Solid Waste & Recycling, June/July 2015

June/July 2015

www.solidwastemag.com

INSIDE:

Cart-Crazy – page 24 Spain Collection – page 15

HURT AT WORK

The state of industry safety — page 8

BC Blue Box – page 23

CPMP No. 40069240

An EcoLog Group Publication

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June/July 2015

Solid Waste & Recycling

Volume 20, Number 3

CONTENTS Canada’s magazine on collection, hauling, processing and disposal

COVER STORY SAFETY SECOND A report on the state of safety in the waste and recycling industry

by David Nesseth and David McRobert

FEATURES

s Jaffe

by Charle

FILLING THE DATA GAP

8

A look at hybrid truck waste pickup overnight in Catalonia

by Timothy Byrne

Cover art

SPAIN’s DOOR-to-DOOR WASTE JOURNEY 15

SASKATOON’s RECOVERY PARK Committee weighs need for private consultant

by David Nesseth

20

DEPARTMENTS

BC BLUE BOX GETS BAD RAP A breakdown of the program’s criticism

by John Mullinder

23

Editorial – People are Terrible Drivers . . 4 Waste Watch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

CART-CRAZY WITH IPL & REHRIG Multi-million dollar contracts vs. raccoons

by SWR Staff

Compost Standards . . . . . . . . . . . 28 24

SO, WHAT’s A CARTON, ANYWAY? A primer on packaging

by Isabelle Faucher

Regulation Roundup . . . . . . . . . . . 32 26

Ad Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 34

15

Debt Insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Exploring Reloop . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

CALGARY’s ORGANICS LANDFILL BAN A look at implementation

by Jan Rose

Coffee Recycling . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Pricing Energy-from-Waste . . . . . . . 42

24

20

NEXT EDITION:

August/September 2015 Editorial: Bags, Bins, Carts, Recycling Compactors • Landfill liners • Compactor Technology Space closing: July 24, 2015. Artwork required: July 29, 2015.

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EDITORIAL

by David Nesseth “The industry is trying. Waste trucks are getting automatic lifts, GPS, sensors, cameras – an entire digital arsenal designed to prevent injuries and save lives.”

People are terrible drivers The next decade of technology will likely decide the fate of truck drivers across many industries

M

wife remarked how difficult it would be for her to trust a self-driving car an, technology is crazy. It never advanced in the ways I ever to whisk her ’round Toronto. And I agree. It would be terrifying. But thought of as a kid — very blunt and in your face — but in so we’ve driven more years than we haven’t, and it’s supposed to work a many serious and quiet ways. Digital ways. Digital being that certain way. Perhaps younger, more tech-savvy kids would be perfectly wireless magic that runs our modern gadgets. fine to be escorted across highways courtesy of Google. They’ve never That same voodoo will soon be driving our cars for us; maybe coldriven any other way. lecting our waste from house to house, all with unfathomable efficiency.

A simple Google news search of “dump truck died” on any given In this issue, we tackle safety, and, of course safety in the waste business is most readily tied to the behemoth trucks that criss-cross our day will yield some darkly disturbing results. Drivers are crashing waste neighbourhoods. These vehicles are vehicles; these vehicles are rolling the reasons for at least half of the over; other vehicles are crashing deaths in the industry. into waste vehicles; pedestrians are The industry is trying, though. getting run over by waste trucks.

Waste trucks are getting automatic In the end, it all seems that we lifts, GPS, sensors, cameras — an may just be poor drivers. Ever been entire digital arsenal designed to a pedestrian watching somebody prevent injuries and save lives. drive in a major city? Most of them But other industries with inherlook like they’re existing in a world ently dangerous trucks, like mining, of their own, not driving in a public are already making the leap to ausetting. They put fingers up their tonomous vehicles. While these nose, text their BFs, polish off a Big mining vehicles are working in the Mac and a Big Gulp, all while trying to find that new standup comedy middle of nowhere, and not interchannel on satellite radio. Some acting with the general public, they wear ear buds, as if to further insustill represent a massive shift.

Just this month, Nevada licensed late themselves.

Daimler’s new Freightliner Inspiration Truck is approved for public road testing in the first self-driving semi-transport How could anything go wrong?

Nevada.

Driving is and has been the delivery truck on its state highways. leading cause of death for humans since its inception. We’re just not that The pictures are striking. A driver sits behind the wheel, pushing away good at it, frankly. And why would we be? A simple exam and few drivon his iPad, as the truck whittles away at the kilometres between them ing tests and you’re out the door to drive a tonne of metal that offers and their destination. Them? In the rear of the cab is where eyebrows speeds dramatically higher than the actual legal limit. Some cars are really get raised. Stunning white bench seating provides a ride that looks literally able to drive multiple times beyond the legal limit. And the only more like the party in the back of Paris Hilton’s limo than it does a venue ones able to purchase these cars are people who through whatever to transport commercial goods. means have been able to obtain more money than most. That sounds And of course this all begs the question of when we leave the driver reasonable. out of the picture entirely. The implications of such a move are manifold.

The waste industry is like any other. It must allow itself to remain But it all raises questions about when we need to start valuing safety over free enough to change with the times. It must test out new technology. It salary. No such move would ever be overnight. And hopefully nobody must endeavour to save lives and protect its workers. Wherever we end would ever lose their job. Automation may be something that’s phased in up in the future, I don’t want the next editor of this magazine to be writover generations. After all, it’s still technically an experiment. ing about how many waste truck drivers and pedestrians are dying out When I got into my early twenties, I thought bank tellers were on the there on our streets. way out. Well, you know as well as I do that’s not the case. There are segments of society that still depend on the friendly face at the counter David Nesseth is the editor of Solid Waste & Recycling magazine. to do help do their banking, not a smartphone.

He can be reached at dnesseth@solidwastemag.com So much about technology is generational. Just the other day, my

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HARD•WORKING

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Solid Waste & Recycling

WA S T E WAT C H

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

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 Anita Madden

McNeilus unveils Meridian

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.

McNeilus Truck & Manufacturing Inc. has unveiled the newest addition to the McNeilus lineup of refuse vehicles – the new Meridian front loader — at Waste Expo 2015 in Las Vegas. At a base body weight of 16,800 lbs, an industry-leading 14-ton payload and rated to lift 10,000

lbs., the Meridian is the perfect balance between lightweight and heavyweight to deliver advanced hauling performance for commercial and residential applications.

