August/September 2015
INSIDE: Dash Cam Generation – page 23 Waste App Winners – page 14 Biomass Section – page 31
www.solidwastemag.com
STAT RACE Organics and e-Waste — page 8
CPMP No. 40069240
An EcoLog Group Publication
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August/September 2015
Volume 20, Number 4
CONTENTS
Solid Waste & Recycling
Canada’s magazine on collection, hauling, processing and disposal
COVER STORY Pt. 1: An analysis of Canada’s newest organics diversion data by Paul van der Werf
8 s Jaffe by Charle
STAT RACE
FILLING THE DATA GAP
Cover art
Pt. 2: A look at the growth and issues around Canada’s electronic waste diversion by David Nesseth
FEATURES
RUNNING ON SUNSHINE B.C.’s Pender Island Recycling Depot goes solar by Anna Herlitz
13
DEPARTMENTS Editorial – Waste Bin Wi-Fi . . . . . . . . 4
CALLING ALL APPS Toronto students design their best waste apps for smartphones by Annette Synowiec
Waste Watch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 14
Regulation Roundup . . . . . . . . . . . 26 International Spotlight . . . . . . . . . . 27
CANADA FIBERS
Event Waste Management . . . . . . . . 38
Ontario-based company making waves in the waste world by SWR Staff
16
DOPPSTADT TURNS 50 18
A pictorial celebration spread
by Andrew White
32
ALLU’s Biogas Success
COMPOST COUNCIL NATIONAL CONFERENCE Organics recycling infrastructure in action
BIOMASS BONUS SECTION Digestate Uses and Abuses
19
DASH CAM GENERATION
by Dale Mickle
33
Biogas Outlook 2030 by Daniel Bida
A look at the rise of video in the waste hauling industry by David Nesseth
13
23
34
Odour, Dust and Noise by John Nicholson
14
36
23
NEXT EDITION:
October/November 2015 Editorial: Bonus Distribution: Canadian Waste Expo special edition • Materials Handling Equipment • Waste-to-Energy heavy Equipment • Official issue of Canadian Waste Expo Space closing: September 22, 2015. Artwork required: September 28, 2015. August/September 2015 www.solidwastemag.com 3
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EDITORIAL
by David Nesseth “In an age where companies like Samsung warn consumers about people/government eavesdropping through a television’s microphone (for voice commands), it’s kind of hard to be a trusting citizen.”
Text me when you reach the next Wi-Fi waste bin : ) Waste bins are all around us, so why not make them high-tech, right?
I
n the UK, a few years back, citizens were angered when companies started using high-tech waste bins as ways to scan consumer information from pedestrians’ smartphones, all with the hope of creating tailored advertising like the kind done by Google and Facebook. You know, when you search for a particular product, then that product appears all over various websites you visit. Good times.
WASTE CRAFT Photo Courtesy of Bigbelly
WASTED is a three-part system that combines recycling, community development, design and education. The Amsterdam-based project involves recycling local plastic into versatile ‘blocks’ during volunteer workshops. The blocks can be used to build objects such as benches, planters and stages for use within the community. The ‘blocks’ are made from plastic waste donated by local residents, who receive reward tokens to redeem offers at local participating businesses, including free beers, Photo Courtesy of WASTED discounts on groceries and bike repairs.
Now, the Wi-Fi waste bin concept is resurfacing, but more in the vein of providing wireless hotspots. At least that’s what we’re being told. In an age where companies like Samsung warn consumers about people/ government eavesdropping through a television’s microphone (for voice commands), it’s kind of hard to be a puppy-eyed, trusting citizen. Bigbelly is a waste solutions company based in Massachusetts known for creating solar-powered waste bins. The bins are generally equipped with Qualcomm chips (yeah, Toronto!), and when they’re full, or even just smelly, a text or email is automatically sent to waste management staff. While other companies are doing similar things, few others, however, are venturing into the Wi-Fi hotspot realm, as Bigbelly has done with a pilot project in New York. Because the bins are actually on the sidewalks, Wi-Fi signals aren’t obstructed. Bigbelly has placed these units within many of the 170 smart bins installed around the city. Testing has shown that the bins are capable of an Internet bandwidth of up to 75 megabits per second. Of course, it’s too early to know what any of this will really mean in terms of privacy, advertising or the actual capture of useful data for things like waste bin foot traffic. But it’s still worth taking a peek through some of Bigbelly’s blogs about using sensors in cities. The Internet of Things is well upon us it seems. But I’m still waiting for the day when my own personal robot (let’s call him Bolts) can be ready by my side to take out the week’s compost and recycling to the curb. Now that’s technological progress I can get behind. David Nesseth is the editor of Solid Waste & Recycling magazine. He can be reached at dnesseth@solidwastemag.com
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Solid Waste & Recycling
WA S T E WAT C H
Canada’s magazine on collection, hauling, processing & disposal
LETTERS
David Nesseth Editor dnesseth@solidwastemag.com Brad O’Brien Publisher bobrien@solidwastemag.com Dave Douglas
Account Manager ddouglas@bizinfogroup.ca
Sheila Wilson
Art Director
Gary White Diane Rakoff
Market Production Circulation Manager
Alex Papanou President Annex-Newcom LP Award-winning magazine
Solid Waste & Recycling magazine is published six times a year by EcoLog Information Resources Group, a division of Annex Newcom LP, a leading Canadian business-to-business information services company that also publishes HazMat Management 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. 43005526 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: amadden@annexnewcom.ca Mail to: Privacy Officer Annex-Newcom LP 80 Valleybrook Drive Toronto, ON M3B 2S9 We acknowledge the financial support of the Govern ment of Canada through the Canada Periodical Fund of the Department of Canadian Heritage. © 2015 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced without prior consent. Print edition: ISSN-1483-7714
Online edition: ISSN-1923-3388
Dear Sir,
July 2015,
We would like to commend Solid Waste & Recycling for publishing John Nicholson’s timely article on energy from waste in your June/July 2015 issue . Nicholson’s conclusion that North America is sadly trailing Europe in applying energy from waste options for managing residual waste disposal is factual. Canadian waste management officials know only too well that the application of energy from waste is decades behind Europe, Japan, and China. Nicholson’s article should be required reading for Canadian government officials. We agree with Mr. Nicholson’s statement that government policy in Europe provided leadership and incentives to advance the application of energy from waste technology. The availability of land was a factor, but of minor importance compared to the need to drastically reduce energy dependency on costly imported fossil fuels. Government legislation supporting renewable energy projects produced remarkable results. Germany, for example, constructed over 60 energy from waste facilities, virtually closed all landfills, and significantly reduced greenhouse gas emissions. Canadian municipalities, which have to select residual waste disposal options, need both factual cost information and government support. Municipalities continue to support landfills and claim low costs are a myth because post-closure cost liabilities are ignored. Full life cycle costs for landfills include millions of dollars required to provide 200 years of post-closure maintenance. Energy from waste costs are inflated because municipalities do not consider a modern energy from waste facility will continue to perform efficiently 40 or 50 years after plant equity is retired with no post-closure cost liabilities. Recent comprehensive studies comparing the full life cycle costs of landfills vs. energy from waste facilities, confirm that landfill disposal over a 50 year cycle will cost $94 per tonne. By comparison, an energy from waste facility [combustion technology] will cost $57 per tonne. In the last decade, Canadian waste management officials have come to understand and appreciate the environmental and economic benefits of energy from waste. In spite of low government support, significant progress is visible. Examples are to be found in 1] the commissioning of North America’s most advanced energy from waste facility in Clarington, Ont. 2] a new facility being developed in Peel Region, Ont. 3] a large regional EFW facility planned for southern Alberta and 4] continuing energy from waste developments in Vancouver.
Ed.K.McLellan, Peterborough
Retraction Please note that Solid Waste and Recycling recalled the article we published on Calgary organics in the June-July 2015 print edition of the magazine. The page 34 article, written by a freelancer, failed to meet our general standards for accuracy and fact-checking. We apologize for not doing better to serve you. Please note that we have removed the article in all of its digital forms, but of course, we cannot gather up all the hard copies. Therefore, the article should not be used a reference in any way for Calgary organics data. Our apologies to the City of Calgary, and to all of the municipal staff who make waste management possible. Please stay tuned for a new article on Calgary’s organic waste pursuits, which we hope will serve as a useful replacement resource for future reading. Sincerely,
David Nesseth
Editor, Solid Waste & Recycling magazine
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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WA S T E WAT C H
Ontario’s HWIN Fees may double
To achieve full program cost recovery, Ontario is proposing to raise fees for its Hazardous Waste Information Network (HWIN), where fees have been frozen since their inception in 2002. The proposal would raise the tonnage component of Hazardous Waste Fees from $10 per tonne to $20 per tonne for hazardous waste transferred or disposed of between Jan. 1, 2016 and Dec. 31, 2016. The tonnage component of the Hazardous Waste Fees would be further increased to $30 per tonne as of January 1, 2017.
Clear bag debut
Halifax kicked in a variety of new curbside waste pickup procedures that debuted Aug.1. Most notably, the City is now mandating clear plastic waste bags for curbside collection to help increase proper sorting of waste from recyclables. Only one of the six bags alotted for residential curbside pickup can be a dark bag, known as a privacy bag.
ARCA Canada, based in Oakville, Ont., recently celebrated the milestone of safely decommissioning 500,000 fridges, freezers and other refrigerantcontaining appliances since 2006.
Sweetening the deal in Sarnia
Contact procedure flaw over BC fire
Hartland Landfill, just northwest of Victoria, B.C., caught fire on July 20, but the real issue ended up being why it took more than nine hours for the Ministry of Environment to notify the island’s health authority about the fire’s potential concerns for human health. The landfill is operated by the Capital Regional District (CRD). While the cause of the fire has yet to be determined, CRD officials are reminding residents to properly dispose of household hazardous waste such as pesticides, varnishes, paints, cleaners and batteries.
