producer responsibility organizations. High diversion targets are expected for these materials, and they will no longer be disposed of in the residual Ontario waste stream if the programs are successful.
The strategy that accompanies the act lays out an ambitious agenda, including:
• A food and organic waste action plan aimed at reducing v ` Ü>ÃÌi «À `ÕVÌ Ì i wÀÃÌ « >Vi] > ` Ì i ` ÀiVÌ } food waste to its highest and best use; • A food waste and organic waste ban at disposal sites, i Þ ÃÌ>ÀÌ } Ü Ì >À}iÀ V Õ Ì ià > ` > `w à ÃÌ v " Ì>À ½Ã Ü>ÃÌi à > `w i`® > ` Ì iÀ ` ë Ã> à ÌiÃ] > ` progressively being expanded to cover the whole province; • Designating regulations for a larger list of materials (the list in the strategy includes mattresses, carpets, furniture, textiles, paper products and packaging, batteries, tires, etc.), meaning that over time they will be removed from the waste stream, and the cost of managing these materials will be absorbed by producers and stewards; • Disposal bans on a list of materials designated under individual producer responsibility regulations (waste elecÌÀ Và > ` i iVÌÀ V> iµÕ « i Ì ÃÕV >à ÕÃi ` >«« ances, power tools, lighting and electronics, mattresses, carpets, furniture, textiles, paper products and packaging, batteries, tires, etc.)
Maria Kelleher is principal of Kelleher Environmental based in Toronto.
The T he B Banff anff Centre Centre for Art ts and and Creativity Creativity Arts BANFF, B ANFF, ALBERTA ANFF
EARLY REGIS - BIRD TRATIO N J
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RECYCLE.AB.CA
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Spring/Summer 2018 21
CASE STUDY
GOT GAS? Lethbridge Does Grant leads to three landfill gas studies By Mandi Parker
W
ithin the dark underbelly of consumerism, percolating in the bowels of the build environment disposal site, lies a potential resource. Mind you, it’s about perspective. What was once thought of as landfill flatulence may now be considered the crown jewel of alternative energy. Lethbridge, Alta., was successful in its application for the Federation
The real question for the first project is: How much gas are we producing both now and in the future? of Canadian Municipalities’ grant for climate change mitigation and adaptation studies under the Municipalities for Climate Innovation Program. 22 www.solidwastemag.com
But what does this really mean to Lethbridge? Currently, the city is exploring ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, supporting Alberta’s mandate to cut the province’s methane emissions by 45% by 2025 under the Climate Leadership Plan. Lethbridge has proposed a long-term assessment of landfill gas production at its Lethbridge Waste and Recycling Centre. With the approval to operate in 2016 from Alberta Environment and Parks, there is potentially more than 50 years of opportunity with this project. The funding will be used for three main studies in 2018. The first project is an updated landfill gas production assessment. The report will expand on preliminary work and address future uncertainties associated with potential landfill gas production rates associated with waste deposition rates and organic content. The real question for the first project is: How much gas are we producing both now and in the future? How might future organics diversion impact the future potential feasibility of utilization this resource as feedstock? The second project is a landfill gas management plan. This report would include an updated conceptual
design for a collection system (well field and control plant) based on the updated development plan currently being generated to optimize landfill gas collection. This plan would incorporate an integrated strategy with cell development, progressive closure, and leachate management. We will more precisely know where wells should be placed and how they would be connected. We would also know where we would need to close off parts of the landfill, to maximize generation. The real question for the second project is: How much, and when, can we incrementally capture? And how much will it cost? The final project as part of this grant is the landfill gas utilization feasibility assessment. This report would provide a general overview of landfill gas utilization options based on fuel type (i.e., low-grade, medium-grade, and high-
grade BTU commodity feedstock), identify regional and local access to markets, review potential roles the city can play in a utilization project, identify site-specific viable utilization options, and undertake preliminary economic analysis of feasible options based on a 20-year project term. The real question for the third project is: What can we do with the gas? Once we have these studies completed, Lethbridge will be in a better position to make decisions on how to collect and utilize our gas. With over 20 years of experience, Michel Lefebvre, M.Sc., P.Eng. is the consultant on the project, and is with Tetra Tech’s Waste Management Practice from Edmonton.
How much gas are we producing both now and in the future? How might future organics diversion impact the future potential feasibility of utilization this resource as feedstock?
Mandi Parker, P.Ag. is a Waste & Recycling Specialist with the City of Lethbridge Waste & Recycling Services Team. Spring/Summer 2018 23
Credit: Photos courtesy of City of Lethbridge
An aerial view of the Lethbridge Waste & Recycling Centre, where the city has proposed to undertake a long-term assessment of landfill gas production options.
