Solid Waste & Recycling August/September 2014

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Solid Waste & Recycling Canada’s magazine on collection, hauling, processing and disposal August/September 2014

TERRACYCLE CANADA Diapers, gum, butts, air fresheners ...

Is there anything this company can’t recycle? — page 8

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Solid Waste & Recycling

CONTENTS August/September 2014 Volume 19, Number 4

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

COVER STORY:

8

SPOTLIGHT: TERRACYCLE

Cover art by Charles Jaffe

TerraCycle Canada has been making news lately, including announcements in British Columbia about programs to collect cigarette butts and a partnership with Progressive Waste Services.

Our editor profiles the company and founder Tom Szaky.

by Guy Crittenden

FEATURES ORGANIC MATTERS: ORGAWORLD A look at Orgaworld’s London, Ontario organics plant.

by Paul van der Werf

16

DIVERSION: BEVERAGE CONTAINERS Results from the 6th cross-country used beverage container report.

by Clarissa Morawski & Samantha Millette

23

CNG VEHICLES: HUBS New national information and resource hubs for CNG vehicles.

by Pierre Ducharme

28

COMPOST COUNCIL OF CANADA

DEPARTMENTS Editorial

4

Up Front

6

IC&I Waste

30

Waste Business

32

OWMA Report

34

Regulation Roundup

36

Ad Index

37

Blog

38

NEXT EDITION: 24th Annual National Compost Conference Program Details — pages 19-22

Organic matters, pg. 16

October/November 2014 Bonus Distribution: Canadian Waste & Recycling Expo Editorial: Focus on waste-to-fuel • Bio-energy • Commercial anaerobic digester • Polystyrene recycling • Film plastic pilot • Leachate tanker • Wheel loader tips Space closing: September 30, 2014 Artwork required: October 7, 2014

IC&I waste, pg. 30

Waste business, pg. 32

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EDITORIAL

by Guy Crittenden “In the past 10 years, global commodity price increases have wiped out all the price declines in the previous century.”

Moving to the Front

Tetra Pak’s new sustainable packaging initiative

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n July 23, 2014, Tetra Pak Canada launched its “Moving to the Front” campaign, which centres on a white paper entitled “What is Renewability in Packaging and Why Should We Care?” The paper encourages “suppliers, manufacturers, brand owners, NGOs and others to expand focus from the mid and end of the packaging life cycle to the beginning.”

As its website extols, Tetra Pak serves hundreds of millions of people in more than 170 countries, and has more than 23,000 employees based in over 80 countries.

I’ve never been one to jump on the bandwagon criticizing Tetra Pak because its layered containers are difficult to recycle. That has been a challenge, but I recognize the energy savings associated not only with the fact that the containers can be stacked efficiently inside transportation vehicles, but the contents don’t require refrigeration — an often overlooked environment and energy benefit.

When I first read the Moving to the Front news release and the glossy on-line white paper replete with feel-good stock images my antennae went up for this being nothing more than a slick PR exercise. And it’s true that the paper lacks specific plan details, emphasizing as it does that it will encourage stakeholders to embrace sustainable and renewable resources in the upstream stage of package design, move away from non-renewables (especially fossil-fuel-based plastic), and focus less on recycling and disposal.

This would seem self-serving, given that Tetra Paks are difficult to recycle, but the company is correct in stating that resource utilization needs a more attention from brand owners.

“What is Renewability in Packaging and Why Should We Care? points out that there will be nine billion of us sharing the planet by 2050, “including three billion new middle-class consumers.” (A terrifying thought.) Fossil fuels, including oil and natural gas, are predicted to run out in the next 30-70 years depending on consumption rates, according to a 2012 futures report by the BBC. And minerals — including aluminum, copper, and silver — are also expected to be gone by the end of this century.

The paper adds that, “Solid waste generated per person per day will increase from 2.6 pounds today to 3.1 pounds by 2025 — an increase of almost 20 per cent.”

This sort of data is what caused one ocean biologist to declare that the next 10 years will be the most important in the next 100,000.

How resources are extracted from the earth, and what impact this has on local ecosystems and biodiversity, is worth examining, along with

how much water, and what type of energy, is used during manufacturing, and how much transportation fuel is required getting products to market.

Indeed, the new product stewardship and extended producer responsibility requirements being introduced in different jurisdictions are meant to cause companies to look into these things more closely, rather than just ask, “How can we recycle more of our stuff?”

The white paper points out that “cosmetics company Shiseido has the ambition to replace 50 per cent of petroleum-based materials with renewable materials in products by 2020. For Procter & Gamble, that ambition is 25 per cent by 2020. Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, and Danone have stated similar ambitious targets for the use of green polymers in their packaging. On April 28, 2014, Tetra Pak announced the use of bio-based plastics in packaging for all customers in the Brazilian market.”

Tetra Pak aims to develop a 100 per cent renewable package, building from an average of 70 per cent today. What pops out is the company’s endorsement of obtaining its raw fibre materials from forests subject to third-party verified forest management and chain of custody certification, which it says is more credible than “a self- declaration from suppliers as proof that wood fibre came from well-managed forests.”

The company recognizes that the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and other leading environmental organizations consider Forest Stewardship Council as the only credible forest certification system available globally. Tetra Pak is also enthused about Bonsucro — a relatively new scheme dedicated to reducing the environmental and social impacts of sugar cane production (used in bio-plastic) — and the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO).

Over the past century, commodity prices halved despite a fourfold increase in the world’s population and a massive expansion in the global economy, due to the discovery of new sources of cheap materials paired with new technologies. However, in the past 10 years, global commodity price increases have wiped out all the price declines in the previous century. The era of cheap raw resources is coming to an end, and Tetra Pak’s call to action in sourcing raw packaging materials sustainably is well timed.

Visit doingwhatsgood.us/moving-to-the-front/ Guy Crittenden is editor of this magazine. Contact Guy at gcrittenden@solidwastemag.com

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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 Dave Douglas Account Manager ddouglas@bizinfogroup.ca Sheila Wilson Art Director Kimberly Collins Market Production Anita Madden Circulation Manager Tim Dimopoulos Executive Publisher Bruce Creighton President Business Information Group Contributing Editors Michael Cant, Rosalind Cooper, Maria Kelleher, David McRobert, 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: $53.95 (add applicable taxes) per year, $87.95 (add applicable taxes) for 2 years, single copy $10.00. USA: 1 Year $56.95, single copy $10.00. Foreign: 1 Year $87.95, single copy $10.00.

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 80 Valleybrook Drive, Toronto ON M3B 2S9 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 of the Department of Canadian Heritage. © 2014 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced without prior consent.

Print edition: ISSN-1483-7714

Online edition: ISSN-1923-3388

LETTERS Dear Editor,

RE: Lafarge waste-to-energy PR spin

Lafarge operates a cement plant in Brookfield, about an hour from Halifax, Nova Scotia. They are seeking approval for a pilot project to burn plastic as a fuel in their cement kiln, and have undertaken a marketing campaign to promote the project. They are advertising heavily on local radio, placed print ads and have presented to local municipal council.

Lafarge intends to use low-grade plastic that is destined for landfill after the diversion stage, such as plastic separated in C&D processing, etc.

Essentially they seek to burn the plastic to recover the energy. They expect that they can cut down on as much as 50 per cent of the coal/coke they are currently using by replacing it with plastic. Some bench-scale research paid for by Lafarge has demonstrated promising results on emissions and CO2 production, and they are now seeking to do a pilot project.

In their media campaign, Lafarge refers to their process as plastic “recycling” even though their own consultants have called their process the fourth “R” in the waste management hierarchy: Recovery. Lafarge is aware of this, but say they “think recycling is a fair and accurate way to describe what we are proposing.”

Calling a recovery project “recycling” is PR spin, an attempt without merit to move a project up the waste management hierarchy.

Lafarge may have a project that makes good economic and environmental sense. However, their current media campaign makes me wonder how much lipstick will be applied when they report the results of their pilot project. Lafarge ought to seek approval on the merit of their project, and avoid trying the PR spin that has not worked for other energy-from-waste proponents before them.

Ken Donnelly, President

Beyond Attitude Consulting ken@beyondattitude.com [Thanks for your letter Ken. I agree with your point. Waste-to-energy proponents should present their activities as such, and not muddy the waters by appropriating the term “recycling” which implies material-to-material conversion. I offer readers further thoughts on this in the “Blog” op-ed column on page 38. — ed.]