The Meridian’s innovative design combines lighter weight materials with durable construction.

50 years for Doppstadt

Canadian Publications Mail Product Sales Agreement No. 40069240 Information contained in this publication has been compiled from sources believed to be reliable, thus Solid Waste & Recycling cannot be responsible for the absolute correctness or sufficiency of articles or editorial contained herein. Articles in this magazine are intended to convey information rather than give legal or other professional advice. Reprint and list rental services are arranged through the Publisher at (416) 510-6798.

Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to: Circulation Department, Solid Waste & Recycling 80 Valleybrook Drive, Toronto ON M3B 2S9 From time to time we make our subscription list available to select companies and organizations whose product or service may interest you. If you do not wish your contact information to be made available, please contact us via one of the following methods: Phone: 1-800-268-7742 Fax: 416-510-5148 E-Mail: amadden@annexnewcom.ca Mail to: Privacy Officer

Annex Newcom LP

80 Valleybrook Drive

Toronto, ON M3B 2S9

Doppstadt is celebrating 50 years in the industry with an Expo in Germany. The June 25-26 event features nearly 100 exhibits from the whole Doppstadt product range, including mobile and stationary machines, plants, belt drums, materials handling technology, and special solutions for water preparation and treatment. Even partners and suppliers of the Doppstadt Group will be exhibiting

Inaugural Showcase

The first Ecoverse Showcase welcomed more than 500 people to downtown Cleveland on April 14-16, many of whom attended to sneak a peek at the latest in waste and organics machinery. The successful showcase featured 13 machines, 36 classroom sessions, service training, and countless personal product tours of Doppstadt,

Backhus, Backers, Tiger, and Harvest Quest.

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

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

Sask’s enviro award

Saskatchewan’s North Battleford has won a 2015 CAMA Award in the environment category for its implementation of a Lystek biosolids management system to minimize waste for landfill. CAMA, known as The Canadian Association of Municipal Administrators, held its awards in Jasper, Alta., on June 3.

DNA-based litterbug composites

HazMat recycling fine in BC

A West Coast numbered company known as Electronics Recycling Canada has pled guilty to exporting hazardous recyclable battery material without a permit or notification. It’s a first for the province, and will force the company to pay $40,000 in fines to a B.C. court. The exported goods included lead-acid batteries and used nickel-cadmium batteries.

BC mattress fire

Just as Canada is seeing an uptick in mattress recycling facilities, one caught fire late May in Vancouver, burning the facility to the ground.

While Manitoba and Nova Scotia recently launched mattress recycling facilities, Vancouver’s Mattress Recycling began in 2008, and company owner Fabio Scaldaferri says they will rebuild soon.

Quebec studies wine deposits Quebec is moving forward with a study to investigate the use of deposit fees for wine bottles. Montreal’s mayor has been an outspoken supporter of deposits, reasoning that the city spends some $27,000 plus tax disposing of glass products at a cost of $18 per tonne each month.

Broken glass creates issues for recycling and can contaminate a waste stream.

A Virginia-based company wants to put a face to Hong Kong’s staggering public littering problem by using DNA technology. Parabon NanoLabs Inc. is participating in a public service campaign launched by Ogilvy & Mather Hong Kong that will collect, analyze and create DNA-based composites of litterbugs by using Snapshot DNA Phenotyping. The technology uses DNA samples to predict what the litterer looks like, which is done through computer modelling. Poster portraits of the perpetrators will be placed across the city, as well as online. The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision not to hear the pharmaceutical industry’s constitutional challenge of Alameda County, California’s drug disposal law could pave the way for more extended producer responsibility (EPR) laws across North America.

PhRMA, the Generic Pharmaceutical Association, and the Biotechnology Industry Organization challenged the 2012 Safe Drug Disposal Ordinance that requires pharmaceutical companies that sell, offer for sale, or distribute their drugs in the county to fund and manage a drug take-back program, despite not being in the county of the ordinance.

Ontario CNG expansion

Emterra Environmental is investing nearly $50 million in a new compressed natural gas (CNG) fuelling station in Mississauga, Ont., to expand waste collection services to the north and southwestern Region of Peel. The new CNG facility is expected to be Ontario’s largest. By January 2016, it will allow Emterra to provide additional services to 216,000 households for single-stream recycling, organics, bulk waste and other waste collection services.

Waste Watch continues on page 39

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COVER STORY

Safety Second 1899 (Photo Eugène Atget)

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by David Nesseth & David McRobert

A look at the state of safety in North America’s waste and recycling sector

W

ith little more than a peep, waste and recycling has quietly become the fifth most dangerous profession in the U.S., joining jobs with more entrenched risks like fishery, logging and mining.

Worn out waste haulers are falling asleep at the wheel; MRF workers are heading home black and blue; collectors are getting cut while busting their backs; and it’s all costing companies huge amounts of money each year.

This is not to mention the pain of losing a loved one in a workplace accident, one of the most seemingly unnecessary ways to die. So many of these deaths have been preventable, which makes the whole nightmarish ordeal just that much harder to accept.

As recent as June 15, 2015, a Florida recycling worker died after being crushed inside a cardboard compactor. While the facts are still muddy, it appears the worker may have been trying to clear a jam in the machinery.

While comprehensive Canadian stats can be hard to come by for particular examination of the waste and recycling industry’s safety record, British Columbia’s stats alone are cause for concern. B.C.’s provincial injury rate for waste workers is more than three times the provincial average for all industries. Waste workers had an injury rate of 7.5 for 2013, while the provincial average injury rate for all other occupations was just 2.3. Somewhat surprisingly, the province actually has a lower rate of injury for waste truck drivers specifically (5.5).

DUMP TRUCK TRAGEDIES Waste trucks, for all intensive purposes, are some of the most dangerous vehicles on the road. Aside from their sheer size, weight and power, their many moving parts create ample opportunity for injury. Unlike most similar vehicles, waste trucks are destined for residential neighbourhoods where people live and play. It’s simply an unfortunate reality of the modern waste system — one that places curbside waste workers at the mercy of other motorists, and pedestrians at the mercy of waste trucks.

No surprise then to learn that 15 of the 33 waste and recycling industry deaths in 2013 were the result of vehicle-related accidents, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labour Statistics.