Quebec-based BioAmber Inc. has cut the ribbon for its $141.5-million renewable chemical facility in Sarnia, Ont., billed as the world’s largest succinic acid plant. BioAmber’s new facility, capable of producing 30,000 tons of succinic acid annually, makes its renewable chemicals from sugar instead of petroleum. Succinic acid is used in products found in everyday life, including polyurethanes, paints and coatings, adhesives, sealants, artificial leathers, food and flavour additives, cosmetics and personal care products, biodegradable plastics, nylons, industrial lubricants and more.
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COVER STORY Pt. 1 Our two-part cover story explores Canada’s statistical gains in organics and e-waste diversion
B
ritish mathematical physicist Lord Kelvin once said, “When you can measure what you are speaking about, and express it in numbers, you know something about it, when you cannot express it in numbers, your knowledge is of a meager and unsatisfactory kind; it may be the beginning of knowledge, but you have scarcely, in your thoughts, advanced to the stage of science.” Which brings us to Statistics Canada’s recent biannual release of 2012 waste management data. The data is presented without commentary — cold and dispassionate. The way it should be. For organic waste it shows that diversion in Canada has increased by about 11 per cent from 2010 (Table 1). This increase is notable because it shows that organic waste diversion rebounded after decreasing from 2008 to 2010, likely as a result of challenging economic times.
by Paul van der Werf “I think a more effective mechanism is to set up a landfill ban of organic waste. This targets the waste in question, rather than penalizing all waste going to landfill.”
STAT RACE
Most of this new statistical increase came from Quebec, whose organic waste diversion clambered back to 2008 levels after being clobbered in 2010. British Columbia and Alberta made solid gains too. However, if one compares 2012 diversion with 2008 areas, the strongest gains are found in B.C., Ontario and Manitoba. Both Nova Scotia and New Brunswick’s organic waste diversion are declining. Overall, what the data shows is that organic waste diversion has increased by 60 per cent since 2004, but that it is currently in decline for some mature Maritime programs, heading to program maturity in Ontario, with the strongest growth currently in B.C. How accurate are the Statistics Canada data? When looking at Waste Diversion Ontario (WDO) 2012 datacall numbers, an estimated 930,000 tonnes of residential organic waste were diverted and one can infer that ap-
Table 1. Overview of Organic Waste Diversion in Canada (2004-2012)
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COVER STORY Pt. 1
OWMA The OWMA/RPWCO Ontario Organic Waste Management Report 2013-2033 includes a detailed identification and assessment of barriers to growth and investment and end markets. Barriers to growth and investment include: • no provincial strategy, which would provide a signal to the market • length of time and cost to obtain approvals • odour management • poorly operating facilities, which makes it more difficult to site new facilities.
BARRIERS FOR END MARKETS INCLUDE: • facility revenue weighted 90 per cent tipping fee and 10 per cent product sale • inability to add value to compost • difficulty having compost specified for various established uses • competition from other products, particularly unregulated ones • poor understanding or appreciation of compost value in the marketplace.
proximately 140,000 tonnes per year was diverted by the IC&I sector (i.e. to equal the 1.070 million tonnes diverted in Ontario in Table 1). However, the Ontario Waste Management Association (OWMA) and Regional Public Works Commissioners Ontario Organic Waste Management Report 20132033, which I prepared using 2011 data, estimates that about 1.25 million tonnes of organic waste was diverted in Ontario, with 300,000 tonnes of this coming from the more difficult to estimate IC&I sector. While the Statistics Canada data looks reasonable for Ontario, it also points out the challenge of estimating organic waste diversion from the IC&I sector, and there is a good possibility that not all of this diversion is being captured by Statistics Canada. When normalizing the data on a per capita basis, it is clear that many provinces are bunched around the Canadian average, which currently sits at about 71 kg per capita each year (Figure 1). Nova Scotia, which banned organic waste from landfill in 1999, leads organic waste diversion at more than twice the Canadian average, although notably it has been declining since 2008. B.C. has been showing the strongest growth, overpassing Ontario to take the number two spot in 2010. While I would not say organic waste diversion in Canada has plateaued, it is likely that’s where we are headed. Yet it’s not as if there are no organics left to be diverted, or no room for improvement.
Figure 1. Overview of Per Capita Organic Waste Diversion in some Provinces
It is estimated, through calculation, that Canadians generate about 9.7 million tonnes of organic waste, or about 30 per cent of what is disposed. That means that we are currently capturing only about 25 per cent of organic waste generated. Furthermore, if we roughly assume that half of organic waste is food waste and half of that is edible food waste, we have 2.4 million tonnes per year of edible food waste that’s thrown out. The barriers to organic waste diversion are diverse, but not unique. They include high cost, lack of policy direction and low product value. While municipalities have a political mechanism that can be used to make decisions that are not strictly cost based, the IC&I’s key decisionmaking mechanism is still monetary, although corporate social responsibility (CSR) considerations have changed this for some. In provinces such as Manitoba and Saskatchewan, a relatively small amount of waste is produced and waste disposal is generally quite inexpensive. It becomes very difficult to identify a critical mass of organic waste that can be cost effectively diverted. Nova Scotia, which is in the same boat, removed this barrier by banning organic waste from its landfills. In some cases there is political will, particularly for municipal organic waste, to pay a premium for diversion (e.g. parts of Ontario). This choice is typically made in front of the backdrop of shrinking or non-existent disposal capacity.
“
In round numbers, that means each Canadian throws out between $170$375 worth of food annually. So how do we get past where we are?”
It is reasonable to conclude that the key barrier to organic waste diversion is cost and all other barriers are ancillary. The key way to overcome the cost barrier is to alter the playing field that makes waste disposal more expensive and waste diversion more cost competitive. The only way for that to transpire is to implement a quantitative driver that changes how we are able to manage organic waste. This could include a landfill tax, which adds a premium to landfilling, with the funds hopefully being used to fund waste diversion programs. I think a more effective mechanism is to set up a landfill ban of organic waste. This targets the waste in question, rather than penalizing all waste going to landfill. The empirical evidence is clear as can be seen by the impact of Nova Scotia’s ban. However, this approach does have some potential impact on the ability to capture carbon credits but changing the marketplace to favour diversion could potentially make up for this lost revenue. Other Canadian jurisdictions have started to adopt the concept of a landfill ban or give it a serious look. While organic waste diversion is strong in Canada, real opportunities exist for additional reduction and diversion. Maybe we could all start by completely polishing off our dinner plates. Paul van der Werf is President of London, Ontario-based 2cg Inc. and has been involved in the business of waste prevention and diversion for the last 20 years. He can be reached at 2cg@sympatico.ca. August/September 2015 www.solidwastemag.com 9
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COVER STORY Pt. 2
by David Nesseth “To make matters even more confusing, however, is that while electronics are many times lighter than they used to be, we are manufacturing them at staggeringly increased rates.”
STAT RACE: II
Advent of consumer social responsibility and progressive product design playing roles in e-waste diversion boost
E
lectronic product design that takes end-of-life options into account is ever so slowly moving out of the Stone Age, a time when computers, TVs and other devices were the size of baby elephants. ‘What does the device do?’ and ‘How does it work?’ These were the questions that dominated discussion when great minds advanced technological design to new heights, while taking waste consideration and impact to new lows. Lead, mercury and an array of unpleasantries were gateways to getting the job done, and there was utter disregard for the long-term environmental impact of the products. Our grandparents’ televisions are a sight to behold. These devices might as well be from a different world. Cathode ray tube televisions, called CRTs, emit x-ray radiation with cadmium and lead hidden inside for good measure. A United Nations University study from 2014 found that toxic materials in the world’s annual 41.8 million tonnes of discarded electronics include lead in glass (an estimated 2.2 million tonnes), batteries (300,000 tonnes), mercury, cadmium, chromium and ozone-depleting substances (CFCs, 4,400 tonnes). These technological dinosaurs remain as fossils in many basements across Canada, but Cliff Hacking, who runs the Electronic Products Recycling Association, thinks that in provinces like British Columbia and Ontario, there may be only a five-year backlog remaining for these sketchy televisions. “We will have cleaned out most of that material, and it will just be down to a trickle,” says Hacking, based just west of Toronto. His organization diverts more than 15 million devices from landfill and illegal export each year in Canada. Hacking joins me to discuss the latest electronics waste recycling data from Statistics Canada. The biennial data shows that strides are being made. Since 2006, Canada steadily increased its electronic items diversion rate each year, doubling the rate twice over the previous two Stat Can data periods. In 2006, the country stood at just over 11,000 tonnes recycled. By 2012 that diversion jumped to more than 71,000 tonnes. While the stats are promising, Hacking says, “It’s not a complete picture of what’s going on.” Primarily, he’s referring to the use of weight data, which he considers an outdated approach. “The lightweighting of electronics is a huge factor taking place,” says Hacking. “TVs can now have weight differentials that make them up to
90 per cent lighter. But the weight factor is no longer the measure of success. The measurement of what we take back is going to have to have different terms.” In other words, industry is succeeding with the lightweighting of electronics, so it may be time to switch our focus from weight-based metrics to something new. We are collecting many more used electronics than we used to, but since device weighting has dropped dramatically, the true diversion picture can be harder to understand. An old desktop computer or an old ‘car phone’ are going to be significantly heavier than their modern laptop and smartphone counterparts. Additionally, we may be heading into new territory with foldable smartphone and tablet technology, even wearables. Materials like graphene mean stronger, thinner and lighter material - making products much more flexible. Some of these new screens can literally be folded up and tucked into your change pocket.