Dear Editor,

RE: Plastic shopping bag fees

Your last edition identified Loblaw among retailers not charging for plastic shopping bags. That’s not the case. In fact, we quite proudly continue to charge a small five-cent fee. But this isn’t about collecting nickels. It’s about keeping plastic out of landfills. To date, our actions have meant more than six billion fewer bags have left our stores. And, with a portion of the proceeds for plastic bags, we’ve donated $6 million to WWF Canada to fund a variety of environmental programs. For the full story, readers should visit Loblaw.ca/csr

Kevin Groh, VP-Corporate Affairs and Communication Loblaw Companies Limited

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

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UPFRONT SEVENSON HONOURS DRIVER SAFETY

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iagara Falls, Ontario-based Sevenson Environmental Services Inc. has honoured four of its tractor-trailer drivers for a combined 1.2 million miles of safe driving. Arthur Carter, Chet Wordon and Paul Kephart, all of Niagara Falls, and Mark Jeffords of Youngstown, received bonus checks from Sevenson President and Chief Executive Officer Alan Elia for their focus on safety behind the wheel.

“Safety is paramount at Sevenson,” Elia said. “Our clients expect it and it’s what drives us in the work we do. We can’t bid on projects unless our safety record is outstanding.

“For these drivers to have 21,000 hours of safe driving is a testament to the staff and the workers themselves. They put safety first. It’s a top priority and everyone in the organization knows it’s a top priority throughout Sevenson.”

Sevenson’s tractor-trailer drivers operate as far south as Florida and as far west as Wisconsin, hauling heavy construction, dewatering and dredging equipment, and other oversized loads. Carter was honoured for 2,000 hours of safe driving (110,166 miles); Jeffords, 4,000 hours (210,595 miles); Worden, 7,000 hours (400,284 miles) and Kephart, 8,000 hours (482,142 miles), for a total of 21,000 Hours of safe driving (1,203,187 miles).

Visit sevenson.com

Left to right: Paul Kephart, Chet Worden, Arthur Carter, Mark Jeffords, Alan Elia, president, Sevenson Environmental President and Chief Executive Officer.

Pilot flexible film recycling project

StewardChoice and Progressive announce agreement

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n July 8, 2014 StewardChoice Enterprises Inc and Progressive Waste Solutions Ltd. announced a collaborative agreement to provide market-based choices for expanding producer-funded collection and recycling services for packaging and printed paper in BC. Progressive Waste Solutions is the first recycling services company to work with StewardChoice.

“We are very pleased to have Progressive Waste Solutions, a leading BC waste and recycling services provider, come on board to support the development of the new EPR program,” says Neil Hastie, Development Director for StewardChoice Enterprises. “Their involvement will provide choice and flexibility for producers and other stakeholders within the recycling supply chain as we work collaboratively to increase valuable material recovery and reduce overall system costs.”

The initial focus of the proposed StewardChoice program is to provide producer-funded collection and recycling to those residents who are currently not being serviced — particularly those living in multi-family dwellings. Today, more than 20 per cent of these BC households do not receive a producer-funded recycling service.

(Traditionally, recycling performance in multi-family dwellings has lagged behind singlefamily households for a few reasons: lack of educational material for residents, inconvenient recycling bin locations, and insufficient bin capacity to store recyclables.)

“We believe that open and competitive markets provide producers and other stakeholders with cost-efficient collection and recycling services and facilitates more innovation in the marketplace,” stated Tom Loewen, the BC Area Manager for Progressive. “This proposed program is also consistent with the BC government’s desire to encourage more private sector investment and innovation in the province.”

StewardChoice’s competitive draft stewardship plan will offer producers an opportunity to fulfill their legal obligations, under the BC Recycling Regulation, to recover at least 75 per cent of their packaging and printed paper in the marketplace.

Visit stewardchoice.ca and progressivewaste.com

C

anadian Plastics Industry Association and Promenade Shopping Centre have teamed up on a pilot project to collect and recycle polyethylene (PE) flexible film. The CPIA will help Promenade expand its established recycling and organics program that diverts traditional materials from landfill such as paper, containers and food waste.

“Within the remaining waste stream, it was very apparent that there are large volumes of PE flexible film that could be recovered for recycling,” says Liem Vu, General Manager, Promenade.

“This opportunity made it easy to work with the CPIA and take the next recycling step.”

PE flexible film plastics are a large component of the commercial-packaging stream and are used increasingly for packaging, shipping and daily business. This pilot project is intended to establish a case study that can be utilized as a successful example of increasing PE flexible film recycling in a shopping centre environment.

Visit plastics.ca/recycling [The forthcoming October/November edition of this magazine will feature a more in-depth article on this project. — ed.]

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Young entrepreneur and chief executive Tom Szaky founded Trenton, New Jersey-based TerraCycle in 2001. Since early days selling worm castings in soda bottles as a fertilizer the company has grown to serve markets in 25 countries on five continents, and 2014 sales are expected to exceed $20 million.

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COVER STORY

by Guy Crittenden “TerraCycle has repurposed more than 2.6 billion pieces of difficult-to-recycle material and raised over $8 million for charity.”

Tom Szaky and the adventures of TerraCycle

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arly 2014 saw a flurry of activity and news releases from one of the country’s most entrepreneurial waste management companies, TerraCycle Canada®.

One of the more interesting was the announcement on January 20 that TerraCycle Canada had joined with BFI Canada, Inc. — a subsidiary of multi-service waste giant Progressive Waste Solutions — to launch a “zero waste” pilot in Maple Ridge, British Columbia. The program enables Maple Ridge residents to recycle almost any household waste.

The program, called the “TerraCycle Zero Waste System,” will be available to any Progressive customer in Maple Ridge. The collected materials will be shipped to TerraCycle to be recycled and used by major manufacturers to make everything from shipping pallets to watering cans and park benches.

The program exemplifies TerraCycle’s genius in branding.

A news release from the company states, “The Zero Waste System will offer a range of options including free bags that allow consumers to collect waste accepted in the traditional TerraCycle Brigade programs which includes drink pouches, healthcare packaging, cigarette butts and much more. In addition to these free programs, for a small fee, TerraCycle will offer recycling bags broken down by individual waste streams or by ‘room-separation’ to all Progressive Waste Solutions customers. Homeowners can now collect their entire bathroom, kitchen, bedroom, office or even garage waste to be recycled for a minimum cost!”

Maple Ridge was selected for the pilot program because of its excellent recycling system managed by Ridge Meadows Recycling.

TerraCycle Canada is the first of 25 markets in which the international company operates to offer a curbside pick up for its recycling programs.

TerraCycle Canada is the local version of a global company that has repurposed more than 2.6 billion pieces of food and beverage, office and school supply, e-waste and other hard-to-recycle waste streams. These collections have raised more than US $8 million dollars for charity through its various packaging reclamation programs. TerraCycle is currently creating solutions for other difficult to recycle, but widely discarded, waste streams such as disposable diapers and used chewing gum.

In February Progressive acquired a 19.9 per cent interest in TerraCycle Canada.

Following the acquisition, TerraCycle Canada is to undergo a corporate rebranding as a “Progressive Waste Solutions Partner.” Progressive — as its name suggests — clearly wants to add some of the social responsibility vibe that Szaky’s brand exudes.

Szaky’s social purpose is in eliminating the idea of waste.

THE WASTE Something that separates TerraCycle from other traditional “waste management” companies is the difficult nature of the materials it takes on, which include cigarette butts, chewing gum and diapers.

Last year the City of Vancouver teamed up with TerraCycle to keep butts off the streets, and reuse the raw materials in low-carbon plastics. Sounding a bit like a parody of an early socialist task force, the “Cigarette Waste Brigade” has installed 110 recycling receptacles in different downtown areas of the city.

After collection, cellulose acetate extracted from filters gets melted down for use in the production of industrial plastics and recycled plastics sold to supermarkets. Any remaining tobacco is composted.

If the program is a success, Terracycle aims to reproduce it around the world.

This plan is only the latest in a long series of innovations that were offbeat from the start. Shortly after its startup collecting organic materials and not really making any money, TerraCycle started packaging liquefied worm-compost waste in used soda bottles as “TerraCycle Plant Food” and grew its revenues to $3.3 million in four years, selling the fertilizer to major retailers like Walmart and the Home Depot. To collect the pop bottles, Szaky created the first “Bottle Brigade.” The company paid the shipping and a five-cent donation per bottle to the school or charity of the sender’s choice.

The program was a hit with schools but practically bankrupted the company which had to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in shipping

THE COMPANY TerraCycle, Inc. calls itself an international “upcycling” company that takes difficult-to-recycle packaging and turns it into affordable, innovative products. Founded in 2001 by young entrepreneur and chief executive Tom Szaky, Trenton, New Jersey-based TerraCycle is a world leader in the collection and reuse of non-recyclable post-consumer waste.