Looking north to Canada, the red and white hasn’t fared much better with waste vehicle safety or plant safety. But it’s also not documented the problems as well. Industries in Canada tend to get lumped together, which makes good data hard to come by. To help fill in the gaps, Solid Waste & Recycling magazine surveyed 86 Canadian waste workers who generously shared their thoughts on safety issues in the industry — on everything from collection and driving to sorting.

THE COST OF INJURY IN CANADA REPORT SHOWS: • $27 billion is lost to the economy annually • 16,000 Canadians die each year • 1 child dies every nine hours • 3.5 million visits to emergency rooms • More than 60,000 disabilities Parachute, June 2015

Our survey found that 91 per cent of Canadian waste haulers believe there is one major problem for collection crews. That problem?

Failure to comply with established safety procedures. This is most interesting because of the fact that it doesn’t try to shift blame away from waste workers. Quite the opposite, it represents accountability. Our survey (primarily of rear-loading truck operators) also revealed that poor weather and visibility, as well as poor training and vehicle maintenance, are also contributing factors to waste vehicle accidents.

Hauling accidents are a problem that’s being addressed in the U.S. through safety awareness campaigns like Slow Down To Get Around.

Florida, Wisconsin and West Virginia have even introduced legislation to help waste haulers and surrounding motorists stay safe on the road.

The grapevine has it that similar safe driving legislation is coming to Ontario.

But ultimately, safety lies in the hands of the employer, not government. Even the most stringent safety legislation can’t change the stubbornness inherent in some work cultures.

Quebec’s Dominque David is a spokesperson for the CSST, the province’s body for administering its Occupational Health and Safety Plan.

She says the province’s guide to help waste haulers stay safe is clear.

“There are unilateral safe working methods recognized by our organization for collection,” says David. “In order to avoid collision between

Drive-cam programs are helping the waste industry to better understand what’s causing waste truck collisions and the resulting injuries.

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COVER STORY

Handling, sorting and collecting society’s waste has always been a dangerous job, but somebody’s got to do it.

a vehicle and a dustman, we encourage safe positioning of the dustman during the compaction operation to eliminate the danger of projection on the worker, and especially safe positioning of the dustman during a reverse movement of a collection truck to eliminate the danger of crushing the dustman,” adds David, who uses the British slang for describing waste workers.

In Ontario, Ministry of Labour spokesperson William Linn says Safe at Work Ontario is the strategy used to “lead proactive inspections with the goal to make workplaces safer.”

“We believe that compliance with the existing OHSA and regulations under OHSA will reduce worker injuries in the waste management and materials sorting sectors,” says Linn.

The ministry added waste and recycling facilities to its seasonal safety blitz schedule for the first time in 2013. Inspectors were checking for compliance with requirements under the OHSA and its regulations.

The inspection focus was on: (a) providing proper information, instruction and supervision to workers to protect their health and safety; and (b) proper handling requirements for disposal of needles, sharps and other wastes in health care workplaces.

Legislation, of course, can’t solve everything either. A simple Google news search of “dump truck died” yields results more days than not. Just last month in Florida, waste worker Ryan Witt, 28, lost control of his truck and fatally crashed into a tree; a few weeks ago, in the Philippines, a waste hauler drove right into a house, killing two and injuring five (the driver spared his own life after jumping out when the brakes failed); in Mid-May, a 36-year-old Ottawa woman died after a run-in with a waste truck; in early June, a 92-year-old Montana man died after being

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COVER STORY struck by a waste truck; in mid-May, a 62-year-old waste truck operator drowned after plunging his vehicle into Swiss waters; in late May, a South Carolina woman was struck and killed by a waste truck; in midMay, Boston-area waste vehicle operator John Thebeau, 62, died during a rollover; in January, in Vancouver, waste truck operator Ravinder Singh Atwal died when his truck hit a highway median and exploded; in late May, a 15-year-old Missouri girl died after being hit by a waste truck during her driving lesson.

There were also incidents in recent months involving the death of a pregnant woman crushed in her own driveway, after a waste truck tipped over; as well as the death of a homeless man who sought out sleep in a waste container, but never made it out before the truck arrived.

This lengthy list of incidents is disturbing. Residential waste collection often occurs at night to avoid such pitfalls, but it hasn’t seemed to matter much.

RAG AND BONE MEN In the wake of the industrial and chemical revolutions that exploded during the past two centuries, the nature of the waste we generate has changed dramatically. There are more and more health and safety implications for workers, managers and even homeowners and apartment dwellers. The ways we handle, store, recycle, reuse, compost and dispose of our waste has never been so complex. There is the handling and disposal of toxic chemicals like PCBs, pesticides and asbestos which tend to attract the average person’s attention, but we don’t often consider how the evolution of our waste system over the past four decades impinges on workers, companies, residents, regulators and communities.

Handling, sorting and collecting our waste have always been dangerous jobs. Even the enterprising “rag and bone” men who populate the

$AFETY

Most recently, in May 2015, the Ontario Ministry of Labour announced the award of 12 grants to organizations throughout Ontario as part of a new Occupational Health and Safety Prevention and Innovation Program designed to improve occupational health and safety. Ontario is providing resources to provide public outreach to young workers, as well as training videos accessible for the hearing impaired, training on hazards associated with radiation, and training on musculoskeletal disorder prevention for developmental service workers.

— MOL

ECOVERSE.CA ONTARIO:

647-982-6781 ALBERTA ECOVERSE DEALER GROUNDWORX:

780-463-7077

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COVER STORY

B.C. waste truck driver Ravinder Singh Atwal died in an accident back in January 2015.

many novels and oral stories of our ancestors were exposed to many hazards and dangers as they literally scrounged for rags and bones. They would often scour the streets for discarded treasures, loading up their finds into a cart pulled along beside them.

These scavengers would then find buyers for their goods, which is not all that different from the concept of the modern scrap metal scavenger, or deposit bottle collector.

Health concerns about the spread of disease from rag and bone men led to the U.K.’s Public Health Act of 1936. The legislation aimed to combat the custom of rag-and-bone men trading items with children.

Smaller traditional communities like First Nations generated almost exclusively organic waste and maintained mobile lifestyles.