NEW PHONE EVERY TWO YEARS? To make matters even more confusing, however, is that while electronics are many times lighter than they used to be, we are manufacturing them at staggeringly increased rates. Plus, more and more countries are getting on board. Technology is no longer the exclusive playground of just Europe and North America. Our gadgets are holding our praise for less and less time too. We are on the verge of the iPhone 7, and you would not be hard-pressed to find people who have owned each and every incarnation of the Apple product. That means Apple, as well as many other companies, are releasing new and improved versions of their device every single year. The average owner gets a new phone every two years now. Of course, this is a great way to make a company rich, and a bad way to overload the collection networks forced to deal with these unwanted products. According to a joint research project funded by the European Union, as many as 70 per cent of devices turned in across Europe during 2012 were fully functional. Thirty-five per cent of electronics devices were given to official collection and recycling systems, while the other discarded electronics, 6.2 million tonnes in all, was either exported or recycled under noncompliant conditions or simply thrown in waste bins. Times may be changing, however, according to Electronics Product Stewardship Canada’s 2015 Design for Environment Report. It
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COVER STORY Pt. 2
states that product durability is on the rise, increasing lifespans. But this appears to lose any significance if the consumer perceives what’s ‘under the hood’ to be outdated or obsolete. LCD and plasma TVs lead the way in the lifespan category. According to the report, these TVs can last up to 20 years, while mobile phones have a lifespan of less than a decade. In reality, however, the typical consumer is likely to switch computers and his or her mobile phone every two years. This conundrum has led to innovations from companies like Samsung, which introduced the SEK 1000 Evolution Kit, a product that “allows customers to upgrade the TV’s multimedia contents, picture quality and smart functions upon its installation on the existing TVs, thereby extending product life cycle,” the company says. Hacking says that while awareness of ewaste recycling is high among the millennial generation, motivation to take action isn’t. “We want to get them motivated and
PROVINCIAL CHECKUP
Tech companies are working with new materials like graphene (above) to make lighter, foldable smartphones that could help make e-waste recycling easier.
make it easy to actually do something,” says Hacking. Marketing has been trying to show just how easy it is to recycle electronics nowadays. That convenience is critical, says Hacking. After establishing an EPRA presence in Quebec just over two years ago, there are now more than 800 device collection points in the province, ranging from municipal to private and retail entities.
The latest summer 2015 Stat Can data shows a very different scene from province to province in term of Canada’s electronics recycling. Firstly, Stat Can electronics diversion data isn’t even available from P.E.I., Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Saskatchewan, B.C., and the North. Provincial stewardship bodies help to fill in the gaps in data. The EPRA’s annual report for B.C., for instance, reveals that the province diverted nearly 23,000 tonnes of electronics in 2014. The EPRA collected more than $25.5 million in Environmental Handling Fees (EHFs) that same year. Quebec, meanwhile, which has seen a spike in e-waste diversion, collected nearly $42 million in EHFs for 2014. Quebec lagged in terms of implementation, waiting until late 2012 to start an eco-fee program, but once the program began it was clearly more aggressive than other provinces. At the time, for instance, a 29-inch TV, which averaged about $300 in Quebec, cost an addi-
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COVER STORY Pt. 2
TYPE OF MATERIALS GEOGRAPHY DIVERTED
Canada
All materials diverted Electronics
2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 7,112,735 7,626,683 8,310,570 8,083,370 8,448,007 10,245 11,357 24,367 51,105 71,396
tional $42.50 (but now $5.50) after the EHF was applied. In Ontario, that same TV would have had an EHF of $25; in Alberta – just $10.80. As recent as 2014, Environment Canada officials were investigating three Metro Vancouver companies allegedly linked to ewaste exports that may contravene the BASEL Convention. Surrey company Electronics Recycling Canada was charged with 24 federal counts related to the unlawful export of hazardous recyclable material such as lead-acid batteries, nickel-cadmium batteries and CRTs to the city of Macau in China. The country is widely considered to be the world’s e-waste dumping ground. While North American regulations can make e-waste re-
cycling costly, in order to comply with health and environmental standards, many companies appear to avoid these costs and scrutiny by simply mislabelling and shipping the products out of country. Of course, China banned these hazardous imports, but appears to often turn the other way during inspections, grateful for any local cash or tax influx in the interim. Of course the advent of consumer social responsibility has played a huge role in increasing numbers for electronics recycling, but Hacking says, “The issue is when less reputable organizations get involved.” David Nesseth is the editor of Solid Waste & Recycling magazine. He can be reached at dnesseth@solidwastemag.com
HACKING AWAY EPRA founder Cliff Hacking used to work in the food industry, as well as logistics. He worked for the likes of Canadian Tire, Compaq and HP. “I want to be able to give back to the country we live in,” he says. Through EPRA programs, some 100,000 metric tonnes of old electronics are kept out of landfills each year. That’s roughly equivalent to 20,000 elephants. Endof-life electronics Cliff Hacking are dropped off at EPRA authorized collection sites, including drop-off centres, return-to-retail locations and at special collection events, in well over 2,000 locations across the country.
ECOVERSE.CA ONTARIO:
647-982-6781 ALBERTA ECOVERSE DEALER GROUNDWORX:
780-463-7077
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Photo by: John Bowers
I N N O VAT I O N
Running on Sunshine
Main roof of BC’s Pender Island Recycling Depot covered with 39 photovoltaic panels
S
Photo by: Mary Reher
ince March 2015, British Columbia’s non-profit Pender Island Recycling Depot has been powered entirely by energy from the sun. Our sunny location in B.C.’s Southern Gulf Islands is part of a community with a desire to help transition to a greener, more sustainable future. Thanks to a group of dedicated visionaries and grassroots support from residents and contractors — along with the generous financial support from a local charity thrift shop, and some public funding — this idea was brought to fruition less than a year after its conception. The main roof of our Recycling Depot is now covered with 39 photovoltaic (PV) panels, each with its own micro-inverter, letting energy flow directly into the BC Hydro electric grid without the need for batteries to store the energy. Using new technology delivering real-time data from the PV system to the Internet, the energy production can be monitored online by the public to see how much electricity the panels are generating on a daily and even hourly basis. On a sunny day the panels generate between 45 and 60 kWh. PIRS used SolarRating.ca to estimate an annual power production of 9300 kWh (9.3 megawatt-hours or MWh). In four months of operation, according to the Enphase monitoring website, the PIRS solar panel array has generated 6.0 MWh, which is the energy equivalent to powering a refrigerator for 10 years. The depot electrical demands are not very high; besides powering three balers and a can crusher, the demands include a telephone, computer, stereo and
A local construction crew helped install solar panels on the depot’s roof.
by Anna Herlitz “Energy production can be monitored online by the public to see how much electricity the panels are generating on a daily and even hourly basis.” lights. The PIRS depot serves a population of about 2,300 which almost doubles in the summertime with visitors. As the PV system generates an excess of electricity PIRS anticipates receiving an annual cheque from BC Hydro. It all started with one person’s passion to make a difference. Andy Nowak, one of the original founders of the Pender Island Recycling Society (PIRS) and a member of the recycling depot staff for 25 years, felt that the use of cleaner energy like solar power had been discussed and considered and it was time to take action. In the summer of 2014 he and a few like-minded friends formed the Pender Solar Initiative 2020 (PSI 2020), whose goal became to install solar photovoltaic systems on the roofs of every suitable public building on Pender Island by the year 2020. They wanted to start with a fairly simple project and the recycling depot seemed like a natural fit, considering its sun exposure, building construction and simple roof. PIRS and PSI 2020 partnered with GabEnergy for this project. Local contractors did the electrical work and roof work, and all donated half of their time. Residents here tend to have an optimistic attitude, a desire for sustainable practices, and are not afraid to try something new. We are, after all, the riding that supported Green Party Leader Elizabeth May to represent us in Parliament, and she visits our little island often. Anna Herlitz, a Pender Island Recycling Depot staff member, lives on Pender Island with her husband and teenage daughter. She likes sailing or kayaking when not working at the Recycling Depot or doing her work as a part-time paramedic and school trustee. August/September 2015 www.solidwastemag.com 13
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TECHNOLOGY
by Annette Synowiec "BinLoco, the winning app, lets users locate the five nearest garbage or recycling bins via the phone's GPS."
Calling all Apps! Four teams of Grade 12 computer science students designed their best waste apps for Toronto using real data sets
“BinLoco” app team of Daniel McIntosh, Adit Patel and Vanshil Shah put their winning app through its paces.
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here does forward thinking take you? Into the future of course! And who better to show us the way than a talented group of Grade 12 computer science students from Woburn Collegiate Institute in the east end of Toronto. At least that was the thinking of staff in the City’s Solid Waste Management Services division, when they challenged students to create an ‘app’ related to some aspect of the division’s business. The decision to partner with the school also aligned with the outreach and engagement mandate of the City’s Long Term Waste Management Strategy. The Strategy will recommend policies and programs, includ-
ing how to manage any leftover garbage remaining after reusing, recycling, and composting. Public participation in the Strategy’s development is key and technology is sure to play a role. The City’s proposal came via a connection staff had with Woburn Grade 12 teacher Lisa Roubini-LaForest, who worked the opportunity into the curriculum. Four teams of three rose to the occasion to compete for best app by using data sets made available by the division’s Business Systems and Revenue unit along with information from Toronto’s Open Data (toronto.ca/open). Given two months to develop their concepts, the student teams ar-
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TECHNOLOGY
Beth Goodger
rived at City Hall in early May 2015 to pitch their ideas before an audience of judges, City staff and Councillor Jaye Robinson, the Chair of the Public Works & Infrastructure Committee. Each app had its own unique selling features, with three of the four using an Android platform. One of these, the “Mobile Waste Wizard” (drawing on the name of the City’s online search tool that tells you what to do with unwanted stuff: toronto.ca/wastewizard), invites users to enter a waste item to learn which container it belongs in. Employing voice search, you can ask the app which container to use. The system supports multiple languages and it works whether the mobile device has network connectivity or not. Another contender, the “Garbage Guru,” also informs users which container to select, but this one is based on photo search. Using your phone to take a picture of the waste item, the “Guru” interprets the image and performs a search identifying the correct container. Based on a Java application development platform that can run on multiple devices like regular PCs as well as mobile devices, “Trash Smash” is an action game that delivers waste education to children. Different waste items ‘fall’ towards the player, who must correctly identify which container each item belongs in before it reaches the bottom of the screen. As players progress, more items fall at faster speeds. The remaining Android app “BinLoco,” created by a team of 18year olds comprised of Daniel McIntosh, Adit Patel and Vanshil Shah,
“
Lisa Roubini-LaForest
was ultimately awarded best app. It lets users locate the five nearest garbage or recycling bins (situated either on the street or in parks) via the phone’s GPS. Presented with a map showing your own location and a selection of available bins, users tap the bin they want and receive directions to it. “BinLoco” integrates with Google Maps to provide turn-byturn directions, which can either be read off the screen or listened to as voice commands. Here is a YouTube demo of the winning app: https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=a7SDdCtUk5Q The three judges, comprised of City staff, assessed how effectively each team communicated the benefits of their app during the pitch presentation. The apps themselves were evaluated on user engagement; appeal (look and feel); usability/performance; and alignment with the division’s strategic priorities. “BinLoco” scored well in all aspects and Solid Waste invited the winning team to its senior management team meeting for an encore performance. Each team member received a certificate of accomplishment. Aligned with the City’s overall corporate and social media strategic plan, development of the division’s app is underway. Annette Synowiec is the Acting Director of Policy Planning & Support, Solid Waste Management Services at the City of Toronto. She has been working in the Solid Waste Management industry for over 13 years and is currently developing the City’s Long Term Waste Management Strategy.