Waste is collected through TerraCycle’s Brigade programs, which donate money to schools and non-profits for every piece of waste participants collect and return.

This spring TerraCycle Canada joined with BFI Canada, Inc. — a subsidiary of multi-service waste giant Progressive Waste Solutions — to launch a “zero waste” pilot in Maple Ridge, British Columbia. The program enables residents to recycle almost any household waste.

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Tom Szaky at a trade show holding cigarette butts collected via a special Brigade program that’s been launched in the City of Vancouver, BC. If successful, the

Walinga VC2336

6/11/07

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2:36 PM program Page 1 will be rolled out in other cities around the world.

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COVER STORY

and donation costs. To save the program the company turned to corporate sponsors but these didn’t see the value in collecting waste that had nothing to do with their products.

That’s when Szaky hit on the idea of “sponsored waste” — companies were willing to pay for programs that would turn their wastes into products. (For instance, an early product was a backpack made from used juice pouches.) The company expanded into products made from everything from yoghurt containers to energy bar wrappers, which became pencil cases, planters, notebooks, kites and more. They could be branded as “green” because they were made from waste.

But profit margins remained a challenge.

In an article Szaky wrote, “[W]e made (and still make) a bag for Target called the reTote, a landmark eco-friendly product made entirely from used plastic bags. The catch was that while we were selling it to Target for a few dollars, our costs in the first year were more than $10 per unit. Our losses peaked in 2008, when we reported a $4.5 million loss on $6.6 million in sales.”

Then, walking through a Walmart one day, Szaky noticed that Disney and Nickelodeon seemed to have products in every category “from backpacks to stationary to shower curtains to food products.” He realized these media companies couldn’t be experts in manufacturing all these goods and soon figured out it was all about licensing. TerraCycle

2

WASTE

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Plus, presentations from leading companies and organizations including: • Waste as Feedstock for Fuel Production, US Environmental Protection Agency • Fuels from the Farm, Altranex Corp.

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COVER STORY

Progressive Waste Solutions Ltd. is one of North America’s largest full-service waste management companies, providing non-hazardous solid waste collection, recycling and disposal services to commercial, industrial, municipal and residential customers in 13 US states and the District of Columbia and six Canadian provinces. In February Progressive acquired a 19.9 per cent interest in TerraCycle Canada. Following the acquisition, TerraCycle Canada is to undergo a corporate rebranding as a “Progressive Waste Solutions Partner.” Progressive serves its customers with vertically integrated collection and disposal assets and its shares are listed on the New York and Toronto Stock Exchanges under the symbol BIN. Visit progressivewaste.com

CANADIAN WASTE MANAGEMENT AWARDS 2014 EXECUTIVE OF THE YEAR CEREMONY 

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Join us at the 2014 Canadian Waste To Resource Conference at the International Centre in Toronto on Wednesday, November 19th, 2014 as we celebrate the 2nd Annual Canadian Waste Management Awards. This inaugural event is being hosted by the Ontario Waste Management Association and our national partners.

SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES Gold Sponsor - $2,500

Sponsorship includes: Exclusive sponsorship recognition at the event, 2 full tables of 8 guests, company logo displayed on all advertising materials, onsite posters and materials, and onsite at the luncheon.

Silver Sponsor - $1,500

The Canadian “Executive of the Year” Award is to recognize outstanding individuals who play a key role in the growth of the waste sector services industry in Canada. (Criteria and application is attached).

Sponsorship includes: Sponsorship recognition at the event, 1 table of 8 guests, company logo displayed on all advertising materials, onsite posters and materials, and onsite at the luncheon.

Please join us in celebrating these unique individuals in the categories of small, medium and large corporations (three awards)

Sponsorship includes: Sponsorship recognition at the event, 4 tickets for luncheon, company logo displayed on all advertising materials, onsite posters and materials, and onsite at the luncheon.

Wednesday, November 19th, 2014 Holiday Inn Toronto Airport 970 Dixon Road, Toronto 6:00 pm – 8:30 pm

Bronze Sponsor - $1,000

Please contact Michele Goulding at 905-791-9500. to book your sponsorship.

Ticket Price $80.00 includes HST Table of 8 $600.00 includes HST 

Buy your tickets now! Visit the OWMA website

www.owma.org or www. cwre.ca Questions – please contact Michele Goulding 905-791-9500

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COVER STORY

plastic air fresheners, air freshener scent cartridges, plastic bottle caps, would collect the waste and design the products and find skilled manutrigger heads and plastic air freshener packaging. The program accepts facturers to help make, market and sell the them. not just Febreze brand products, but packaging from any air care brand, The worm-waste fertilizer is still a strong part of TerraCycle’s busihelping to address the entire industry’s packaging waste that may not be ness (as a licensing deal). With the licensing model the business has currently recycled through existing municipal channels. grown to over $18.3 million in sales (and is expected to surpass $20 “Febreze is dedicated to reducing the amount of previousmillion this year), is operating in 25 countries on five continents (with ly non-recyclable air care packaging waste that goes to landfill more than 125 international employees), and is profitable.

Examples of products made from waste include Frito chip bags, which TerraCycle invites people across North America to collect with the company covering the cost of shipping and paying two cents per chip bag to the charity or school of the collector’s choice. TerraCycle converts the bags into materials, including branded fabrics and plastic pellets. Staff work with major manufacturing companies to use the new material in their products, replacing the need for virgin materials. (Olivet, a major supplier to Walmart, uses chip-bag plastic in its coolers.) The potato chip company and the cooler manufacturer both Highest Efficiency Composting & Lowest Electrical Use further their sustainability goals.

The model has been replicated in 25 counCombining BDP’s fully automated, agitated In-vessel Composting System (ICS) tries, including Canada, Mexico, Brazil, with BacTee’s ultra efficient, negative aeration/ventilation and odor control Argentina, United Kingdom, Ireland, Sweden, systems maintains the highest quality compost with the lowest energy France, Germany, Turkey, Israel, Spain, Holland and Belgium, Italy, Switzerland, Philippines, consumption and smallest facility footprint Chile and Uruguay.

Szaky has had to overcome hurdles setting up business in new countries, such as that some countries require local board members.

Employment taxes can make hiring the right person difficult, too. Managing a global company is complex. The Trenton, New Jersey head office employs more than 65 people, but none of the foreign entities has more than ten.

None of TerraCycle’s domestic dollars support the global expansion, which has to be self-financed and self-sustaining. In 2010 TerraCycle’s non-US operations accounted for 10 percent of its revenue. A year later the international divisions generated more than 25 percent of revenue. Today they account for 42 per cent of the company’s revenues.

+

The Power of 2 Provides:

THE FUTURE In Toronto on April 15, 2014 TerraCycle launched another of its “brigades”: in conjunction with Febreze it announced the “Air Care Brigade” to allow the collection and recycling of previously non-recyclable packaging from the air care industry. The Febreze Air Care Brigade is a free recycling fundraiser that allows any individual or organization in Canada to collect and return used air care packaging. This includes

Don Mathsen, Chief Engineer Grand Forks, North Dakota Ph: 701 775 8775 Email: don@bactee.com www.bactee.com

Richard Nicoletti, Product Manager Greenwich, New York Ph: 518 695 6851 Email: Rich@bdpindustries.com www.bdpindustries.com

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COVER STORY

every year,” says Susan Nieuwhof, Sustainability Leader for P&G Canada. “Partnering with TerraCycle in Canada helps take our sustainability efforts to the next level, allowing all components of our packaging to now be recycled, in every municipality, while also helping to financially support local schools, charities and non-profit organizations across the country.”

For the weight of each air care item returned, the collector will earn $0.01 per point which Terracycle will donate to a school, charity or nonprofit of the collector’s choice. TerraCycle will recycle the collected materials into a wide-variety of applications ranging from watering cans and flowerpots to park benches and playgrounds.

This newest Brigade program joins over 20 others currently available in Canada.

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS On August 5, TerraCycle announced its Cigarette Waste Brigade recycled 20 million cigarette butts across Canada via a program launched in 2012 with Imperial Tobacco Canada. Estimates show that 3.5 trillion cigarette filters totalling 1.79 billion pounds of waste are discarded annually; only 10 per cent are disposed in proper receptacles, with the rest entering the environment. (This is unfortunate as the cellulose acetate filters don’t biodegrade and remain in the environment indefinitely.)