JURISDICTION: WASTE In Canada, jurisdiction over both environmental protection and health are shared between the federal and provincial/ territorial governments, and responsibilities with respect to waste management are determined pursuant to the division of legislative powers under the Constitution Act, 1867. As such, waste management is regulated by all three levels of government in Canada: federal, provincial and municipal. While the federal government’s role is largely restricted to issues relating to waste management on federal lands, toxic substances (and the regulation of what substances can be used in products), and the transportation of waste, municipal and local governments are responsible for establishing bylaws regulating waste management and recycling activities and often include rules relating to the following: recycling requirements, limits on residential garbage generation, and waste collection fees, etc. The regulation of waste and recycling occurs for the most part at the provincial level and consists of waste management and recycling regulations divided by generation source: (a) residential or (b) industrial, commercial and institutional (ICI). In Ontario, the provincial legislation and regulations which relate to waste management and recycling are: Environmental Protection Act (and its regulations), the Waste Diversion Act; the Environmental Assessment Act; and the Planning Act. — D. McRobert

SAFETY EVOLVING In response to high rates of injury and illness, solid waste facilities have become increas­ingly regulated to minimize work-related risks. For example, most waste collection in developed countries involves vehicles with low loading heights and easy-to-lift plastic containers or bags. Waste sorting at materials recovery facilities involves dust suppression, conveyance enclosure, and ventilation-controlled work environments, and workers are required to wear per­sonal respiratory protection if working spaces do not meet air standards set for occupational safety and health.

If workplaces have safety protocols followed by employees, what then accounts for the high incidence of worker injury and illness in the waste management and recycling sectors? Solid Waste & Recycling magazine survey respondents seem to suggest that non-observance of safety procedures and failure to wear personal protective equipment may stem from a sense of apathy or lack of appreciation of workplace risks. If this is true, further study on the nature of employee training may be needed. Such research could explore employee perceptions of risk, and survey the nature of employee training received by workers in the waste and recycling sectors, and in material recovery facilities.

COMMON INJURIES Waste collectors and MRF workers who responded to our survey reported that their main injuries have been bruises (90 per cent) and sprains and strains (98 per cent) The main occupational illnesses reported are respiratory diseases (78 per cent) and allergies and gastrointestinal diseases (98 per cent).

Eighty-one per cent of our survey respondents believe that most waste and 3Rs handlers wear adequate personal protective equipment during work. However, zero per cent of respondents from material recovery facilities believed that most workers wear personal protective equipment during work (95 per cent of MRF respondents reported that some workers wear the personal protective equipment, and 100 per cent of the respondents indicated that the reason for not wearing personal protective equipment is because the workers ‘do not care’.

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COVER STORY HIGH-TECH SAFETY It seems a no-brainer that technology would have made the waste and recycling industry much safer by now. Of course, that’s not entirely true.

But steps have been taken. For instance, many waste companies are introducing waste trucks with automated lift arms, helping to ease the constant physical stress on workers lifting and emptying collection bins.

The use of in-cab and exterior vehicle cameras and sensors are also helping to make waste hauling safer for workers and the public. More and more vehicles are recording driver data, too, a critical tool for teaching others to be better, safer waste haulers.

Drive-cam programs are helping waste companies better understand exactly why accidents are happening, and find ways to prevent them from happening again. It’s not perfect, but information is always power.

It all begs the question whether we will even have waste truck drivers in generations to come. We are living in the advent of self-driving vehicles, and as recently as April 17, 2015, in Australia, Hitachi Construction Machinery unveiled three Autonomous Haulage System dump trucks at a coal mine testing ground. The increased efficiency of the computerized would effectively tire life,and cut fuel Occupational Health and Safetytrucks (OHS) in the Wasteincrease Management 3Rsuse, Sector and of course, save labour costs.

It poses an interesting dilemma that in Canada illustrates the balance between safety and salary. At what point does so-

WORKPLACES SAFETY AND INSURANCE BOARD The Workplaces Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB), established under the Worksplace Safety and Insurance Act is responsible for the administration of the insurance plan, evaluation of the consequences of proposed changes in benefits, services, programs and policies; monitoring developments in the understanding of the relationship between workplace insurance and injury and occupational disease; the regulation of advisory councils or committees, (i.e., Health and Safety Associations and Occupational Health Clinics for Ontario Workers) and for investigations, research, certification and training.

SurveyMonkey — D. McRobert ciety care more about preserving inherently dangerous jobs, ones that support countless families, than it does about maintaining the safety of those families? The next decade of technology will likely decide the fate of truck drivers across many industries.

Q17 What do you think are the main reasons for injuries and fatalities among collectors?

Answered: 70

Skipped: 17

MRF MADNESS

poor visability

Like their counterparts in other industries, plant workers are vulnerable to loud noise levels that can slowly damage a person’s hearing over time.

Of course, ear plugs are an easy weapon against this issue, annoying or uncomfortable as they may seem.

MRF workers experience hazards from using treated material, handling equipment (forklifts, loaders, trucks) and the machinery used (mechanical sorters, compactors, conveyors, vibrating screens, electromagnets). Manual sorting operations, as well as maintenance and repair task also bring risks. These include contamination by biological or gaseous agents, and exposure to dust, noise, thermal stress, inadequate lighting conditions, musculoskeletal injuries due to repetitive movements and awkward working positions, hazardous waste handling of syringes, and the threat of fire.

fatigue

Insufficient training non-observance of safety...

Nature of the work Improper disposal of...

Lack of proper personal...

Carelessly passing...

Weather (heat wave, biting...

Switching driver and...

Incentives to work quickly

SAFETY PROTOCOL

Lack of provision fo...

Other (please specify) 0%

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90% 100%

Solid Waste & Recycling magazine spoke with a regional landfill administrator named Lynn, who operates on the West Coast. She says times are changing at landfills, and it could make for safer times as officials clamp down on compliance.

“We just got 100 per cent compliance from June/July 2015 www.solidwastemag.com 13

Answer Choices

Responses

poor visability

11.43%

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4.29%

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COVER STORY

HAZARDS

Whether the public is trying to race around a slow-moving waste truck, or putting unprotected sharp objects out by the curb, hidden within a black garbage bag, it’s a unique relationship that calls for mutual respect.

the Environment officials,” says Lynn “I used to have to refer to the Alberta environment code. Now, our local government has their own draft code, so their guidelines are getting much more serious. It’s hard to hide things now, as people used to try to do. Rural areas are getting shut down now. For things that are no longer allowed, like trying to burn contaminated wood.”

Lynn trains workers, often highschoolers, at the facility. She has never had a safety issue so far. “As with any industry, lack of experience, lack of training, lack of proper education,” she says are key factors that influence the potential for injury. “Also a failure to focus, with young employees on the job. A big part is lack of education and training.