Leveraging the use of social media communications and smartphone technology continues to be an important method of communicating with the public as we work to develop Toronto’s Waste Strategy.” —Beth Goodger, GM of Toronto’s Solid Waste Management Services.
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C O M PA N Y N E W S
by SWR Staff
Canada Fibers making waste waves
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anada Fibers Ltd. has opened the largest single-stream recycling facility in Canada that arguably uses the most technologically advanced residential material processing system in North America. The eight-hectare property is located at 122 Arrow Road in Toronto, near the intersection of Hwy. 401 and Hwy. 400. The facility is set to process 350,000 tonnes per year with a 97 per cent commodity recover rate. The facility uses 10 optical sorters and 20 vacuum hoods in addition to bag breaking and disk screen technology. That puts the facility second to none in terms of cutting-edge waste technology. “Currently, 75 per cent of Ontario’s waste goes to disposal. Canada Fibers is working hard to change that,” the company says in a statement to media. “There is a huge opportunity to recover these materials and re-manufacture them, resulting in a positive outcome for everyone.” Phase I of the facility opened in 2010 as a 25 tonne per hour single-stream Jake Westerhof & Jim Bradley facility focusing on the industrial, commercial and institutional sector. The facility also dealt with difficult- torecycle streams from public spaces and the reprocessing of residue from conventional materials recovery facility.
The new Phase 2 portion of the Arrow Road complex will be able to recycle residential materials at a rate of more than 60 tonnes per hour, the company says.
BALER SYSTEM VAN DYK Recycling Solutions (VDRS) has installed its Bollegraaf baler system at Canada Fibers’ new Phase II Toronto recycling facility. A Bollegraaf HBC 140F baler bales the paper grades and a Bollegraaf HBC 120 compacts all containers into homogenous bales. VDRS’ prepress flap, no-shear design allows less loading cycles and distributes the material evenly, resulting in denser bales, the company says. “The facility’s throughput has been measured as high as 90 tonnes per hour, with TITECH recovery units at the end of the system making sure that all commodities are being recovered,” VAN DYK said in a statement to media. With double input lines, bag breaking technology, and multiple StarScreens with unique new screening technology, Canada Fibers strives for high throughput and the highest possible recovery and purity of output while reducing operational costs. Specialized sorting equipment including 10 TITECH optical sorting units, 22 vacuum hoods for the very high film content in Toronto’s material, a Lubo PaperMagnet, 2 PaperSpikes to sort OCC and boxboard, and glass breaker screens
RECYCLING & RENDERING TRUCKS
WALINGA
RENDERING / COMPOST UNITS • 100% Welded Construction • Water Tight Sealed Tailgate • Hydraulic Controls • Full Open Top
RECYCLER • Walinga Custom Cab Conversion • Single or Dual Loading • 46 yard Capacity • FRP Smooth Side Construction • 4/7yd Hydraulic Bustle Gate Guelph, Ontario (888) 925-4642 • Wayland, Michigan (800) 466-1197 • www.walinga.com 16 www.solidwastemag.com August/September 2015
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Photo coutesy of Van Dyk
top the list of cutting-edge machinery from VDRS that accomplishes Canada Fibers’ vision. VDRS helped Canada Fibers install their machinery into a brand new 13,000 m2 building, insulated with fiber from Canada Fibers’ own recycling operation. VAN DYK Recycling Solutions is North America’s leading designer and system supplier of world-class recycling and recovery technology, and the exclusive distributor of Bollegraaf, Lubo, and TITECH machinery.
THREE NEW DEALS Canada Fibers Ltd. has created an affiliate named Urban Resource Group Inc., and entered into three acquisitions to produce high-quality sustainable products from solid waste. Urban Resource Group has entered into agreements to purchase the shares of Ecowood Ltd. and the shares of All Waste Removal Inc. Both of these acquisitions are expected to close during July of 2015. The third acquisition involves the assets of a manufacturer of wooden fuel pellets, which was completed earlier in 2015.
Ecowood is engaged in the production and sale of architectural garden mulch products from post-industrial wood. Sold through leading home improvement retail chains as well as garden centers, Ecowood’s products Photo Credit: Joel Kooistra of Kooistra Media are well known across Canada for enhancing the beauty of landscape projects. Over time, Ecowood will be rebranded Urban Garden Products. The wooden fuel pellet operation is engaged in the production of wooden fuel pellets from post-industrial wood materials. This product line will be sold through leading home improvement chain stores in Canada, as well as through distributors in the U.S. Over time, these products will be branded Urban Biofuels.
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5 0 TH A N N I V E R S A R Y
Doppstadt celebrates 50 successful years
More than 5,000 guests from the environmental and recycling sector experienced two unforgettable days in Calbe, Germany on June 24 and 25. Doppstadt staged what was arguably the largest European trade show of 2015 in this field on its 220,000 sq.-metre works site. On show were over 100 machines for the shredding,
sorting and treatment of waste and biomass. Half of the machines could be seen in action. In two-hour live demonstrations, guests saw how coarse shredders, screening machines and exact hackers shredded tree trunks into sawdust, separated waste from recyclables and sorted pebbles from sand heaps.
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TECHNOLOGY
by David Nesseth “Beyond safety, insurance costs are one of the key reasons that major companies are now taking notice of dash cams.”
Dash Cam Generation
Global dash cam market expected to report 15.3% compounded annual growth from 2014 to 2020
Lytx DC3P Video Event Recorder
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e may or may not be in the advent of digital video technology, but we definitely find ourselves in the midst of video’s transition to ease of use for practical day-to-day applications in the job world. Especially behind the wheel. Video is now all about capturing incidents. It has become the modern defender and the champion of objectivity – a silent third-party without a vested interest. Security and insurance have always been joined together, but nothing has been able to further that relationship quite like the YouTube Generation upon us. Obtaining crisp quality video, even multiple angles, has never been cheaper and more flexible, never had more options, never been so compact and portable. “Video itself is becoming more accepted,” says Greg Lund, director of corporate communications for Lytx, one of the leading dash cam
companies in the waste business. “You walk into a mall and there are surveillance cameras everywhere. Video is truly a great tool because there’s not much left to chance. Drivers are now accepting the technology.” Beyond use for nabbing illegal dumpers, cameras are now helping to protect lives, not just property. More often still, as was the case in Texas during July 2015, cameras are being used more and more to determine fault. In that incident, a dash cam exonerated the driver of a City of Tyler waste truck involved in a collision. The passenger of the vehicle that strayed into the path of the oncoming waste truck was killed. The amount of technology jammed into a typical commercial-use dashboard truck camera system is phenomenal. It’s also quite easy to use. Drivers don’t need to be Steven Speilberg - they can just focus on August/September 2015 www.solidwastemag.com 23
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TECHNOLOGY
DASH CAM DRIVER’s ED • How the technology and programs work • Insights into the DriveCam scoring system • Tips on getting the most from DriveCam Online • Successfully coaching drivers • Overcoming program challenges • Using DriveCam dashboard reports to manage and measure individual/group performance • Best practices learned from hundreds of other fleets • Offers web-based, on-site and e-learning courses Source: Lytx
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TECHNOLOGY
SIMPLE, YET HIGH-TECH Drivecam web portal DOL version 3.0 has new role-based user dashboards with customized key indicators. Drivers are ranked according to accident probability. Drivers can use the behaviour tracking menu (bottom left) to see how often they are speeding, following too close, or performing the old rolling stop.
PRIVACY AT THE WHEEL Many drivers unfamiliar with dash cam technology have been critical of the system’s potential for abuse, harrassment, or even peeping during downtime. Others have questioned whether it could make certain drivers nervous or distracted. If you have questions about the technology, don’t be afraid to ask.
the road and let the little black box next to them take care of the logistics side of the business. “Video is certainly on the upswing with drivers,” says Lund. “The earliest adopters, though, were truckers driving in city traffic.” Some drivers have even been letting camera technology help them become better drivers. Crash data is analyzed and used to improve driver training. Think of the ways an athlete uses video data to improve performance. Like working on a golf swing, sometimes you just need to see yourself in action to improve. “Preventative analytics is our other secret sauce that we use. It’s all about the back end,” says Lund, noting that the Lytx system can even give waste management companies a sense of a driver capability. “You could determine the worst drivers in your fleet,” he adds. Waste trucks are behemoths. If one is involved in an incident, it doesn’t bode well. So more and more companies — and local governments — are deciding to invest in dash cam technology. The City of Hamilton, Ont., is winding down a $2,300 experiment with Lytx technology to try to take a bite out of the region’s concerning collision stats. The region is facing a dismal commercial truck safety rating caused by 118 collisions and 30 convictions over two years, mostly by waste trucks. The Lytx system has two wide-angle cameras facing in and out of the truck. Only a collision, swerve or other anomaly will activate the camera to record and save a 12-second clip to a main server for review. Drivers can also record manually if necessary, but there isn’t the capability for upper management to essentially watch fleet operators without an incident, which helps maintain driver privacy. The cameras can help drivers address issues such as maintaining proper vehicle following distance, truck rollover stability, and lane departures.