On August 20, TerraCycle announced a recycling pilot program for K-cups (those plastic and laminate pucks for single-cup coffee machines

INNOVATIVE

UNLOADING SOLUTIONS. Since 1973

like Tassimo and Keurig). The program is a partnership with OfficeMax Grand & Toy (and affiliate of global brand Office Depot). K-cup packs are a popular convenience product sold

by OfficeMax Grand & Toy and other retailers, yet they’ve never been recyclable via retailers in Canada. The pilot project is for customers in Southern Ontario and will be rolled out nationally if successful.

The recycling system will come in three different sizes (small, medium and large) and the cost of the boxes will be $52.99, $96.99, and $136.99, respectively. The price of the box includes the cost of recycling via TerraCycle and the prepaid shipping label. When the box is full, customers can ship the box directly to the company for processing.

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

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Fo

canadian waste to resource conference November 18-20, 2014

New name. New dates. Same great quality.

Join your peers and colleagues at the 2014 Canadian Waste to Resource Conference (CWRC) in Toronto.

You will have the opportunity to: • Tour waste facilities

Formerly known as the Canadian Waste Sector Symposium, the event promises to deliver the same high standard of information and networking.

• Network with leading industry professionals

• Attend over 35 workshop sessions

• Attend cocktail receptions and luncheon with keynote speaker

Held in conjunction with November 19-20, 2014 When you register for the CWRC, you will also get free admission to the 2014 Canadian Waste & Recycling Expo, the premier event for waste and recycling professionals.

For more information, visit www.cw2rc.ca.

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

Upgraded ammonia scrubber room.

Orgaworld

by Paul van der Werf “The farm is the most obvious destination for compost and there’s plenty of scientific research on its benefits.”

Dutch technology succeeds in London, Ontario

O

rgaworld started in the Netherlands in 2000 building and operating organic waste processing facilities. Since 2007 it’s been a division of UK waste giant Shanks Group, operating a variety of organic waste processing facilities in the Netherlands, Scotland and Canada.

The company arrived with some fanfare in Canada in 2006 as part of a “Dutch invasion” of composting technologies that saw in-vessel composting largely evolve away from agitated channel/bed technologies to composting tunnels and other less mechanical technologies. Ontario was then in the midst of a source-separated organics (SSO) collection boom that saw almost all large Golden Horseshoe municipalities develop SSO programs. Residents enthusiastically diverted SSO, which quickly and grossly outstripped available processing capacity. It was clear that new processing capacity was required.

York Region, and then the City of Toronto, agreed to send a portion of their SSO to a new facility to be built in London, Ontario.

Construction of the first 40,000 tonnes per year (tpy) facility in London began in 2006 and began receiving York Region’s SSO in 2007. By the end of 2008 construction of the second phase of the facility (which was then also processing SSO from Toronto and St Thomas) was complete and annual capacity rose to 150,000 tpy. A second 100,000 tpy facility in Ottawa became operational in 2010.

Challenges All did not go well, and the company experienced the problems that usually accompany rapid growth.

The period from 2002-2012 represented a period of overall SSO processing instability, due to rapid growth. In 2002 Ontarians diverted 360,000 tpy of organic waste (essentially all leaf-and-yard waste); by 2012 this more than doubled to 930,000 tpy (almost half of which was SSO).

Orgaworld’s London facility characterized the growing pains endured by Ontario’s organics processing sector during this time. The facility suffered from poor odour management, compounded by limited stakeholder relations with neighbours. However, the company also exemplifies the power of transformative learning, surviving and coming out the other side intact, as a better operator and a better neighbour.

Orgaworld has accomplished two things: one reactive and existential, and the other proactive and (quite frankly) brilliant. The first was to revolutionize odour management and essentially save this large facility.

The second was figuring out how to sell compost to farmers.

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

Orgaworld composting facility in London, Ontario.

Odour At Orgaworld, the initial odour abatement equipment for the full-scale facility included two ammonia scrubbers, four biofilters, one bioscrubber, and a 40m stack with two stack fans.

Odour issues were evident shortly after the facility opened. A location whose first facility composted less than 10,000 tpy was now permitted to compost 150,000 tpy. Inadequate odour abatement equipment and operational issues overwhelmed the site’s ability to consistently manage odour. This was exacerbated by a failure to manage the expectations of what neighbours would (and would not) be detecting.

The odour issue from 2010 recently culminated in a $250,000 fine, levied by the provincial Ministry of the Environment.

“It was clear that the infrastructure we had in place at the start was inadequate to manage all odours from SSO,” says Dale Harley, General Manager of Orgaworld. “Also in those early days we did not engage our neighbours and other stakeholders as well as we should have.”

2010 Odour Abatement Equipment Upgrades • Ductwork modified to achieve even loading of process air to the ammonia scrubbers.

• Ammonia scrubbers modified to enable easier maintenance.

• Switched abatement train around so that the bioscrubber was moved ahead of the biofilters in the system. This enabled the installation of a cooling section to cool down the process air before entering the biofilters thereby obtaining a more stable temperature.

• Increased biofiltration capacity by 25% which in turn increased available air flows.

• Ambient air dilution valve and fan installed, adding up to 75,000m3/hr of fresh air to the process air prior to it exiting the stack, adding buoyancy and dilution of the process air.

• Addition of a third stack fan and stack height increased from 40m to 60m.

“Since that time we have worked hard to make things right, rather than simply walking away,” says Harley. “This has included considerable investments in money, time and effort to manage odours and relationships.”

In 2010 the company realized the only way to rectify ongoing odour issues was to proactively (and temporarily) shut the facility. They invested $5 million overhauling the odour abatement infrastructure and improving site operations. (See side bars.)

Since that time an additional $1 million was invested in the following improvements: • Airflow sensors relocated and computer programming updated to improve SCADA control of abatement system; • Ammonia scrubber room upgraded with the addition of redundant chemical dosing and circulation pumps, seamless pipework, larger circulation tank and optimized pH and conductivity control to improve reliability of the system; and • Addition of a pilot-sized reverse osmosis unit to treat VOCs in the bioscrubber waters.

All of these efforts have yielded positive results. Stack outputs have decreased from 1 Odour Unit in 2009 to 0.08 Odour Units in 2013.

“The benefits have been real and tangible,” says London Plant Manager Sandra Drouillard. “In 2011 we had 165 odour complaints, which was reduced to 58 in 2013, and then 14 during the first half of this year.”

Adds Harley, “While our goal is to get to zero we have made significant progress in improving our performance and the relationship with our neighbours.”

Agricultural use of compost Prior to Orgaworld’s arrival there was little agricultural use of compost in Ontario.

The farm is the most obvious destination for compost and there’s plenty of scientific research on its benefits. Yet for years, like some unsolvable Rubik’s cube, this market remained barren.

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

Orgaworld’s development of agricultural market was largely accomplished with the support and partnership of crop consultants, staff at the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA), and progressive farmers. The Dutch connection also helped. Farmers from Europe had previously experienced the benefits of applying compost.

“Key for us was taking our message and value proposition directly to farmers so as to ultimately develop a level of trust,” says Harley. This included attending farm shows and events and inviting farmers to see how the compost was produced.

“Farmers need to understand what’s in the compost, especially the nutrient value but also organic matter content,” Harley says.

Orgaworld staff worked closely with A&L Laboratories to carefully characterize compost quality and then share this information with farmers. (See side bar.) The company has been a major supporter of OMAFRA field trials, through compost supply, plant tours, and sample testing and analysis (to show the benefits agricultural compost brings).

“Farmers are very important customers,” says Harley. “Once we were able to demonstrate the benefits to them they were willing to buy our product. We are now essentially sold out with a waiting list.”

Orgaworld is now leading the way in developing some innovative and novel uses for products developed from SSO, and this is driving demand for products. This includes an animal-bedding product and an ammonium sulphate (derived from the ammonia scrubbers) that’s a CFIA-approved fertilizer sold to farmers.

“Moving forward, Orgaworld is focused on a continuous improvement program, increasing the effectiveness of its operation and the quality and uses of its products,” Harley says. “We are here to stay and we want to make a positive contribution, not just where we operate, but also for the industry in general.”

Paul van der Werf is President of 2cg Inc. in London, Ontario. Contact Paul at 2cg@sympatico.cavv

Shredding source-separated organic waste.

PROCESSING/OPERATIONAL IMPROVEMENTS • Whole composting operation refined: timely incorporation of incoming SSO into a mix; first in, first out; mix ratios optimized; intensive loader operator training to ensure consistent and dedicated operation of mixing, filling and screening.

• In-depth preventative maintenance plan. Competent, trained maintenance team implemented. Reliability of plant vastly improved.

• Addition of a dedicated composting supervisor to monitor the composting process.

• Enhanced Community Odour Monitoring Program (ECOMP). 360 odour sniff tours carried out by independent third-party trained personnel. (Commissionaires, who are also used for the city landfill sniff tours).