I had a guy in here today. He’s nice until he doesn’t get what he wants.

He didn’t obey the rules. There are rules for a reason. Most of the time, injuries and illness are preventable, but people don’t follow the rules.”

She adds that she’d like to see improved monitoring and reporting of safety issues. “All are important. Not everyone is honest about what happens.”

LANDFILL & MRF FIRES As we wrote about in our January/February issue feature of Solid Waste & Recycling, landfill fires continue to be an ongoing threat for many communities around the world. It may be considered one of the most inherent dangers in operating a landfill.

On New Year’s Eve, fire destroyed a recycling facility in Fredericton, N.B. It was the third fire in eight years at the waste complex. Now, the Fredericton Region Solid Waste Commission is joining a wider North American effort through Call2Recycle, to better educate the public about the improper disposal of flammable, hazardous items like batteries.

Meanwhile, at the West Lake Landfill in Missouri, a fire is still burning away, not too far from a local nuclear waste storage area.

Studies suggest that environmental occupational hazards in the waste management and recycling industries include: • safety hazards (such as injuries from use of heavy, dangerous, unsafe use of, poorly designed, or improperly operating machinery/equipment, electrical and mechanical equipment, injuries involving motor vehicles and traffic, flying or falling liquids during collection and processing stages of recycling, and lacerations from sharps during the processing of secondary materials) • chemical hazards (such as exposure to vehicular emissions, process chemicals and residues of hazardous chemicals in recyclable containers, and their gaseous emissions, during collecting, sorting, and washing processes, improperly disposed of industrial waste or hazardous chemicals, substances that are toxic, inflammatory, reactive or explosive, volatile organics, air particulates, bioaerosols; particulate releases during the material receiving and sorting areas where equipment is used to process recyclables, as well as other harmful airborne chemicals during the remanufacturing or refining of recyclable materials); biological hazards (such as infections from exposure to sewage, microbiological agents, bacteria, viruses, fungi, blood-borne pathogens, and parasites from contaminated waste, secondary materials, or medical wastes, and exposure to contaminated air, organic dust and endotoxins); • physical hazards (such as noise, vibration and temperature extremes); and • and ergonomic hazards (such as musculoskeletal injuries from collection and sorting operations and manual sorting tanks which require repetitive motions including reaching, lifting and twisting motions).

— D. McRobert

It’s interesting that some elements of safety for waste and recycling workers are dependent on the actions of the public. Whether the public is trying to race around a slow-moving neighbourhood waste truck, or putting unprotected sharp objects out by the curb, hidden within a black garbage bag, it’s a unique relationship that calls for each party to be respectful and mindful of the other.

Please try to keep safety first out there, not second.

David Nesseth is the editor of Solid Waste & Recycling magazine.

He can be reached at dnesseth@solidwastemag.com David McRobert is an environmental lawyer based in Peterborough.

He can be reached at mcrobert@sympatico.ca

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S PA I N C O L L E C T I O N

Side view of Geesinknorba N2 Series 8L22 9 cubic metre rear loader showing the LI-ON power hybrid unit fitted behind the cab.

Spain’s door-to-door waste journey A look at hybrid truck waste pickup overnight in Catalonia

E

uropean municipalities are meeting local 20 per cent carbon reduction limits and climate change target dates by upgrading vehicles and waste collection methods.

Today, we take a closer look at smaller municipalities in Catalonia, Spain, and the methods they’re employing to modernize waste collection services.

Spanish municipalities such as Barcelona, Argentona and Ibiza on the island of Mallorca — and even Paris — are purchasing Global Geesinknorba hybrid product for their environmental benefits when collecting waste in large cities.

The Argentona municipality, in conjunction with l’arca del Maresme and Geesinknorba Spain, are providing an efficient waste management system for the residents of Argentona mirrored by the other waste collection, street and beach cleaning, household waste recycling centres and waste transfer station contracts l’arca del Maresme operate within Catalonia, a region that covers more than 7.5 million people.

After developing its hybrid product range over 12 years, the Geesinknorba LI-ON power series waste collection products have become very popular with municipal waste collection operators in Europe because of the equipment’s reduced carbon emissions and noise levels.

Reduced noise is particularly relevant when collecting waste at night, which is common practice in European cities to improve waste collection productivity levels and avoid daytime traffic congestion.

These municipalities value whole-life costs when buying new waste

by Timothy Byrne “Non-recyclable waste is delivered both night and day to the Mataro incinerator plant, which disposes of all waste produced in the Comarca del Maresme region." collection equipment, and the hybrid motor is patented by Geesinknorba, so all parts come from one supplier if and when required.

Miguel Angel Morales, commercial director for Geesinknorba Spain, says, “This has contributed to environmental benefits such as reducing carbon dioxide emissions, improving air quality and overall, improving the environment in general.” l’arca del Maresme is a private company specializing since 1997 in providing environmental services for the Comarca del Maresme region of Catalonia on the northern coast of Barcelona. The company is involved in this region, providing waste collection, street and beach cleaning, the operation of household waste recycling centres and waste transfer station contracts for the Comarca del Maresme municipalities.

In July 2014, l’arca del Maresme won a four-year waste collection and street cleansing contract for the municipality of Argentona in the June/July 2015 www.solidwastemag.com 15

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Comarca del Maresme region of Catalonia. It involves the collection of non-recyclable waste, organic waste and dry recyclables from a population of 12,000 people, plus street cleaning services using manual labour and mechanical sweeping. As part of the new contract, the company also empties all of the litter bins in the streets of the municipality, using a fleet of small Piaggio collection vehicles.

Waste Collection The waste collection service in Argentona differs from that in other cities and towns in Spain. l’arca del Maresme carries out door-to-door waste collection service for 75 per cent of the municipality’s population.

This involves the collection of non-recyclable waste in plastic sacks, and the collection of dry recyclables such as paper, cardboard, plastic (PET, HDPE, Tetrapack and LDPE), steel and aluminium tins and cans (commingled) in categorised containers. Organic compostable waste is also collected; residents place it in a storage container of 10 and 25-litre capacity with a lid that prevents foul odours from being produced in the warm Mediterranean climate. There are light coloured green igloos placed along the streets in Argentona for the deposit of commingled coloured glass bottles and jars.