Lytx, formerly known as DriveCam, has been at it for about 16 years. Oddly enough it started out as a road rage company. By 2008, however, the company started catering more to truck fleets and they moved from the consumer market to the commercial market. Now, the dash cam market is finally exploding. Transparency Market Research, a U.S.-based business intelligence company, recently forecasted that the global dashboard camera market will report a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 15.3 per cent from 2014 to 2020. Beyond safety, insurance costs are one of the key reasons that major companies are taking notice of dash cams. Lytx works with some 20 companies using captive insurance programs. “The captive is formed when companies feel that they’re paying more than they feel they need to pay. So they share the cost of insurance together,” says Lund. “Then they can draw down the costs and premiums together.” Real-time feedback is one of the key rewards of dash cam technology, says Lund. “Some clients do a tremendous amount of integration,” he adds, noting that there are many additional devices and options, such as fuel management, to help drivers. Lund says improved route planning and efficient driving can reduce fleet fuel costs by more than 12 per cent. Lund says time will tell whether dash cams will go the way of the GPS dash device. So many technologies appear to risk extinction through being supplanted by smartphone features. Self-driving vehicles are yet another factor that could make dash cams obsolete, but Lund thinks that, “We have so much data that can help self-driving trucks. We think there will always be human interaction and we have a significant role to play there.” David Nesseth is editor of Solid Waste & Recycling magazine. He can be reached at dnesseth@solidwastemag.com August/September 2015 www.solidwastemag.com 25
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R E G U L AT I O N R O U N D U P
by Rosalind H. Cooper, L.L.B.
Stewardship, solid waste plans crop up across Canada Alberta, B.C. and New Brunswick aim for change Alberta Revising its Waste Control Regulation
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he Government of Alberta is working on revision of its Waste Control Regulation, which is almost 20 years old and requires both improvement and modernization. Alberta has established a multiphased approach for updating the Waste Control Regulation and the Alberta User Guide for Waste Managers. Phase I will occur in 2015 and involves making administrative updates to the Waste Control Regulation and adding an expiry date as the government requires all regulations to have an expiry date in place by December 31, 2015. Administrative updates will include items such as updating definitions and making changes to clarify wording, but do not include substantive changes to the Regulation. Phase II would also occur in 2015 and involve undertaking an internal review of the regulation to identify regulatory issues. This review would include reviewing consultation work completed in 2008 and recommendations made in the document entitled “Updating Alberta’s Hazardous Waste Regulatory Framework (2006)”. It would also include updating based on other new or updated guidelines and policies such as the Guidelines for Canadian Drinking Water Quality. The review is intended to ensure that the recommendations align with current standards. Phase III involves staff conducting targeted stakeholder consultation on items or issues identified during the Phase II analysis. This is expected in 2016. Phase IV involves staff providing recommendations based on the stakeholder consultation and policy analysis for updating the Waste Control Regulation. The update to the Regulation is expected in 2018. While there is currently no planned review for the Standards for Landfills in Alberta and the Standards for Composting Facilities in Alberta, a review of the Waste Control Regulation may result in recommendations with respect to updating these standards as well.
British Columbia Proposing to Change Solid Waste Management Planning Process The Ministry of the Environment of British Columbia announced that it intends to update its Guideline for Preparation of Regional Solid Waste and Management Plans. The Guideline has not been updated since 1994 and outlines the process for regional districts to develop and consult on solid waste management plans while reducing municipal solid waste disposal. The update is intended to reflect recommendations from a recent review conducted into solid waste diversion in B.C. and to make the planning and approval process more efficient. Changes will reflect core review objectives and the desire of local governments to have a streamlined process. With clarity on ministry requirements and a results-based focus, a new planning guideline will give local governments more autonomy and modernize the process. The review identified six guiding principles for the future of solid
waste in the province, including the promotion of recycling, reduction and re-use; maximizing beneficial use of waste materials and managing residuals approximately; separating organics and recyclables wherever practical; establishing disposal bans; ensuring a level playing field within regions for both private and public companies; and managing tipping fees. An intentions paper outlining all proposed changes will be released for public comment and input with the final guideline expected in 2016.
New Brunswick Creates Waste Stewardship Program for Electronic Waste The Province of New Brunswick proposed changes to one of its regulations under the Clean Environment Act to create a waste stewardship program for electronics and e-waste. The new rules would make industry responsible for managing their electronic products from the date of manufacture to the end of use and disposal. If final approval is received, the program could be up by fall 2016. While Nova Scotia adopted electronic waste regulations in 2008 and P.E.I adopted them in 2010, New Brunswick has not. In both provinces, the Atlantic Canada Electronics Stewardship collects a fee on the sale of every electronic appliance. Fees range from pennies to $40 to cover the cost of recycling.
Waste Diversion Ontario Announces Decision on Blue Box Funding Waste Diversion Ontario (WDO) announced that its Board of Directors has now determined the total funding for Ontario municipalities operating blue box programs in 2015. The amount, which is $114,600,548, has been calculated using the methodology adopted by the arbitrator who was retained last year by the parties to determine the 2014 Blue Box steward obligation when a dispute arose over the amounts. Municipal Blue Box programs will receive 50 per cent of their verified costs for 2015 as required by the Ontario Waste Diversion Act, 2002. The total 2015 steward obligation of $114,600,548 will be paid by Stewardship Ontario through quarterly instalments that began June 30, 2015. Of this amount, $2 million is for the Continuous Improvement Fund and $6,945,011 represents the “in-kind” contribution for “free advertising” that the arbitrator had described as unfair to municipalities. A total of $105,655,537 will be paid out to Ontario municipal Blue Box programs. WDO will be publically communicating the amounts owing to each municipality on the WDO website. In addition, WDO will establish a panel to submit recommendations on a methodology to apply cost containment principles to determine the annual blue box steward obligation, and to submit recommendations regarding the in-kind program to address concerns that were raised by the arbitrator in his decision. 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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I N T E R N AT I O N A L S P O T L I G H T
Christmas Day collection in Argostoli Christmas Day collection takes anywhere from three to four hours to complete with three trucks that we’ll take a closer look at It’s still dark outside as workers begin Christmas Day collection. This is the best time to start because most of the restaurants, tavernas and night clubs close at 4 a.m. on Christmas Day.
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ost people think of Kefalonia as just a scenic holiday island destination for the summer months. But once the summer season has finished in Argostoli, which is Kefalonia’s capital of 10,633 people, it remains a bustling city with a modern shopping centre and a port that boasts a thriving fishing industry. During the Christmas period, many Greek residents from the mainland, such as Athens, Patras and Killini, travel by ferry to Kefalonia to visit family and friends. They take the opportunity to do a little Christmas shopping and visit the Christmas Fayre in the Central Square of Argostoli. Although large volumes of waste are produced in the summer months — mainly by hotels, apartments and tavernas — there is still plenty of waste produced in Argostoli during the rest of the year, especially at Christmas. Large volumes of waste are produced from Christmas parties, dining out and partying at night clubs in Argostoli’s Central Square. Waste management on Kefalonia is the responsibility of the Intermunicipal Enterprise for Waste Management and Environmental Protection, which also has responsibility for the treatment of waste for the neighbouring island of Ithaki.
Waste Collection Service 365 days a year Due to large volumes of waste produced in Argostoli, both in and out of season, waste collection is carried out 365 days a year, including Christmas Day, Boxing Day, New Year’s Day and Easter Sunday. This helps to
by Timothy Byrne “In Argostoli, the drivers and loaders choose to work Christmas Day, Boxing Day, New Year’s Day and Easter Sunday to help keep the environment of the city in a pristine condition. Imagine if refuse crews across England, Wales and Scotland were asked to work on these festive days of the year?” maintain the cleanliness of the capital, as well as delivering an efficient and sustainable waste collection service to its inhabitants and visitors.
The Big Day To provide the waste collection service on Christmas Day in Argostoli, the Intermunicipal Enterprise for Waste Management and Environmental Protection use three waste collection vehicles. Two large vehicles are used, consisting of an Iveco Trakker 450 6x4 26 tonne chassis fitted with a 22 cubic metre Kaoussis Norba RL300 intermittent rear loading compaction body, Kaoussis comb and a trunnion lift that can handle DIN 30700 and DIN 30740 wheeled containers from 80 – 1,100 litres in capacity. One of these vehicles completes the largest collection round in Argostoli, concentrating on emptying all of the 1,100 litre roll top steel containers positioned at communal collection points along its main August/September 2015 www.solidwastemag.com 27
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Argostoli waste workers trying to keep the streets clean
streets. This vehicle and crew also collects waste left out in plastic sacks by occupants of houses, flats or shared accommodation. This truck’s collection round also involves the collection crew collecting waste deposited in plastic sacks or boxes from residents’ properties in side alleys, off some of the main streets serviced by this truck. The second collection vehicle used on Christmas Day is an Iveco Eurocargo 190EL28 two axle 18 tonne chassis with Kaoussis Norba RL300 16 cubic metre bodywork. It has a bin lift that’s the same specification as that fitted to the Kaoussis Norba RL300 22 cubic metre unit mounted on the Iveco Trakker chassis. This collection vehicle collects waste deposited in 1,100 litre containers from communal collection points inside the central part of the city which the Iveco Trakker 450 cannot reach. This collection truck’s round also includes servicing side streets of the main thoroughfares in Argostoli, as well as collecting all waste from the Central Square.