• Increased frequency of biofilter inspections, sample analysis and media replacement.

Compost Quality N, P, K, OM, pH, EC and moisture 40lb/tonne N 25lb/tonne P as P2O5 20lb/tonne K as K20 750lb/tonne Organic Matter Average pH between 6-7 Complete inactivation of EC and Salmonella

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DIVERSION

by Clarissa Morawski & Samantha Millette “Canada is unique in North America, with its continued use of approximately 2.4 billion standard refillable beer bottles per year.”

Beverage Container Recycling Update Collection and recycling across Canada

C

M Consulting recently released the sixth edition of Who Pays What ™. The bi-annual report, first published in 2002, provides a detailed description of container recovery programs in each province, including up-to-date information on their effectiveness and costs. The 2014 update includes a discussion on collection rates that account for contamination, best practices to avoid deposit fraud, policies to promote the use of recycled-content, and new technologies to improve system efficiencies.

Performance: How’d we do?

Together, Canadian provinces collected approximately 70 per cent of all the non-refillable beverage containers sold in 2012. (Note: All data is based on calendar or fiscal year 2012).

Overall, non-refillable containers continue to be collected at higher rates in provinces that have deposit-return programs. For example, BC

and Alberta had non-refillable collection rates of 83 per cent and 82 per cent, respectively. In contrast, based on units, Ontario’s collection rate was approximately 59 per cent, while Manitoba’s was a mere 51 per cent. (Figure 1 shows provincial collection rates for all non-refillable beverage containers in 2012, highlighting deposit versus non-deposit return programs.)

When broken down by material type, aluminum cans are collected at a rate of approximately 75 per cent nationally. Non-refillable glass showed a high collection rate as well, at approximately 86 per cent. The clear underdog when it comes to non-refillables is PET bottles, with a national collection rate of roughly 60 per cent. (When contamination is taken into account, the overall amount of PET and glass recovered for recycling is actually less.)

As in previous years, Canada’s collection rate for refillable beer bottles remains high at about 97 per cent. It should be noted, however,

Figure 1: Provincial Collection Rates. Non-Refillable Containers: Deposit vs. Non-Deposit

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DIVERSION

Alberta depots adopt automation

No deposit increase in Quebec

In June 2012, Alberta became the first jurisdiction in North America to adopt state-of-the-art automated sorting and counting technology. The European manufactured equipment — which is able to process 300 containers per minute and can sort by container type and colour — was successfully piloted at two bottle depots: one in Grande Prairie and the other in Edmonton. Other depots in St. Albert and Fort McMurray have ordered the equipment as well. In both depots where it has been piloted, the new technology has led to reduced wait times and more accurate refunds for customers, as well as lower direct labour costs for depot owners.

In July 2012, Quebec’s Environment Minister, Pierre Arcand, released a five-year strategic plan for Recyc-Quebec. Part of this plan included doubling the deposit on all deposit-bearing aluminum cans, PET bottles and glass containers for carbonated beverages (beer, soft drinks, and some energy drinks) from 5- to 10-cents by the end of 2012. This plan was shelved when the PQ government won the 2012 election, but the Liberals have since returned to power and it remains unclear whether they will resume where they left off.

Canada says good-bye to the penny As a result of Canada’s decision to discontinue the penny on February 4, 2013, SARCAN Recycling was forced to restructure its deposit-return system to eliminate penny pricing. Prior to the change, SARCAN had offered a 1-cent refund for returned cans that were purchased outside of Saskatchewan. Customers no longer receive any refund for these out-of-province containers. The elimination of the 1-cent coin also led SARCAN to increase its refund on refillable beer bottles to 5-cents (up from 4-cents).

The elimination of the penny may also have implications on consumer costs where up-front fees charged per beverage container apply. In Alberta and British Columbia for example, Container Recycling Fees (CRFs) are variable and range from 1 to 12 pennies per unit sold.

Quebec cancels CONSIGNaction On March 28, 2014, Boissons Gazeuses Environnement (BGE) officially announced the cancellation of CONSIGNaction — a program launched in 2008 to increase the collection of deposit containers consumed away-from-home. The program had offered a free pick-up service to IC&I establishments that generated large amounts of empty containers from on-site beverage consumption.

Nova Scotia compaction trailer pilot In July 2012, Resource Recovery Fund Board (RRFB) Nova Scotia introduced a new compaction trailer for beverage containers and began a two-year pilot project at 18 high-volume Enviro-Depots in Halifax Regional Municipality. The compaction trailer transports more than five times as many beverage containers in one load than was previously possible. In addition to the environmental benefits, the trailer has reduced costs by over $120,000 annually.

The path to reducing organic waste is full of obstacles.

That’s why we’re here.

As the leader in organic waste recycling, ORBIS knows the challenges municipalities must face to meet waste diversion goals. We have the industry’s only carts designed specifically for organic waste recycling, and we work with you to ensure seamless implementation.

With a decade of experience, we’ve already helped many cities across North America reduce costs and improve diversion rates.

Contact us for a free expert consultation. orbiscorporation.com | a shift in thinking

Kitchen

Curbside

Backyard

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DIVERSION

that despite the high collection and recycling rate, overall use of refillable bottles is rapidly declining as brewers switch to distributing beer in non-refillable aluminum containers.

Away-from-home collection Today’s beverage market is packed with convenience items, grab-and-go packages, and single-serve containers that weren’t around when curbside recycling programs were first conceived in the late 1980s. While the majority of beverages are still consumed in households (50-70 per cent), it’s estimated that anywhere between 30-50 per cent of beverages are consumed away-fromhome (AfH), in areas where recycling services may not be available.

In an effort to increase the recycling of such containers, various initiatives led by government and industry have been sprouting across the country. Examples include the Canadian Beverage Container Recycling Association’s (CBCRA) “Recycle Everywhere” program in Manitoba, La Table pour la récuperation hors foyer in Québec, and “Go Recycle” — a public spaces recycling program launched by the City of Richmond and the beverage industry in British Columbia.

is a $75 limit on deposit refunds per individual per week. Consumer education and enforcement of the law is also key; many Canadians simply aren’t aware that it is against the law to buy a container in one province and return it for a refund in another. Strict penalties should be in place for those who engage in fraudulent activity.

Technology, too, has a role to play in the prevention of deposit fraud, just as with so many other elements of today’s world. Reverse vending machines (RVMs) can now be designed to include security systems that identify repeat containers and bar codes of the same type.

Dealing with deposit fraud Like any other business or operation, Canada’s beverage container recycling programs are susceptible to fraud. Fraud can occur anywhere along the system, but most commonly occurs at the back-end, for example, when beverage containers from outside the province are returned for a refund. This type of fraud has been observed in provinces like New Brunswick and Saskatchewan, which charge deposits on a number of beverage containers where neighbouring provinces have lower deposits or none at all.

The effect of this illegal, cross-border movement of containers is to artificially increase the recycling rate because the numerator in the rate calculation (the redemption figure) increases while the denominator (total province-wide beverage sales) remains the same, because the container was not sold in the province and therefore was never captured in distributor sales data.

It also results in a surplus of money leaving the system.

Regardless of how it occurs, the risks of fraudulent redemption can be reduced or eliminated by implementing a number of best practices.

These include mandatory unique labelling requirements and ensuring that the deposit is set at an appropriate level. The potential for fraud can also be minimized by setting limits on consumerbased redemption, which make the fraud less convenient. In Saskatchewan, for instance, there August/September 2014 www.solidwastemag.com 25

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The perennial poor performer among beverage containers is the ubiquitous non-refillable PET plastic bottle, collected for recycling at a national rate of 60%, and lower in non-deposit jurisdictions.

Canada’s success Canada’s collection, reuse and recycling efforts for beverage containers offer many examples of individual, self-financing programs that work. Canada is unique in North America, with its continued use of approximately 2.4 billion standard refillable beer bottles per year.

Canada is also well known as a supplier of high-value, clean scrap aluminum cans, PET and glass bottles which are sold to local and international markets.

Samantha Millette is a Research Analyst at CM Consulting in Peterborough, Ontario. Contact Samantha at samantha@cmconsultinginc.com Clarissa Morawski is Principal at CM Consulting in Peterborough, Ontario. Contact Clarissa at clarissa@cmconsultinginc.com

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ATLANTIC (902) 222-9679

GRANDE PRAIRIE (800) 809-5066

WINNIPEG (866) 548-1866

LAVAL (800) 990-7919

26 www.solidwastemag.com August/September 2014

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HEIL full p

Out of the darkness comes one big, bright idea in residential waste collection. Odyssey™ is the integrated front loader that combines versatility, simple operation, reduced need for maintenance, increased efficiency, and a lower cost to operate.