The remaining 25 per cent of the waste is collected from residents in containers placed at communal collection points along the streets.

The non-recyclable waste fraction is placed in a dark green coloured

1,000-litre container while recyclable paper, cardboard, plastics and steel and aluminium cans (commingled) are placed into blue and yellow coloured 3-5 cubic metre containers. The blue container is for paper and cardboard while the yellow is for plastics and steel and aluminium tins and cans. A light green coloured igloo is placed in the communal point for the collection and storage of commingled glass.

Two spokespeople, one from Argentona and the other from l’arca del Maresme, explained that it is more practical, efficient and financially viable to introduce door-to-door selective collection systems in municipalities where there are populations from 5,000-15,000 people.

This, combined with effective communications with the residents, helps to achieve higher recycling rates, thus reducing the quantities of nonrecyclable waste which still requires treatment. There are currently 900 cities and towns in Catalonia with 113 of them being provided with a door-to-door selective waste collection service, and it’s growing more and more. Argentona is one of the top 10-15 municipalities in Catalonia achieving consistently high tonnages of high quality dry recyclables.

This compares with other Spanish cities and towns where 65-85 per cent of waste is collected using communal collection points and only achieving a 35-40 per cent recycling rate.

The municipality of Canet de Mar in Catalonia, which has a population of 15,000 people, is also using a door-to-door selective collection system to increase recycling rates, while Vic municipality, which

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has a population of 40,000 people, is now implementing a door-to-door collection system. This is to increase both the tonnage of recyclables collected and their quality which will reduce the disposal costs for the non-recyclable waste fraction sent for disposal.

By the end of 2015, Argentona officials want l’arca del Maresme to implement door-to-door selective collection to the remaining 25 per cent of properties within the municipality to help increase the recycling rate. Currently, the 75 per cent of residents served by a door-to- door selective collection system in the municipality achieve a 70 per cent recycling rate. With the remaining 25 per cent of residents in Argentona switching from using communal collection points to the door-to-door selective collection system will help the municipalities’ recycling rate increase to 80 per cent. This compared with the overall recycling rate from the other Catalonian municipalities that still use communal collection points for the collection of non-recyclable, and dry recyclables is 39 per cent so it shows that Argentona municipality is at the forefront of recycling in Catalonia through implementing a door-to-door selective collection system.

Residents in Argentona are charged for their waste collection service according to the number of occupants living in each household. The municipality provides the occupants with a sufficient supply of plastic sacks for the storage of their non-recyclable waste. This encourages the residents to recycle more because if the residents use up all of the plastic sacks provided by the municipality, the residents will have to purchase additional plastic sacks from a local convenience store for the storage of their waste.

There are specific days when residents can place certain waste streams out for collection. Non-recyclable waste is collected once a week, the organic fraction is collected three times a week, with this extending to four times a week between the months of June-September because of odours produced from the putrescible food waste fraction.

Paper and cardboard are collected once a week and plastics, steel and aluminium tins and cans are collected twice weekly.

For commercial businesses such as shops, bars and restaurants, nonrecyclable waste is collected in plastic sacks, while the recyclable waste streams are collected in containers. The food waste fraction can be collected in containers of 25, 40, 60, 120 and 240 litre containers dependent on the volumes of food waste produced by a business. l’arca del Maresme collect the food waste from commercial producers five days a week while non-recyclable waste is collected once a week and paper, cardboard, plastic and steel and aluminium tins and cans are collected twice a week. Glass is deposited by the commercial producers in the light green coloured igloos positioned in the streets of the municipality.

Waste treatment Non-recyclable waste is delivered both night and day to the Mataro incinerator plant which disposes of all waste produced in the Comarca del Maresme region. The plant was constructed in 1994 and has a capacity of processing 219,410 tonnes of waste a year. It has two Martin Reverse Acting Stoker grates that combust waste at temperatures of over a 1,000°C and produces 8.5 MWh of electricity from the incineration process which is exported to the local electricity network. Due to the high costs in terms of gate fees for disposing of non-recyclable waste at the incineration plant, Argentona municipality, in conjunction with

Festivities taking place in Argentona.

l’arca del Maresme have strong information campaigns to educate the public to recycle more. This reduces the costs of sending waste for incineration and increases profitability for the municipality in the sale of the dry recyclables.

Organic waste is delivered to a composting plant for converting into compost full of nutrients which can be used in farming. The paper, cardboard, plastics, steel and aluminium tins and cans and glass are delivered to reprocessors for the production of new products reducing the reliance on using virgin aggregates.

Purchase new waste vehicles To enhance the waste collection service, l’arca del Maresme purchased two HYBRID LI-ON POWER N2-series intermittent loading waste collection vehicles from GEESINKNORBA Spain. These two new units will accompany an existing Geesinknorba KT2 24H25 24 cubic metre capacity waste collection vehicle fitted with a roof mounted crane operated by l’arca del Maresme mounted to a Renault Premium 340 DXI 6x2 rear steer 26 tonne chassis. This unit is used to collect dry recyclables

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e.g. paper, cardboard, plastics and steel and aluminium tins and cans from the blue and yellow coloured 3-5 cubic metre containers used to service 25 per cent of the municipality’s population.

The new GEESINKNORBA HYBRID LI-ON power units recently added to the collection fleet include a N2 8L22 of 9 cubic metres capacity mounted onto a Renault D16 Euro 6 16 tonne 4x2 chassis while the second unit is a N2 18H25 of 18 cubic metres capacity mounted onto a Renault Premium D26 Euro 6 26 tonne 6x2 rear steer chassis. Both Renault chassis feature the Allison 3000 Series automatic transmission to reduce driver fatigue in the start and stop operations experienced in waste collection operations.

The municipality of Argentona had previously studied the use of GEESINKNORBA waste collection equipment from their experience of the KT2 24H25 unit and Renault chassis already working on their fleet and had therefore stipulated that this was the equipment they wanted used in the municipality. The reasons for this were due to Geesinknorba’s equipment contributing to high efficiency operationally while also reducing maintenance and whole life costs. The use of hybrid

technology was further strengthened by the municipality and l’arca del Maresme longer term environmental strategy being based on reducing carbon dioxide and noise emissions and also improving the general air quality of the local environment. This is underpinned by the municipality working in conjunction with the Diputació de Barcelona in reducing carbon emissions by 20 per cent by 2020 to meet the requirements of the Climate Change Act 2008.