Trucks, Trucks, Trucks The third collection vehicle used is a Mercedes Atego 815 7.5 tonne two axle chassis fitted with Kaoussis CRV 1000 satellite waste collection equipment. This vehicle also features a bar lift to empty containers from 801,100 litres capacity DIN 30700 and DIN 30740 types. It is used to service the hospital in Argostoli, as well as the city’s narrower streets, including the central shopping area, where the two other larger collection vehicles cannot
fit. The compact dimensions of the Mercedes Atego 815 7.5 tonne two axle Kaoussis CRV 1000 satellite waste collection vehicle assists in the efficient collection of waste from these areas. A total of eight operatives are used to provide the waste collection service on Christmas Day. This includes six operatives for the two larger collection vehicles, a driver for each collection vehicle, two loaders for each vehicle, while a driver and one loader are used for the smaller satellite waste collection vehicle. The waste collection service commences at 5:30 a.m. on Christmas Day for the two large collection vehicles and around 6 a.m. for the smaller satellite waste collection vehicle. This is the best time to start because most of the restaurants, tavernas and night clubs close at 4 a.m. on Christmas Day, making for minimal traffic volume on the streets at 5.30 a.m., thus making the waste collection service very efficient and productive. There are large volumes of waste to be collected on Christmas Day because most of the 1,100 litre containers at the communal collection points are full and there are piles of bags of waste consisting of food waste, glass beer and wine bottles as well as piles of cardboard boxes next to the full 1,100 litre containers from parties held by families on Christmas Eve. Large volumes of waste are also evident in the Central Square of Argostoli stored in piles of plastic refuse sacks containing food waste and glass beer and wine bottles produced by the restaurants, tavernas and night clubs surrounding the Central Square awaiting collection. There are also large volumes of waste piled next to the three 1,100 litre containers at the communal collection point of the fish market on Argostoli seafront. This comes from two sources, firstly shoppers buying fresh fish on Christmas Eve, and secondly from the export of fish.
Silent Night
Argostoli, Kefalonia in Greece.
The collection crews of the two large waste collection vehicles empty the 1,100 litre containers at the communal collection points and load the additional quantities of waste in plastic refuse sacks, cardboard boxes etc. into the hopper of the waste collection vehicles. Any remaining debris are swept up by the collection crews and loaded into the hopper of the waste collection vehicles to make sure that all of the waste has been cleared. The collection crews may be clearing waste from some of the communal collection points for ten minutes if there are large piles of excess waste. The waste collection vehicles use flashing beacons for the waste collection shift to ensure vehicles are visible to taxis and other traffic. Christmas Day waste collection takes anywhere from three to four hours to complete. This is achieved by the hard work of the driver and
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I N T E R N AT I O N A L S P O T L I G H T
CURBSIDE PROTECTION
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onstruction workers have special zones that protect them against wayward drivers. And people must legally yield to public transit vehicles. But waste workers remain vulnerable on the curbside frontlines, says the Ontario Waste Management Association (OWMA). The OWMA is calling for legislative safeguards that could better protect waste workers on collection routes, whether inside the vehicle or out.
the loaders deployed on each collection truck. Once the larger Iveco Trakker 450 6x4 Kaoussis Norba RL300 22 cubic metre waste collection vehicle has finished its waste collection round in Argostoli, it heads back to the central depot, a parking area for all of the island’s waste collection vehicles. The office inside the central depot is where operational, managerial and strategic waste collection and waste treatment decisions are made for the island. The smaller Mercedes Atego 815 7.5 tonne two axle Kaoussis CRV 1000 satellite waste collection vehicle discharges its load of waste into the hopper of the Iveco Trakker 450 6x4 Kaoussis Norba RL300 22 cubic metre waste collection vehicle. The Iveco Trakker 450 acts as a mothership vehicle, thus reducing the need for the satellite Mercedes Atego 815 7.5 tonne two axle Kaoussis CRV 1000 waste collection vehicle having to drive to the island’s sanitary landfill site.
Not Santa’s Sleigh Once the Mercedes 815 has discharged and compacted its load into the hopper of the Iveco Trakker 450, the Iveco Trakker 450 is fully loaded with 12 tonnes of municipal waste. The Mercedes 815 is washed out internally and externally at the depot’s washing facilities by the driver and loader before finishing their shift. The Iveco Trakker 450 heads to the sanitary landfill site for the island at Pallosti, towards the north of the island. The landfill is home to all waste produced across the island of Kefalonia, as well as waste from the neighbouring island of Ithaki. By this time, the Iveco Eurocargo 190EL28 two axle 18 tonne chassis with Kaoussis Norba RL300 16 cubic metre body will either be discharging at the landfill or on its way back to the depot because the Iveco Eurocargo 190EL28 goes to the landfill directly after finishing its collection round in Argostoli.
Data on driver injuries is sparse, but it’s not uncommon to read about driver injuries and deaths in the headlines. Earlier in 2015, however, B.C. resident Ravinder (Ravi) Singh Atwal died in a waste truck crash. Rob Cook “The OWMA is seeking changes that would require vehicles to slow down and move over and provide ‘right-of-way’ to waste/recycling collection vehicles collecting curbside materials,” says OWMA CEO Rob Cook. “What we are asking for here in Ontario is similar to protections afforded to our workers in other jurisdictions across North America,” he adds. The OWMA notes that B.C. recently updated its legislation to protect roadside workers, including waste and recycling collection vehicles. Slow down and move over legislation has been introduced in places like Florida, Alabama, West Virginia, Wisconsin, New Jersey, Michigan and Pennsylvania.
Once the Iveco Trakker 450 arrives at the landfill site, its load is weighed on the computerised weighbridge. Then it drives to the tip face of the landfill site and discharges its load. A Tana landfill compactor compresses and compacts the load before it is covered with soil. The landfill site complies fully with the requirements of the EU Landfill Directive (1999/31/EC) and is of a bioreactor design. The leachate is collected in an underground tank situated underneath the body of the landfill. The leachate is redispersed through the mass of waste at selected intervals helping to speed up the degradation of the waste. The methane produced inside the landfill is flared off site using a flare torch. Once the Iveco Trakker 450 has discharged its load at the Pallosti sanitary landfill site, it returns to the vehicle depot at Argostoli where it is washed both internally and externally after the Iveco Eurocargo 190EL28 has been washed. In conclusion, the island of Kefalonia provides an effective and efficient waste collection and treatment system for the island 365 days a year. The levels of service far exceed those in the U.K., taking into account the long-running debate with Communities Secretary Eric Pickles weekly waste collection fund and the debate about weekly, fortnightly, tri-weekly and monthly waste collections across England, Wales and Scotland! In Argostoli the drivers and loaders choose to work Christmas Day, Boxing Day, New Year’s Day and Easter Sunday to help keep the environment of the city in a pristine condition. Imagine if refuse crews across England, Wales and Scotland were asked to work on these festive days of the year? Timothy Byrne is based in the U.K. He is a MCIWM Chartered Waste Manager, ISWA International Waste Manager, and an Associate member of Ategrus (Spanish Solid Waste Association). He can be reached at garbage32@hotmail.co.uk August/September 2015 www.solidwastemag.com 29
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BIOMASS SUPPLEMENT
by Andrew White
Digestate Uses and Abuses Advantages and disadvantages of biogas in Canada
A 500-kw biogas plant will operate at the Toronto Zoo using animal manure and food waste to generate renewable, clean energy. Graphic by ZooShare Biogas Co-operative Inc.
Anaerobic Digestate Challenge
Rules and Regulations
here is anecdotal evidence that humans have been generating biogas for heating as far back as the 10th century B.C. The first anaerobic digester in England was constructed in 1895 with the technology later reaching North America. The many advantages of anaerobic digestion include the fact that it is net energy positive, which means more energy is produced in the form of methane than is required to keep the digester warm. It can turn a cost, such as the waste management of organics, into revenue, through the sale of the heat or electricity produced from burning methane gas. But for all its advantages, anaerobic digestion is not without its challenges.
Across Canada, there are rules and regulations regarding the operation of an anaerobic digester that determine what inputs the facility can take, and if those inputs need to be treated, generally through some form of high temperature treatment. In Ontario, the rules related to farm-based systems breaks down into two main categories: Regulated Mixed Anaerobic Digestion Facilities (RMADF) or non-RMADF. An RMADF is a facility that utilizes up to 50 per cent non-agricultural feedstock, such as source-separated organics or organics from the food industry. For non-RMADFs, either a Renewable Energy Approval (REA) or an Environmental Compliance Approval as well as a Non-Agricultural Source Material (NASM) plan is required. An RAMDF has some exemptions along the entire process chain, including the end use of the anaerobic digestate. As RAMDFs have regulations pertaining to acceptable materials and input material processing, the end use of the digestate is slightly less rigorous. There are still some rules relating to run-off related issues such as land slope and proximity of surface water, but most notable is that the anaerobic digestate must still meet the requirement of Reg. 267/03. If the anaerobic digestate is from a non-RMADF, the nutrient management plan for that farm must be followed, or there are additional rules regarding nutrient loading in consecutive 12-month and five-year periods.
T
The Products of Anaerobic Digestion There are two streams leaving an anaerobic digester. The first, as mentioned, is biogas. The second is a relatively low solids effluent called anaerobic digestate. Assuming that the anaerobic digester is functioning properly, the amount of digestate generated is determined by the time spent in the digester, the volume of the digester, and the difference between the incoming total solids and volatile solids, the volatile solids being converted to biogas. The anaerobic digestate also contains all the elements that are not carbon, hydrogen or sulfur based. In some cases, this can be good – it will still contain all the nutrients, such as phosphorus and potassium, which make an excellent soil amendment, and have a substantial reduction in odour and pathogens when compared to the input materials like farm waste and source-separated organics. In some cases, this can be bad – it will still contain any heavy metals that were present, such as arsenic or mercury.