No other automated front loader has the innovative features Odyssey has, so no other front loader can do what Odyssey does.

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CNG VEHICLES

by Pierre Ducharme “One of the obstacles to greater market penetration has been the lack of information about current technology.”

The Hub of the Matter GO WITH NATURAL GAS Information Hubs

A

lthough natural gas has the potential to offer economic and environmental benefits to heavy-duty vehicles such as refuse and recycling trucks, adoption in Canada has been relatively slow.

One of the obstacles to greater market penetration has been the lack of information about current technology, despite the fact that natural gas waste and recycling trucks are now available from most truck manufacturers.

Mack, Peterbilt, Freightliner, Autocar, American LaFrance, and Freightliner offer trucks incorporate dedicated natural gas engine technology from Canadian company Cummins Westport.

Fleet daily-fuel needs can be met with a range of fuel tank capacities and configurations.

Kelowna, British Columbiabased Enviromech Industries is one of North America’s leading suppliers of modular natural gas fuel storage systems for refuse trucks.

The GO WITH NATURAL GAS Information Hubs were launched in November 2014 to deliver fact-based information, education materials, access to resources, and fleet workshops across the country. They’re particularly well equipped to help fleets operating in the waste and recycling sector, as well as highway trucking, vocational, major municipal, urban transit bus or school bus sectors for which there are factory-built natural gas vehicles available.

The Hubs are jointly financed by the government of Canada ecoENERGY for Alternative Fuels Program and by the Canadian Natural Gas Vehicle Alliance; they provide a single point of contact for fleets. They deal with issues such as why use natural gas (instead of diesel), how natural gas engine technologies have improved, what are the engines available today, and (coming to the market soon), what are the requirements for fuel storage, what the refuelling options are, and the economic and environmental benefits of switching to natural gas (among several others). The Hubs provide information and connects fleet managers with their peers who are already using natural gas vehicles to offer real world experiences and lessons learned.

The Eastern Information Hub covers Ontario, Quebec, New

Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Labrador. It’s operated by MARCON Management Consultants, a Québec-based organization focused on market research, strategy, and project/program management.

The Western Information Hub serves British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut.

The Western Information Hub is operated by C3, an Alberta-based organization focused on climate change and sustainability.

A third Hub is dedicated to all French Canadian organizations and is also operated by MARCON. Five workshops have already taken place in February of this year, attended by more than 200 people, in: London and Mississauga, Ontario; Calgary, Alberta; Drummondville, Quebec, and Surrey, BC. Nine more workshops are being planned, across the country. The first took place in Moncton, New Brunswick on June 11. Two workshops will take place in Ontario in the fall, one in Hamilton and another in Oshawa. On those occasions, the theme and agenda will revolve around understanding the economics of NGVs. Topics to investigate when wondering if natural gas vehicles are for you include: Why duty cycle is important in choosing the right vehicle; Comparing the price of NG and that of diesel; The economics of refuelling facilities; Financing options for NGVs; Lifecycle cost analysis; Permitting and other regulatory issues, and more. (These topics are addressed in the Hub workshops.)

For additional information, the Hubs can be reached by phone at a unique number (1-844-242-8485) or by email at easternNGVhub@ marcon.qc.ca, westernNGVhub@marcon.qc.ca or at carrefourVGN@ marcon.qc.ca Pierre Ducharme is Director of GO WITH NATURAL GAS Information Hubs in Montreal, Quebec. Contact Pierre at pducharme@miratechcanada.com

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COMPRESSED NATURAL GAS

FLEET SOLUTIONS

If your fleet isn’t using natural gas, you’re wasting a precious resource.

Your money.

Natural gas is the only fuel that has actually dropped in price over the past decade. And that means if you’re using anything else, you’re throwing good money away. With annual at-the-pump savings of up to 50 per cent, now is the perfect time to convert to Compressed Natural Gas (CNG).

As the appetite for low-cost, low-emission alternatives to diesel and gasoline continues to grow, so do the advantages of switching to a fuel that reduces costs, burns cleaner and helps you win and retain customers.

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FILE NAME: UGLC-0012 -4C-1

TRIM: 8.375” x 11.125

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I C & I WA S T E

by Diane Blackburn “To create tables from this heritage wood, new artisans were engaged on a short term basis.”

From Tree to Table The story of Storyboard Furniture

T

wo young guys meet in an east coast bar and…oops, right location, wrong story!

Two young guys meet at the Nova Scotia College of Art & Design in Halifax. The lads, Dennis Hale and Mike Sharpe, were from totally different backgrounds. Dennis was raised in Fort McMurray, Alberta with an environmentalist father, while Mike was a born and bred Torontonian. They had one thing in common: trees. (Well, at that age maybe beer, bards and girls figured into their common interests, too.)

Specifically, it was urban trees and how those trees met their end. In a poetic turn of phrase they described these trees as “ill fated.”

At the intersection of creativity and environmentalism, Hale and Sharpe saw a business opportunity that utilized felled urban trees by turning them into unique furniture pieces — tables to be precise. And so Storyboard Furniture (ct:Bold>storyboardfurniture.com) leapt from imagination to concept to business plan as a “tree to table” solution for salvageable trees from the backyards of city dwellers with a yen for preservation.

Walnut bench.

The business plan was well thought out.

All the links in the chain were examined and integrated. Research was done on the utilization of urban wood, and the City of Chicago offered inspiration on how this can be done. Turns out Chicago has a an excellent plan for handling its “ill-fated” trees, having moved from landfilling and burning in the 1970s (7 per cent utilization ) to 100 per cent utilization in 2012. Chicago, it appears, has superior vision and planning in most areas where public green spaces are concerned.

Opportunities for business development were thoroughly examined, as hand crafted furniture is a business that requires a particular type of client — one with the means to fell, remove and reimagine a tree they own into a unique furniture piece that will recall not only the history of the tree but the lives and memories of the family.

In a serendipitous strokes of luck the young entrepreneurs learned of an apple orchard in Huttonville, Ontario (near Toronto) that was about to be ploughed under to clear the way for a new subdivision. Farmland being paved over isn’t a new story for the GTA but these days, in a more environmentally sensitive world, there’s vigilance about destroying heritage. The Ferri family farm was a third-generation apple growing enterprise on Heritage Road, in what is now the western border of Mississauga/Brampton. The Ferri home had been demolished and the apple trees ripped up, ready for wood chipping. These particular trees were of a type not commercially cultivated anymore. They were planted in a manner that permitted them to grow large and thick, unlike current commercial fruit trees which are smaller and closely packed together (for larger yields).

The wood about to become chips was textured and beautifully suited for the creative vision of Storyboard’s founders.

Website Indiegogo was chosen as a launch mechanism to crowd-source financial and community support for the new enterprise and so, with not quite all the monetary goal achieved, Storyboard was able to get underway with the Orchard Rescue; the business was on the rails.

To create tables from this heritage wood, new artisans were engaged on a

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I C & I WA S T E

short term basis. They were tasked to craft one-of-a-kind items from the 200 salvaged trees, including benches, bowls, spoons and cutting boards.

It has not been an easy ride for Storyboard since the 2013 launch.

Crowd funding fell short of what was required for a solid start and Dennis Hale moved on to pursue other opportunities. Mike Sharpe is slowly building the company’s reputation, which has quietly spread through strategic alliances and promotion among the design community (which is always on the lookout for unique items for client homes).

Turning a tree into the family dining table is romantic and preservationist, and certainly a sign that people want connection to things past — things of substance, quality and even historical significance. No doubt there are other orchards out there in need of rescue from the developer’s bulldozer, but for now Storyboard is focusing on its original “tree to table” mandate, offering a unique option to city dwellers who may need to take down an old tree.

”Plane cloud” lamp.

Diane Blackburn is Events Manager for the Recycling Council of Ontario (RCO) and produces the RCO’s annual Waste Minimization Awards. This column regularly profiles finalists and winners from that awards program, and others across Canada. Contact Diane at events@rco.on.ca

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August/September 2014 www.solidwastemag.com 31

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

by John Nicholson “Port Fuels has signed a $36.8 million purchase agreement for APP’s Gasplasma system.”

Waste to Energy

New WTE projects in Alberta and Ontario

Drayton Valley Aspen Integrated Resource Recovery’s final product, waste pellets.