Each of the two GEESINKNORBA N2 series units are fitted with the L200 Combi- Lifter which consists of a comb bar for emptying DIN 30740 type containers of 80 - 1100-litre capacity. Trunnion arms have also been fitted to both units to enable the emptying of DIN 30700 type containers of 660 and 1100-litre capacities too. This gives the crew the versatility of using either the comb or trunnion arms. The N2-series has an intermittent packing mechanism using the patented GEESINKNORBA slide block system. The compaction mechanism achieves a high compaction ratio of 6:1 yielding a high payload.

Other benefits include the use of a special industrial lithium ion battery specially designed and manufactured for Geesinknorba. The LI-ON power unit weighs 500 kg which includes the weight of the battery, electric motor and electric pump so it does not have any effect on the Geesinknorba N2’s payload that the waste collection unit can legally carry. The Renault truck chassis recharges the LI-ON power battery when the vehicle is moving from one collection point to another. The chassis starts to recharge the batteries once it reaches a speed of 8 km/h.

The LI-ON power unit also achieves a fuel saving of 30 per cent when in operation. The LI-ON power batteries only need charging from an electrical connection at the workshop once a week to make sure that the lithium ion batteries are stabilised. The lithium ion batteries will not fall below the 60-70 per cent level. If the batteries did fall to around 25 per cent because of a technical or diagnostic issue the LI-ON power unit would automatically disconnect and the hydraulics for operating the packing mechanism and bin lifting equipment will be provided through the chassis power take off using the Geesinknorba SmartPack system.

This reduces the chassis fuel consumption by 15 per cent when used.

The benefit to using the SmartPack system in conjunction with the LION power hybrid system is that it will make sure that, if the conventional chassis PTO is used, it will maintain a high level of operational productivity for the waste collection service.

The HYBRID LI-ON POWER products from GEESINKNORBA are available in the MINI-SERIES, G-SERIES, N-SERIES and MFSERIES range of waste collection equipment products from capacities of 5-30 cubic metres capacity.

Geesinknorba Spain will support the two LI-ON Power N2 Series waste collection vehicles at its Rubi service centre in Barcelona.

Geesinknorba will provide a first class maintenance service for the two new units providing the same high quality after sales and maintenance service Argentona municipality and l’arca del Maresme have received for their KT2 24H25 unit from Geesinknorba Spain since it was added to the municipality’s collection fleet.

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 June/July 2015 www.solidwastemag.com 19

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C O M M I T T E E TA L K

by David Nesseth “Committee members questioned why they are attaching the $150,000 value to the business case before sending it out to tender.”

Saskatoon’s Recovery Park Committee weighs need for private consultant to develop business case

A

debate weighing over-reliance on outside consultants took centre stage at a recent committee meeting in Saskatoon, where the City is eyeing the development of a comprehensive Recovery Park.

As Saskatoon aims to reach 70 per cent waste diversion by 2023, the new Recovery Park will include a construction and demolition waste centre by the Saskatoon landfill. The Park would not only serve contractors, but also local citizens looking to compost, recycle or drop off hazardous waste.

By 2016 it will be mandatory for every Saskatoon apartment building, townhouse and condo owner to provide independent on-site recycling for their residents.

“It’s all in one spot, instead of offering ‘event days’ and other services,” said Saskatoon sustainability engineering manager Chris Richards, who used extensive computer modelling to show committee members the vision and scale for Recovery Park.

On April 20, 2009, City Council initiated the process to allocate $7.2 million in funding for construction of a permanent compost facility. This project has funded the construction, equipment and operation of the two compost depots. From 2009 to 2014, City Council allocated another $2

ART ME UP Artistic welder Michael Perks is co-owner of Little Monkey Metal Works. He’s been helping to make some of Saskatoon’s waste and recycling bins a bit more eyecatching.

million for the construction of a commercial and demolition waste recycling facility.

City staff estimate the business plan necessary for moving ahead with the Recovery Park project could cost upwards of $150,000, but don’t believe they have the capacity in house to investigate a further business case for the park, which could include the best construction options, reselling options, locational options and operational staff components.

Several members of council at the May 11 environment, utilities and corporate services committee meeting expressed concern about the city’s penchant for using private consultancies to gather information that could be done in-house by city staff.

Coun. Ann Iwanchuk says she’s supportive of the Recovery Park project, but questioned the need for an external consultant.

“It’s over and over and over again that we’re asking for this kind of work. Back in the day, when staff did these reports in house, I think the city ran pretty well,” said Iwanchuk.

Other committee members questioned why they are attaching the $150,000 value to the business case before sending it out to tender.

“We put out a dollar amount and our proponents live up to that expectation every time,” says Coun. Eric Olauson. “If we just told them what we want, they’d come back with how much it’s worth.”

City staff said the point of creating a number before an RFP is to be transparent with council and the public. They want to attempt to show what the project is going to cost.

Of course, low-balling the estimates could also cause problems.

Richards presentation showed that an integrated approach to waste and recycling management at Recovery Park could be expected to divert an additional 5,000 tonnes from the landfill each year through new diversion programs like C&D and improved service to existing programs

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C O M M I T T E E TA L K such as hazardous waste disposal. The diverted volume could reduce up to 1,150 tonnes of greenhouse gases annually, according to a report by Richards and Saskatoon project engineer Josh Quintal. This is equivalent to removing 225 cars from our roadways each year.

The report further states that once the composting operations have moved to Recovery Park, the site would divert an additional 12,000 tonnes per year and provide the opportunity to divert 10,000 tonnes through an organics (food waste) curbside collection program.

Dundonald Yards, the target site for recovery park, is currently being used for soil storage. City staff are considering the development of a proper soil storage hub on the site, but have yet to pitch the idea to council.

Many bins would be available to the public at Recovery Park, allowing for plenty of customization.

“This could seasonally be a Christmas tree drop-off. It gives us lots of flexibility in labelling the bins,” said Richards.

The city landfill is located off Valley Road, south of 11th Street.

Saskatoon city council is also exploring its options for banning paper and cardboard from landfill, as it tries to pump up the city’s waste diversion rate.

While the city explores landfill ban implementation options and program costs for consideration during its 2016 Business Plan and Budget deliberations, officials are still perusing local data. As it stands, Saskatoon estimates that 20 to 35 per cent of the ICI waste stream is comprised of paper and cardboard. “[…] Meaning the effect of a landfill ban on paper and cardboard will have far reaching implications,” states a May committee report.