Alternative Uses of Anaerobic Digestate So what else can be done with anaerobic digestate? The first step for an added-value use is to process the digestate through a screw-press to separate the liquids from the solids. At this point, the solids will have a moisture content of about 60 per cent, and generally have a mulch or compost consistency, which is fairly dependent on the input materials to August/September 2015 www.solidwastemag.com 31
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BIOMASS SUPPLEMENT
the anaerobic digestion process. If the liquid fraction meets the regulatory requirements it can be applied as a soil amendment to make use of the available nutrients. If not, it has to be handled as waste, or processed further to separate the contaminants from the soil nutrients. Unlike the liquid fraction, there are a number of opportunities for the solid fraction besides the obvious use as a soil amendment product. In North America, there are a growing number of on-farm anaerobic digesters that process a combination of on-farm waste and municipal/industrialsourced organics. The digestate produced from the digesters can simply be used on-farm to offset other costs. One significant on-farm use is for animal bedding, as dry digestate can be used for animal bedding and offset the costs associated with buying wood-based bedding, which can cost in the range of $10-$25 per tonne. In some instances, the solid anaerobic digestate has other uses on-farm, such as an absorbent for spill management. If the economics for animal bedding or spill management aren’t exciting enough, or if that opportunity doesn’t exist, anaerobic digestate is being marketed as a fertilizer product. An example of this is the Harvest Power Energy Garden in London, Ont., which is fed with food waste to generate biogas and an organic fertilizer aimed at the consumer market. In general, anaerobic digestate is destined to be a fertilizer that can generate revenue of $50 to $150 per tonne, however, it also needs more processing, packaging and distribution. Through thermal processing, the anaerobic digestate can be turned into biochar, which again is a soil amendment/fertilizer product with
a much higher carbon ratio. Adding further to the biochar, through additional thermal treatment and other carefully controlled conditions, the anaerobic digestate can be converted into an activated biochar. This is what CHAR Technologies is doing to produce SulfaCHAR. SulfaCHAR has a number of applications, including odour control and, better yet, hydrogen sulfide removal from the biogas that was produced from the initial anaerobic digestion process in the first place. In addition, since biochar can be used as a fertilizer, and SulfaCHAR converts toxic and corrosive hydrogen sulfide into elemental sulfur and sulfates, SulfaCHAR can be used as a sulfur-rich biochar fertilizer once it is used up as a gas cleaning product.
The Future There has been a recent renaissance in the construction of anaerobic digestion facilities in Canada for a number of reasons, including government incentives for renewable power generation such as the Feedin-Tariff program in Ontario, and tougher rules on food scrap disposal, such as the Vancouver and vicinity ban on landfilling food scraps. Expect to see more utilization of this technology to handle organic waste in the future. Andrew White, MBET, MASc, is co-inventor of SulfaCHAR™ and co-founder of CHAR Technologies. He dcan be reached at andrew.white@chartechnologies.com
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Biogas facility winning with ALLU Screener Crusher
by Dale Mickle "While the majority of organic material arrives in liquid form, the facility receives and processes other produce such as apples, oranges, onions and watermelon."
Napoleon Biogas receives and processes organic material and packaging from local dairy farms, grocery stores, large box stores and waste recyclers
N
apoleon Biogas LLC, based in Napoleon, Ohio, is the first commercial biogas (methane, or CH4) plant to generate renewable electricity in Ohio. Using anaerobic digestion, a biological process that occurs when bacteria break down organic material in the absence of oxygen, the facility produces biogas, used to generate energy in the place of traditional fossil fuels. With the capacity to digest 450 tons of organic waste material each day, the plant — online in January 2014 — provides an outlet to divert organic waste from landfills, while also producing renewable electricity. Napoleon Biogas, through parent companies CH4 Biogas LLC and BNB Renewable Energy Holdings LLC, initially built its facility with the Campbell Soup Company to capture up to 50 per cent of the waste from the company’s soup, sauce and beverage production, directing it across the street to Napoleon Biogas’ digester. Campbell Soup has a 15-year contract with Napoleon to purchase 100 per cent of the electricity generated from the facility at a flat cost, allowing Campbell Soup to replace 25 per cent of its electricity with a renewable energy source to power its V8 plant. In addition to the waste received from the Campbell Soup facility, Napoleon Biogas receives and processes a wide variety of expired organic material and packaging from local dairy farms, grocery stores, large box stores and recyclers. While the majority of organic material arrives in liquid form, the facility receives and processes other produce such as apples, oranges, onions, watermelon, cabbage, coconuts, potatoes, sweet corn and other seasonal produce. In April 2014, Napoleon Biogas signed an additional contract with a large store to handle up to 20,000 pounds of expired produce each week. This contract created an immediate need for the company to find a piece of equipment that could reduce material so it would be small enough to pump through the digester.
ON THE LOOKOUT Napoleon Biogas was looking for a unit that could mount to its existing JCB 520 Telehandler to get maximum use from its current equipment. After seeing ALLU Group at the BioCycle Conference in San Diego, Calif., Napoleon Biogas worked with its local ALLU dealer to arrange a demonstration of a screener crusher unit, putting it to the test on a pile of expired organics. “We worked with ALLU to find the right size and specifications for an attachment,” explains Chad Richer, plant manager for Napoleon Biogas. “I thought it would be more difficult, but ALLU responded to our needs and was able to give us exactly what our facility needed.” Richer added that, “After a few hours of using the ALLU DL Screener Crusher, my initial thought was that this attachment was really going to help our facility and be the solution we had been searching for. It processed each bucket load of material in about 90 seconds, regardless of what type of produce was fed to it. And it was easy to hook up, which was important because we use our telehandler for multiple functions throughout the day,” says Richer. After seeing its capabilities at the demo, Napoleon Biogas purchased an
ALLU DL 2-17-15 TS Screener Crusher
ALLU DL 2-17-15 TS Screener Crusher able to pick up organics, carry the load to the digester’s feeder, and size the material down to 5/8-inch or less. “Before deciding on the ALLU, we explored a few stationary options, but they were all three to five times the cost of the ALLU attachment,” says Richer. “While we may grow to need one in the future, right now, as a startup company, the ALLU provides the flexibility and versatility that we need. We really liked that we didn’t need to make any attachment-specific modifications to our telehandler. We are able to just attach the DL Screener Crusher and get to work,” he adds. Napoleon Biogas originally intended to only use the ALLU DL Screener Crusher to size and feed organic material into its digester, but it was during the demo that the company realized the attachment might be helpful in another area of its day-to-day processing. In addition to organic produce, the facility also receives and processes expired or compromised canned liquids unfit for consumption. The company separates the aluminum from the organic material and feeds the organics into the digester, recycling the aluminum as an additional income stream. “We have a RUNI (screw compactor), which we were using to separate all of the cans from the organic material. It worked really well on medium to large cans, but when we started processing smaller, 7-ounce aluminum cans, we found it was just too aggressive and turned them to sawdust,” notes Richer. During the demo of the ALLU DL Screener Crusher, Napoleon Biogas scooped approximately 300 of these smaller cans into the attachment to see how it would perform. Within 40 seconds, all but five of the cans were torn, twisted or punctured so that the organic material could drain out, leaving just the metal to be recycled. “Using the attachment for two separate functions throughout our facility has saved us the time, trouble and cost of buying an additional piece of equipment,” says Richer. Dale Mickle is VP of Sales & Marketing for ALLU Group Inc., based in Teterboro, NJ. He can be reached at (800) 939-2558 or dalem@allu.net. August/September 2015 www.solidwastemag.com 33
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by Daniel Bida
Fuel for Thought Biomass Outlook 2030
For further growth and success, the biogas industry needs to tackle some existing issues, not the least of which is the uncertainty of organic feedstock supply.
W
aste management is a dangerous industry, but not in the physical harm kind of way. It’s more like a rabbit hole. Once you get your mind thinking about waste, it’s difficult not to see it everywhere, think about it almost constantly, and sometimes, talk your wife’s ear off about things like biosolids management. Sometimes, in our quest for understanding, we end up learning things that we’d really rather not know, but simply can’t forget.
Current State of Affairs Anaerobic digestion is quickly growing into a popular method of safely and sustainably managing organic waste. The technology for doing so has been around for decades. The challenging part is securing financing for the construction of a new anaerobic digester that will have a 20-30 year lifespan, when the existing organic feedstock supply contracts from
“Increasing demand for renewable power and natural gas, impending carbon regulations, government policies on organic waste diversion from landfill, and the rising costs for organic fertilizer, means a strong business case for biogas plants.” — Bida the IC&I sector aren’t longer than one to two years. Municipalities are willing to enter into multi-year contracts for the supply of organic waste, but industry is not. With the existing organic management market in flux in Canada, waste management companies are loath to get stuck paying disposal fees any higher than the ‘market’ rate — an opaque number to say the least. Processors that own and operate biogas plants (also referred to as anaerobic digesters) would prefer to have a long-term deal on organics
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BIOMASS SUPPLEMENT supply (especially in order to secure financing), but short-term deals are all that’s currently available.