C

anada is experiencing a renaissance in the utilization of wasteto-energy (WTE) or waste-to-fuel technology. At present, an estimated 67 per cent of Canada’s municipal solid waste is landfilled. Most municipal waste experts would bet against landfill’s continuation as the predominant disposal option for waste as the focus shifts to recycling, product stewardship, composting and WTE. Evidence of the growing interest in WTE waste-to-fuel across Canada can be found in new projects across Canada, including projects proposed in Drayton, Alberta and Hamilton, Ontario.

AIRR in Drayton, Alberta With media attention focused on Edmonton’s municipal waste-to-biofuels and chemicals facility built by Enerkem, it’s easy to overlook other projects such as the Drayton Valley Aspen Integrated Resource Recovery (AIRR) facility.

Located about a two-hour drive west of Edmonton, the Town of Drayton has 7,000 residents. The town has undertaken a project whereby its municipal solid waste will be converted to solid fuel pellets. The plan is to use the fuel pellets as an alternative fuel source to fire nearby coal plants.

After the first grinding at the Aspen Integrated Resource Recovery.

Drayton’s waste-to-fuel pellets plant is to be built at an estimated cost of $22 million and is to be built by a consortium: WasteAway Services Canada (affiliated with the Tennessee-based company of the same name) and MCL Waste Systems and Environment Inc. (an Albertabased waste management company).

When built, the waste-to-fuel pellets plant will process Drayton’s 25,000 tonnes of waste per year plus an additional 40,000 tonnes of additional waste — required to make the project economically viable.

Drayton claims that its waste-to-fuel pellets will be the first of its kind in Canada. However, the claim can justifiably be challenged by the Dongara waste-to-pellet facility in Ontario’s York Region (just north of Toronto). The Dongara facility has been turning the region’s waste into fuel pellets since 2009. The $50-million facility was designed to process 100,000 tonnes of municipal solid waste per year.

The Dongara facility has had a number of setbacks, including challenges with throughput and resistance by the Ontario Ministry of the Environment to consider the fuel pellets as anything other than waste (which would require anyone burning them to get ministry approval to do so).

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Port Fuels in Hamilton, Ontario Another company is taking a crack at building a thermal waste treatment facility in Hamilton, Ontario. Readers may recall the efforts of Liberty Energy, based in California, to develop a $110 million biosolids-to-fuel plant in Hamilton that would process 400,000 tonnes of biosolids per year and generate 10 MW of electricity. After spending $12 million and eight years to get city and provincial approval for the project, the company abandoned the scheme last year.

The latest proposal for a waste-to-energy facility is from Port Fuels & Materials Services Inc (Port Fuels). The plan is to construct a facility capable of processing 170,000 tonnes per year of waste and generate 20 MW of electricity.

Before a shovel hits the ground in the Port of Hamilton (the proposed location) the company will need approval from Ontario’s environment ministry.

Port Fuels proposes a unique gasification-plasma technology for the facility. Although environmental activists consider all thermal treatment as incineration, the gasification-plasma proposed is a two-step process whereby waste is first gasified at 800 degrees Celsius to produce a synthetic fuel (referred to as “syngas”) which is then passed through a plasma arc at temperatures in excess of 8,000 degrees C. The clean syngas exiting the plasma arc is then burned to generate electricity. Any nonorganic material is vitrified (turned into an inert glass-like substance) by the plasma arc.

Advanced Plasma Power (APP) technology from England.

Advanced Plasma Power (APP) from England has already been selected as the technology provider and Port Fuels has signed a $36.8 million purchase agreement. APP’s Gasplasma® system is touted as a combination of gasification and plasma arc technology.

Like the Liberty Energy proposal before it, the Port Fuels proposal has already received negative reviews from a number of groups and individuals. From a purely technical perspective, the proposed facility represents the first application of APP’s technology on such a large scale.

If the proposed facilities in Drayton and Hamilton are ever built, Canada will have entered the age of waste-to-energy.

John Nicholson, M.Sc., P.Eng., is a consultant based in Toronto, Ontario. Contact John at john.nicholson@ebccanada.com

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14-08-27 11:44 AM

OWMA REPORT

by Rob Cook “Without government initiative, diversion rates will simply grow in parallel to generation rates.”

ReThink Organic Waste An organics strategy for Ontario

T

he benefits of composting and anaerobic digestion are well established. Managed properly, organic waste diversion offers the means to considerably reduce the need for disposal capacity. It can be used as a source of renewable energy and as a soil amendment. Compost improves the health of soils by adding organic matter, nutrients and conserving water, which in turn can result in increased crop yields and reduced need for fertilizers and, in some cases, pesticides. Over and above this, the diversion of organic waste generates local jobs and more economic activity.

Currently the Province of Ontario generates roughly 4.4 million tonnes of organic waste annually. Despite the potential benefits, approximately 3.1 million tonnes of this organic waste is sent for disposal each year. Most would agree that a strategy and plan to capture these organic resources is an important objective.

SECTOR

SUBCATEGORY

Residential

Leaf-and-Yard Source Separated Organics Overall

IC&I

CAPTURE RATE

Overall

84-89% 29-31% 44-47% 9-22% 22-39%

Ontario needs to radically rethink how it manages these important resources. This is why the Ontario Waste Management Association (OWMA) and the Regional Public Works Commissioners of Ontario commissioned consulting firm 2cg Inc to complete a report that would provide the basis for an “Ontario Organics Strategy.”

The report outlines the current landscape, including generation, diversion, processing capacities and barriers. It analyzes future growth in

Figure 2: Breakdown of compost sales in 2011 (tonnes).

generation and processing needs. Finally, it looks to other jurisdictions to explore the mechanisms utilized to drive greater economic value and ensure sector stability.

The organics diversion sector has grown tremendously over the last two decades with little benefit from government intervention (monetary or regulatory). At the core of this growth has been the understanding from Ontario municipalities and residents of the value of organics diversion. Approximately half the total population of Ontario now has access to Green Bin programs, and Ontario has experienced a 158 per cent increase in the amount of all organics collected since 2002. This represents an average annual increase of 16 per cent. (See Figure 1.)

The province now has 43 operational composting facilities and three

Figure 3: Estimated organic waste capture, 2013-2033.

Figure 1: Residential organic waste capture trends, 2003-2012.

large-scale anaerobic digestion (AD) plants: These produce approximately 520,000 tonnes per year of compost and 27 million cubic metres of biogas (from the anaerobic digestion of these wastes).

The sector has come a long way and overcome a number of issues.

End markets for compost and digestate continue to grow, especially in the agricultural sector.

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OWMA REPORT

The AMRC is now the MWA... with a new website to match our new name

www.municipalwaste.ca Work by the Compost Council of Canada (CCC) and the Ministry of Agriculture, Food & Rural Affairs on a series agricultural trials will continue to grow these markets. For a province with millions of acres of cash crops grown each year, there’s an enormous opportunity to increase crop yields and decrease the need for commercial fertilizers.

Despite these successes, some problems persist.

Organics diversion in Ontario has generally plateaued. Most large municipalities have residential Green Bin programs in place; low disposal fees continue to guide the decision making for the industrial, commercial and institutional (IC&I) sector. Without government initiative, diversion rates will simply grow in parallel to generation rates. Both need to be addressed, especially from a generation perspective, as most of these materials are food wastes.

Although Ontario is able to process the majority of the organic waste collected within its own borders, new capacity will be needed to accommodate any growth. To facilitate this, work is needed to: better deal with: odour management; address ongoing permitting issues; develop better data to inform decision making (for government and the private sector); provide better assurances around the proper management of materials; and, to improve and expand end markets.

None of these issues are simple. (If they were, they’d have been solved already.) The OWMA is in the midst of taking the timely information provided by 2cg Inc and working with other associations to build a strategy to “ReThink Organic Waste in Ontario.” Stay tuned… we’ll update the issue in future columns.

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Rob Cook is CEO of the Ontario Waste Management Association (OWMA) in Brampton, Ontario. Contact Rob at rcook@owma.org This article written with Naznin Nasir, an intern with the Ontario Waste Management Association.

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R E G U L AT I O N R O U N D U P

by Rosalind Cooper, L.L.B. “BC disposal will increase by 17.5 per cent by 2025 if current practices continue.”

Stewardship and Recycling Across Canada Nova Scotia expands product stewardship

Nova Scotia Environment has proposed changes to the Solid Waste Resource Management Regulations that would result in a significant expansion of the product stewardship programs within the province and, also, a ban on landfilling of any materials covered by such programs.

The proposed amendments include adding to the list of designated products the following: packaging; printed paper; products containing mercury; batteries; vehicle fluid products and their containers; oil; oil filters; oil containers; paint thinners and their containers; single-use pressurized containers; safety flares; pharmaceuticals and sharps including syringes; domestic pesticides and their containers; small quantity fuels and their containers (camping oil, lighter fluids, etc.); tar and roofing patch and their containers; adhesives (when in containers greater than one litre); microwaves; floor model printers; photocopiers; mattresses and box springs; carpet and plastic and synthetic flooring; and pressure treated timbers.