BIOFUELS
From the curb to the fuel tank Toronto moving on renewable natural gas for waste fleet By Kris Hornburg
T
Renewable natural gas is derived from the cleanup of raw oronto is developing renewable natural gas (RNG) biogas, which is a natural byproduct of operating anaerobic infrastructure that has the potential to fuel the digestion facilities and landfill assets. Biogas consists of municipality’s fleet with modified biogas processed anywhere from 50% to 75% methane, with the remainder at anaerobic digestion facilities. This means the same largely comprised of carbon dioxide (CO2) and other trace collection trucks that pick up the municipality’s organic waste could ultimately be fueled by that waste. elements. By cleaning the raw biogas, the city can remove The city is currently in the process of expanding its Dufferin CO2 and other impurities to generate clean, renewable Organics Processing Facility to increase its methane. After minor treatment, the purified gas can organics processing capacity and build be injected directly into the existing natural a biogas cleanup facility to produce gas grid and transported anywhere that the renewable natural gas. It is grid infrastructure extends. For example, expected that production will renewable natural gas from a facility begin sometime in 2019, in the west end of Toronto could be with more announcements used to fuel the fleet of collection to come over the next trucks at yards in the east end. couple of months. Solid A key benefit of developing Waste Management renewable natural gas infraServices is also exploring structure is that it represents the potential to produce a fully closed-carbon loop. It is renewable natural gas estimated that 140,000 tonnes at three additional sites: of organic waste generated the Disco Road Organics each year could be used to Processing Facility, the create approximately 10 million Keele Valley Landfill, and litres of diesel equivalent, enough the Green Lane Landfill. to fuel about 250-300 collection It is estimated that Toronto trucks every year. An August 2017 could annually produce about 60 study, citing reports from the Calimillion litres of diesel equivalent, in the fornia Air Resources Credit: City of Toronto form of renewable natural gas. This potential, Board, confirmed that coupled with a focus on a circular economy, provides renewable natural gas The 140,000 tonnes of organic Toronto with a tangible and effective method to reduce its derived from food and waste could be used to create carbon footprint, generate revenue and savings, and foster innogreen waste is the approximately 10 million litres lowest-carbon commerof diesel equivalent, enough vation in sustainable solid waste management. to fuel about 250-300 collecThe City of Toronto’s Solid Waste Management Services cial vehicle fuel that Division is responsible for managing approximately exists today. In fact, tion trucks every year. (City of renewable natural gas Toronto graphic) 1 million tonnes of waste each year, including approximately is actually carbon-neg140,000 tonnes of green bin organics. The municipality is also one of the first cities to formally announce its intention ative. The emissions reductions associated with displacing to reduce emissions by 80% compared to 1990 baselines, by petroleum-based fuel, and the avoided emissions from the year 2050, through the TransformTO project. sending organics to landfill, actually exceed the direct Toronto uses a triple-bottom line in the future. This emissions associated with the production and use of framework ensures environmental and social outcomes renewable natural gas. It represents a paradigm shift in the are given the same importance as economic and financial waste industry — which has traditionally focused on generdrivers. A great example of this approach in action is the ating electricity. division’s move toward renewable natural gas production and utilization, which leverages the division’s innovative diversion technologies to generate additional Kris Hornburg is program manager for Toronto’s Solid Waste environmental, economic, and social benefits. Management Services Division. 24 www.solidwastemag.com
CANADA
Credit: AIM Environmental Group
Instead of selecting a specific organics processing approach and technology to address the management of source separated organics, Halifax decided to move forward with a competitive bid process that was technology neutral.