Evolution The biogas and organic waste markets in Canada are evolving quickly. As a result of increasing demand for renewable power and natural gas, impending carbon regulations, government policies on organic waste diversion from landfill, and the rising costs for organic fertilizer, there is a strong business case for biogas plants. For further growth and success, the biogas industry needs to tackle some existing issues, not the least of which is the uncertainty of organic feedstock supply. Other hurdles for the industry include the following:
1) Decontamination In Ontario and in some other Canadian jurisdictions, most biogas plants have been designed to receive only ‘clean’ organics. This has resulted in essentially two organic waste markets — one for clean waste (where the cost of disposal has dropped to about $0 per tonne) and one for contaminated waste (where the cost is about $20 per tonne). The right piece of equipment, installed at either the biogas plant or a transfer station, and a slight shift in digester designs will allow for a facility to accept both clean and contaminated feedstock. The Canadian Biogas Association put out a study last year stating that 80-90 per cent of industrial, commercial and institutional waste is still going to landfills. That’s a lot of potential fuel to add to the mix, which will provide support for keeping tip fees at a reasonable level that works for both biogas plants and waste producers.
buyer of the fuel is entitled to carbon credits, further supporting the business case for making the switch. However, current spot prices for natural gas are not high enough on their own to support this business model. As cap-and-trade and other carbon regulations take effect, transportation costs using traditional fuels will increase and provide further support for the growth of the biogas sector. Strong downward price pressure exists in the organic market right now in Ontario, but shows an upswing in British Columbia due to the landfill ban on organics. New waste legislation is scheduled to come out in the Fall in Ontario and there are some speculating that it could include greater incentives for diverting organics from landfill. With the proposed and speculated legislation forthcoming in a number of jurisdictions across Canada, it appears that the organics market in 2030 will look much different than it does today. It’s very hard to believe that tipping fees will turn negative in the future, i.e. a cost for processors. Processors may be willing to accept organic waste as feedstock at no cost but it is doubtful that they could afford to pay for it and still turn a reasonable profit. Until there is greater clarity on a number of fronts of which legislation is most important, it’s going to continue to be very difficult for biogas plants to sign supply contracts longer than one to two years with the IC&I sector. Daniel Bida is executive director of ZooShare Biogas Co-operative and president of ReGenerate Biogas. He can be reached at daniel@regeneratebiogas.com
2) Legislation and Regulation The promotion of renewable energy across Canada through programs such as Ontario’s Feed-in-Tariff (FIT) system has helped drive the growth in biogas plant development. With the advantages of biogas over other forms of energy (waste diversion, readily dispatchable power, emission reductions), government support for the industry is likely to continue, if not grow. Moreover, if greenhouse gas Cap and Trade Programs are implemented across Canada, it will further boost the industry. Another game changing piece of legislation seems to be on the way — a ban on organics in landfills. It has already happened in Vancouver and surrounding municipalities, it will take effect in Quebec in 2020, and it could spread across the country. If this is put it in place, it will further increase the need for decontamination equipment, increase potential supply available to biogas plants, and provide upward price support for tipping fees.
3) Alternative uses for biogas If the fuel situation can be worked out smoothly, there will be a need for many more biogas plants. In Ontario alone, about the equivalent of 250 MW of biogas could potentially be produced if all of the municipal and IC&I organics ended up in a digester. Considering that biogas is basically low-grade natural gas, it can be used in any of the same ways natural gas is currently used, as long as the CO2, moisture and other trace gases are removed first. The technology already exists to economically clean gas and inject it into pipelines for heating homes and business. Transportation is another sector where biogas can be used like natural gas — compressed natural gas fleet vehicles are increasingly common. They’re cleaner burning than diesel and the price has shown much more stability over the last 10 years. When biogas is used instead of natural gas, the August/September 2015 www.solidwastemag.com 35
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by John Nicholson “It is much better not to create a nuisance in the first place than to deal with them under the scrutiny of sensitized neighbours.”
Making Good Bio-Neighbours Addressing odour, dust and noise at organic processing plants
A
the neighbourhood leading to the facility and then queue up out front. A well-designed organics processing facility includes the latest built-in nuisance controls such as double air-locked doors and a biofilter. BIOREM, based in Guelph, Ont., supplies the world with the premier biofilter technology for removing odours at organic facilities. One of the last lines of defence for odour management is odourneutralizing agents that are sprayed into the air. Many facilities utilize odour-masking agents that merely add a “pleasant” odour to a foul one. Highly-sensitized neighbours typically smell both odours (i.e., “pinescented rotten eggs”). A few Canadian-based companies, like Toronto-based Qwatro, have formulated odour-neutralizing compounds capable of removing odourcausing molecules from the air and not merely masked them. The QwaOdour tro-formulated odour control solution has zinc-containing compounds Unarguably the biggest nuisance issue and hardest to manage, odours that chemically react with the odour-causing compound to produce a are the bane of an organics facility manager. Quality odour control at a new compound that precipitates out of the air. facility starts with good planning and design. Good planning includes One overlooked aspect of odour control is odour measurement. The thoughts on routes and queuing prior to offloading. There are wellprimary reason for omitting odour measurement as part of a control designed facilities that have experienced continuous odour complaints plan is because traditional odour sampling involves measuring diluted based on the simple fact that the foul-smelling trucks pass through samples sniffed by a panel of judges. This only yields data from one location at one time in the past, and is of little use for real-time control. Odour measurement technology developed by Odotech mimics human noise and can provide odour measurements and modelling of odour plumes in real time. The slow uptake of with a new website to match our new name this technology, referred to as OdoWatch, is mainly due to cost and lack of recognition by industry and regulatory agencies. nyone involved in organic waste knows that one of the greatest operational challenges is dealing with nuisance issues. Organic waste, by its nature, has a yuk factor multiplied many times over when neighbours decide the processing facility in their neighbourhood is smelly, dusty and noisy. Ideally, organics processing facilities would be kilometres away from any sensitive receptor, but even in locales perceived as remote, it is sometimes surprising how close a neighbour is when it comes to these issues. Increasingly, organics processing facilities such as anaerobic digesters and composting plants are moving to industrial lands in urban environments that make the management of nuisance issues a priority.
The AMRC is now the MWA...
www.municipalwaste.ca
Noise There have been a number of advances in the science of noise control. Besides the traditional barriers, there are companies that have developed noise-cancelling technology that reduces sound at the source. Noise can be reduced by up to 90 per cent by such a device, which essentially measures sound waves from the source and produces an opposite sound wave that cancels out the noise. Project1
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Dust Arguably the easiest nuisance issue to deal with is dust, with wetting as the predominant method for this issue. One advance in dust control technology is the utilization of computer-controlled automation that monitors the dust and the air along with wind speed and direction, then starts the dust suppression system as needed. John Nicholson, M.Sc., P.Eng., is a consultant based in Toronto, Ont. He can be reached at john.nicholson@ebccanada.com
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Company
Advertisers’ Index
August/September 2015
Page # Company
Page #
2cg/Paul van der Werf . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Machinex Technologies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
ALLU Group Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Municipal Waste Association . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Chevy Lane Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Paradigm Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Ecoverse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Van Dyk Recycling Solutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Environmental Business Consultants . . . . . . . 36
Vermeer Canada Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Eriez . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Vis ionQuest Environmental Strategies
Freightliner Trucks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Corporation/Glad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Goodyear Canada Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Walinga . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Heil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Xerowaste Solutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
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E V E N T WA S T E
by Diane Blackburn “While there were fewer single-serve or sample items in plastic wrap, more work needs to be done on how to eliminate non-recyclable plastics.”
Ribbing the Right Way
W
hen it’s prime summertime, ribbing’s in full swing. Salivating rib lovers are in their glory as festival grills fire up across Ontario. In the Toronto area alone there are three large Rib Fests — in Toronto, Burlington and Oakville — all three of which are hosted by local chapters of Rotary Club International, a worldwide organization of volunteers dedicated to raising funds for charities. Apart from the obvious things in common, all of these Rotary events are striving to be the greenest events of their kind in Ontario. Today, the spotlight is on the Toronto RibFest, 15 years old and a fixture at Etobicoke’s Centennial Park during the week leading up to Canada Day. Full disclosure: this writer is a volunteer at the Toronto event and has firsthand knowledge of what a challenge it is to deal with 10,650 tonnes of food waste under the ‘primitive conditions’ of hands-on source separating. Students comprise the bulk of 200-plus volunteers working 12-hour waste shifts at the festival over five days. Community groups like Micro Skills, LAMP Centre and Albion Neighbourhood Services are key sources for volunteers while the Etobicoke Invictus Rugby Club are the muscle that picks up and transports the collected waste to the park’s bin storage area. The volunteer coordination is masterfully managed by Liz Read, a Rotary volunteer member who manages to keep her cool despite the random chaos. This year, Todd and Nicole Bain (Green Team Live)
can be credited with keeping volunteers, as well as vendors and ribbers, on track through supervisory skills and waste management experience. Of course, it all starts with someone’s vision for a greener event. In this case, veteran waste man Barry Friesen of CleanFarms brought his green sensibility to Rotary when he joined the 85-member Etobicoke chapter a few years ago. Assembling the nuts and bolts of the event plan means taking on the traditional practices and behaviours of food vendors and the public alike — steering them onto a 3Rs path. Food and beverage vendors are not singularly concerned with how waste is handled, so a strict protocol of what is acceptable and what is not must be enforced through clearly articulated contracts: No polystyrene clamshells; biodegradable tableware only; minimizing handouts and food samples that come in non-recyclable packaging, etc. Despite this effort, someone always shows up with outlawed items and must be taken out to the woodshed for a ‘talking to’. It’s purely by communicating and enforcing standards year over year that behaviours are altered to let a “zero waste” consciousness evolve. On the organics side, how the food waste is separated behind the counter is a challenge because ‘ribbers’ are also not primarily concerned with waste contamination issues when there are thousands of rib-crazed patrons lined up in front of their grills. Given that there is a Best Ribber contest at all of these events, it’s not hard to see where priorities are assigned. By urging guests to bring their waste to a sorting station, more control is exerted on the separation of organics from recyclable materials and visitors are more than eager to hand over that responsibility to the ‘pros’ — aka volunteers. In 2015, the elimination of waste receptacles within the park boundaries meant guests had no choice but to bring waste to one of 10 stations. Tripling the number of well-marked stations made it easy to do the right thing and most guests were happy to conform. While there were fewer single-serve or sample items in plastic wrap, more work needs to be done on how to eliminate non-recyclable plastics. Rotary Etobicoke now sets its sights on an 80 per cent diversion goal for 2016. With a little help from committed stakeholders and the weather gods, they can make it happen.
All images by Peter Dusek Photography
After a 24-hour cleanup on July 2, RibFest achieved 59 per cent diversion based on 28,700 tonnes, 16,920 tonnes of which were composted or recycled
Diane Blackburn is Events Manager for the Recycling Council of Ontario (RCO) and produces the RCO’s annual Waste Minimization Awards. Contact her at events@rco.on.ca. 38 www.solidwastemag.com August/September 2015
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