The amendments involve implementing more limited programs for engineered and composite wood, drywall and wallboard, and asphalt shingles. Successful stewardship programs are currently in place in Nova Scotia for consumer paint products and electronics.

The program would require each brand owner of a designated product to submit a plan to Nova Scotia Environment detailing how that brand owner would ensure that its products are recycled. Brand owners would have to meet specific performance targets and provide details of how their products will be managed at end-of-life.

The proposed amendments would ban disposal of the designated materials in landfills, along with clean wood, textiles and non-packaged expanded polystyrene. The ban on landfill disposal would be phasedin to allow development of appropriate stewardship programs by brand owners. The intent is for municipalities to recover most of their curbside recycling costs as producers take on responsibility for recycling packaging and other products.

Other proposed amendments include the imposition of a one-time environmental fee on off-the-road tires for all-terrain vehicles, mining equipment and farm tractors to support collection and processing of used tires.

Feedback on Alberta’s recycling plan Alberta Environment and Sustainable Resource Development has released a “Proposed Designated Materials Recycling Regulation Consultation Workbook Feedback Summary Report.” The document provides a summary of the feedback received in response to government plans to consolidate all of Alberta’s existing recycling regulations (including those relating to beverage containers, used oil, tires, electronics and paint) under a proposed Designated Materials Recycling Regulation.

Those that participated in the workshop requested further consulta-

tion to address the options of having a full extended producer responsibility (EPR) model versus the option of retaining some or all of the existing governance elements. Many of the participants indicated that cost recovery programs should be directed to those who manage, facilitate and operate programs.

PEI consolidates recycling and stewardship programs The Materials Recycling Regulations in Prince Edward Island have been replaced by the Materials Stewardship and Recycling Regulations and consolidates the recycling and stewardship programs. The new regulation defines “recyclable material” as a material or product that has been diverted from disposal, is managed as a marketable commodity with an established market, or is used or processed in the manufacturing of a product that has an established market, and is not a designated material or a beverage container as defined in the Beverage Containers Act. The collection and selling of recyclable material, and the operation of recycling facilities requires a recycling facility permit. The regulation sets the application process for recycling facility permits and outlines the information that’s required. Where the environment minister thinks a proposed recycling facility may pose a risk to the environment, the minister may require the applicant to provide insurance coverage. The operator of a recycling facility is required to record certain information about the recyclable material handled at the facility and submit a written report to the minister by March 1st of each year (with respect to the preceding calendar year).

Automotive salvage and scrap metal operations require a recycling facility permit and an automotive salvage and scrap metal endorsement.

The regulation sets out the application process and the required information. The regulation also defines automotive salvage and scrap metal as a designated material.

BC disposal rates British Columbia’s Ministry of the Environment has released a provincial overview document entitled “Municipal Solid Waste Disposal in B.C.” The overview shows per capita municipal solid waste disposal rates from 1990 to 2010. The central statistical agency of BC estimates that 2.9 million tonnes of solid waste were disposed of in landfills in the province in 2010, and that disposal will increase by 17.5 per cent by 2025 if current practices continue. Municipal solid waste includes waste from residential, commercial, institutional, demolition, land clearing and construction sources. It doesn’t include hazardous waste, biomedical waste, agricultural waste, motor vehicles or components, or contaminated soil.

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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Advertisers’ Index

August/September 2014

Company Page # 2cg/Waste Management Consulting Services . . . . . . . . .35

Company Page # Machinex Technologies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5

Bag Supplies Canada, Ltd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35

Municipal Waste Association . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35

BDP Industries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13

Ontario Waste Management Association . . . . . . . . . . . . .12

Canadian Waste to Resource Conference . . . . . . . . . . . .15

Orbis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24

Conestoga-Rovers & Associations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35 Drive Products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .37 Eriez . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .37 Environmental Business Consultants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35 Environmental Solutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31 Goodyear Canada Inc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .39

Paradigm Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12 Trux Route Management Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35 Van Dyk Recycling Solutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .40 Vermeer Canada Inc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26 Walinga Inc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10

Heil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27

Waste2Fuel CleanTech Conference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11

Keith Walking Floors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14

Union Gas Limited . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29

Komptech . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25

Zero Waste International Alliance Conference &

Mack Trucks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2

Dialogue 2014 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33

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BLOG

by Guy Crittenden “Let’s please all agree to be careful with our language so as to have meaningful public policy discourse.”

Messing with the term “Zero Waste”

A

s Noam Chomsky wrote, slogans like “Support Our Troops!” kind of in-ground collection technology. (I’m thinking about MOLOK that appear on ribbons and bumper stickers are a form of propain-ground containers here.) Also, a range of difficult-to-separate or ganda that may distract us from questioning public policies difficult-to-recycle packaging materials should be prohibited from the which are disturbing at a deeper level. Many people will connect emomarketplace in the first place. tionally with supporting their country’s soldiers while being redirected What’s interesting about the Indiana situation is that the MWMRF from asking, “Do you support our policies?” is being proposed for single-family homes — thus letting lazy homeWords have power, as great thinkers but also Madison Avenue copyowners off the hook from sorting their stuff. writers have known for a long time. If a government or lobby All of us engaged in the realm of waste management and group or corporation can reframe arguments a certain way, recycling need to be conscious that we sometimes work public policy may move in a direction of its choosing. hard to provide effective solutions for temporary probWith the best propaganda, the target audience doesn’t lems and unintentionally contribute to the distraction even contemplate other choices about which it refrom long-term sustainability solutions. I’ve written mains unaware. quite a few times that some amount of recycling has Bill Sheehan of the US policy think tank an important role to play in sustainability, but our Upstream (formerly the Product Policy Institute) resociety has obsessed too much about “how to recently shared an interesting online letter in this recycle more” when it should be asking, “What would gard that applies to the waste management industry. a sustainable society look like?”

Sheehan calls it, “An insightful and important message Along the lines of “Support Our Troops!” focusing posted to the Zero Waste International Alliance list by on how to recycle more suits the corporate agenda of Eric Lombardi of Boulder’s EcoCycle.” soft drink multinationals and their packaging preferences, The letter confronts the attempt of municipal officials and a range of other industries that sell everything from launand members of what he calls “Big Trash” to co-opt the term dry soap to potato chips. How would their preferences fare in “Zero Waste” by incorporating it in a new term: “Zero a truly sustainable system? I suspect some of them wouldn’t waste to landfill.” Simply put, “Zero waste to landfill” exist in the first place, or would at least be sold in a very replaces the concept of changing consumer behaviour different packaging format (e.g., bulk, refillable, etc.). and the way goods are produced and packaged (to “Zero waste to landfill” is something most people minimize energy and raw material inputs, etc.) would agree with, but it diverts us from the much with incineration. more daunting concept of “Zero Waste.” The latSheehan draws attention to an article in Waste ter calls us to reconsider how our society impacts Management World about a program in Indiana extolthis planet; the former is part of a narrow debate about ling how an automated recycling facility will require less whether it’s better to burn or bury “garbage.” The problem The ubiquitous Support our Troops ribbon. conscious participation from citizens. The new is compounded when some waste-to-energy “state-of-the-art facility (mixed-waste sorting) enthusiasts label their activities as “recycling,” will take Indy from a 10 per cent recycling participation rate to 100 per which one encounters in reports from some European countries and in cent without any new government mandates, fees or tax increases,” the some corporate promotional materials. article states.

Whatever you think of landfills, waste-to-energy plants or different Sheehan also likes (and I agree) Lombardi’s sentence that the act of recycling strategies, let’s please all agree to be careful with our language “participation” means something that is very very important … it means so as to have meaningful public policy discourse and not exercises in that the person is awake to the value of acting on behalf of community. mere propaganda!

Note that I personally view mixed-waste material recovery faciliThe online links to the Upstream blog post and the Waste ties (MWMRFs) as potentially positive in regard to multi-residential and Management World story can be found via my blog post here: http:// commercial buildings, and less so for single-family homes. Dirty MRFs blog.solidwastemag.com/messing-with-the-term-zero-waste/ have a deservedly poor reputation. Wherever MWMRFs are introduced, they should be used for residual materials from which most fibres and Guy Crittenden is editor of this magazine. Contact Guy at containers have been diverted via a Blue Box-style program or some gcrittenden@solidwastemag.com

38 www.solidwastemag.com August/September 2014

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39-40 swr a-s 2014 ADS p 39-40.indd 40

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