Halifax’s new organics future Letting the market decide Halifax is busy weighing its options. Over two decades, the municipality’s organics management infrastructure has started to show its age. Now, it requires additional investments both to meet new provincial compost guidelines and sustain and expand the system to meet the future needs of a growing city. On April 1, 1996, Nova Scotia amalgamated the four municipalities within Halifax County and formed Halifax Regional Municipality, a single-tier regional government covering an area of roughly 5,500 square kilometres, which was the largest city in Atlantic Canada. Two composting facilities were developed: at the Ragged Lake Business Park in Halifax, and at the Burnside Business Park in Dartmouth. Both facilities were designed to aerobically process 25,000 tonnes of compost. In 2016, evaluations and assessments of the city’s current composting facilities were used to develop an organics management business case. But instead of selecting a specific organics processing approach and technology to address the management of source-separated organics, the municipality decided to move forward with a competitive bid process that was technology-neutral. Why? Because all options reviewed, including aerobic composting technologies similar to the technologies currently used in the municipality, and
By Matt Keliher anaerobic digestion, including the use of on-farm anaerobic digesters, had their advantages and disadvantages. In the end, the municipality chose to define the challenge and let the market develop strategies. The city wanted aerobic composting and anaerobic digestion technology-centered bids to compete against each other. The city allowed the integration of current infrastructure to possibly reduce costs. Additionally, the municipality included the option for centralized transfer stations and pre-processing of materials as components within the bids so that off-site options could remain available. How did we get here? The city guided the procurement process for the organics management program, and Halifax Regional Council endorsed four goals/objectives: • Minimize capital and operating costs, including reducing current processing costs; • Minimize impact to the community (odour, noise, etc.); • Meet 2010 NSE Guidelines for compost after 2019; • Increase organics processing capacity from 50,000 tonnes to 60,000 tonnes per year, with option to increase to 75,000 tonnes per year. With our overall goals defined, the next step in the process was to collaborate on the development of the RFQ and RFP. From September 2016 to
December 2016, staff conducted stakeholder and community engagements with residents, universities, non-governmental agencies, the provincial government and the business community to guide staff with insight about the future of the organics management program. On April 25, 2017, council approved the Organics Management Strategy, which incorporated all stakeholder and resident areas of consensus. The city issued the RFQ in September 2017 and closed the process in January 2018. Staff are currently reviewing a shortlist of companies to invite to the RFP stage. The final contract, subject to consultations with proponents and direction from council, will be a 25-year contract with options to extend. Staff intend to return to regional council with the RFP’s key terms as well as the scoring criteria for consideration and direction. The proposed cost per tonne will be developed as a two-tiered fixed price, subject only to annual inflation adjustments. It is believed this will reduce the risk on the municipality’s taxpayers and secure a fair long-term price for both the operator and the municipality. The Tier 1 price will include the capital amortization of the facility spread over an annual minimum guaranteed tonnage. This will ensure that the capital investment is recouped by the vendor. The second tier will be a cost per tonne related to only the incremental operating cost, without capital included. City staff are working diligently towards achieving regional council’s goals and objectives to continue to provide a healthy, liveable community that promotes sustainability and excellence in service delivery.
Matt Keliher is the manager of solid waste for the Halifax Regional Municipality. Spring/Summer 2018 25
Honours
BC construction waste firm snags business award By SWR Staff
George Heyman
BC RAISES WASTE DISCHARGE FEES Approximately 300 pounds of recyclables can be diverted for each recycling service, says S2SR.
Vancouver-based Sea to Sky Removal (S2SR) has won Best Concept at the 15th annual Small Business BC Awards for implementing recycling stations on construction sites. Operating throughout Whistler and the Lower Mainland, S2SR is the first business of its kind for construction waste and even offers tutorials to its clients. More than half of the construction materials that end up in landfills could be reused or recycled, says S2SR, whose crews hand-sort and hand-load all materials – a process called “liveloading”. Approximately 300 pounds of recyclables can be diverted for each recycling service, it adds. The company says only 75% of the construction industry’s waste – 1.5 million tonnes annually in the Lower Mainland – is recycled. Run by husband-and-wife team Chris Arkell and Cinci Csere, the company says it’s on a mission to change the construction industry’s waste disposal practices and educate workers in the process. They provide tips to crews who are used to tossing everything – plastic, 26 www.solidwastemag.com
wood, cardboard, carpet, and stone – into a single waste bin. Photo documentation and diversion percentage reports for Built Green and LEED projects allow contractors to know exactly where their materials end up. As an added incentive, S2SR donates reusable items to non-profits like Habitat for Humanity. “It’s crazy to see what construction companies throw away,” said Arkell. “We want to create more awareness and conversation around construction industry waste, with the ultimate goal of diverting recyclable materials from landfills. When it comes to sustainability, the industry needs a nudge in the right direction.” Held at the Vancouver Convention Centre on Feb. 24, the awards gala celebrated the province’s largest small business awards competition. The fivemonth long competition kicked off in October, when more than 600 small businesses from 61 communities across B.C. were nominated. Gala attendees included Minister for Jobs, Trade and Technology Bruce Ralston.
À Ì i wÀÃÌ Ì i à Vi ÓääÈ] À Ì Ã Columbia’s waste discharge fees and annual fees paid by industry and local government will be increased to fund improved environmental protection and provide better services, the province has announced. The increased fees are expected to generate approximately $2.7 million in revenue annually. Effective April 1, 2018, the following fees change under the Environmental Management Act: • Waste discharge permit application and amendment fees; U Ƃ Õ> viià v À > À] ivyÕi Ì] refuse, and storage permits. “Every dollar of the increased revenue will be reinvested to ensure we are improving services for companies and local governments, while we enhance environmental protection,” said George Heyman, minister of environment and climate change strategy, in a statement to media. “We believe the new fee structure is fair for sectors that have been paying the same rates for a very long time.” The additional revenue will help to increase inspection capacity and other compliance and enforcement activities. The fees will also help to speed up the processing of permit applications.
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