Dundonald Yards are prime territory for Recovery Park.

The city states that 10,000 tonnes of paper and cardboard were recycled through civic recycling programs in 2014 (including both bluecarts and recycling depots). However, according to the 2014 waste audit for Saskatoon, approximately 7,000 tonnes of recyclable paper materials were still landfilled from the residential waste stream. Some 7,000 tonnes of paper fibre is equivalent to five per cent of the total tonnes of material deposited at the landfill each year, consuming an estimated annual airspace valued at $440,000. Waste audits confirmed up to 32 per cent of the waste generated by the ICI sector (and taken to the Saskatoon

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C O M M I T T E E TA L K

WANTED: NEW BINS Saskatoon is currently looking to get new pedestrian waste bins for the City. Coun. Pat Lorje, among others, have been dissatisfied with the current MetroBin program.

“The MetroBins are large, ungainly and awkward. They take up major sidewalk space,” said Lorje, who warned that adding additional advertising to the bins could cause “visual clutter”. A bylaw currently prevents advertising in public parks, but councillors are exploring the option.

In 2005, the City started a pedestrian-oriented public space recycling initiative by installing 47 full-service receptacles called MetroBins, primarily located in three BIDs – Riversdale, Downtown, and Broadway.

In 2014, some 13 tonnes of recyclables were collected from these bins.

The City’s Urban Design team has recently added waste containers that have an attached or built-in bottle basket on 3 streetscape projects. Bottle baskets are an informal, “self-serviced” recycling method that are attached to existing garbage containers. Early results of this pilot program show very good community support for ensuring beverage containers do not end up in the landfill.

The capital costs required to design, procure, and install bins is estimated to be approximately $2,000 per location.

Saskatoon Transit’s bus benches now accept recycling. Benches with receptacles that collect paper, beverage containers, and garbage can be found at the majority of bus benches throughout the City. The remainder of the bus benches will be upgraded in 2015. These bins are serviced by Creative Outdoor Advertising. Saskatoon Transit estimates that 150 new benches will be added over the next 10 years.

— SWR Staff

Landfill) in 2014 was paper and cardboard, representing in excess of 10,700 tonnes. The value of the airspace consumed by this material is $675,000 each year.

The committee report goes on to note that enforcement of a paper and cardboard ban at the landfill would involve load inspections at the landfill entrance. Fines could be levied if customers brought paper or cardboard in their loads. Enforcement could also involve requiring businesses to submit proof that recycling collection contracts are in place for paper and cardboard. The Solicitor’s Office has identified that current legislation in Saskatchewan may not give the City the authority to implement prohibitive (city-wide) bans on single-use plastic shopping bags and Styrofoam.

Some municipalities conduct curbside inspections of waste prior to collection.

Recovery Park Offers: • Scales & scale house / operations office • Construction and Demolition (C&D) Waste recycling •H ousehold Hazardous Waste (HHW) collection • Composting • Recycling • Gently used item exchange • Solid waste transfer bins • Soils handling (internal City use only)

Is there a market?

Shingles – RAS, Roadways Concrete – Roadways Asphalt – RAP, Roadways Clean Wood – Compost or Energy Drywall – Compost or Soil amendments Glass/Porcelain – Roadways?

Contaminated Wood – Energy?

22 www.solidwastemag.com June/July 2015

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BLUE BOX

by John Mullinder "While BC’s new EPR model for the Blue Box is not perfect, it clearly has a lot more going for it than its detractors are willing to admit."

BC Blue Box gets bad rap A breakdown of the program’s criticism

B

ritish Columbia’s new full producer responsibility program for the Blue Box is getting a bad rap, certainly in Ontario, where some waste haulers, municipalities and even a few provincial government people are calling it a disaster. Here are some of the claims we are hearing.

Claim # 1: That many municipalities are excluded from the program.

In fact, BC municipalities had a choice on whether to belong to the stewardship program or not. Some 76 municipalities, regional districts and First Nations chose to join, while another 10 communities asked steward body Multi-Material BC to provide curbside service directly to their residents through private collectors, with no involvement from the municipality and at no cost to taxpayers. Together the local government and private collectors within the MMBC program provide service to 1.24 million curbside and multi-family households (72.3 per cent of the provincial total). A further 20 municipalities initially chose not to join, but then reconsidered after the launch deadline and were placed on a waiting list. MMBC wants to add these latecomers as soon as possible, but it needs more steward funds (that is, fewer freeriders) before it can do so. So the quick answer to the exclusion claim is that the municipalities currently not in the program excluded themselves.

Claim # 2: That there is no enforcement and no method of performance monitoring or verification.

Membership of MMBC is voluntary. Stewards can choose to join MMBC or another body or meet their provincial obligations by themselves. MMBC has no control over stewards such as newspaper publishers or small business owners who have chosen not to join MMBC. It is up to the province to cajole, coerce, or take free-riders to court for not meeting provincial obligations.

As for monitoring and verification of MMBC program performance, this is currently being done by independent auditors prior to the release of a report on the first seven months of the program on July 1. Word on the street is that MMBC has met its 75 per cent collection rate target.

Claim # 3: That municipalities were given a “take-it-or-leave-it” price for collection.

MMBC was under no obligation to offer municipalities any collection contracts. For political and ease-of-transition reasons, however, it chose to offer them the right-of-first-refusal on collection. The collection

prices offered by MMBC were based on an analysis of the cost data that existed in 23 BC programs. Some municipal programs cost more, some cost less. The few municipalities that chose not to accept the MMBC offer had the option of collecting at their own taxpayers’ expense or getting out of the collection business entirely and letting MMBC do it. Ten communities chose the latter option and MMBC contracts out the provision of direct service itself. Most municipalities and regional districts (the 72 per cent of BC households mentioned above) chose to accept MMBC’s price offer.

Claim # 4: That MMBC has created a monopoly on the processing of BC residential recyclables.

First, MMBC is a voluntary program which covers only its own members’ obligations. There is an opening for other steward bodies to form (and one is trying to). Second, MMBC issued a request for post-collection proposals that covered 10 geographic zones, offering respondents the opportunity to bid for each zone, a bundle of zones, or all of them collectively.

Several companies bid. The winner, which bid in each zone and was also able to offer a collective bundle, brought three separate partners together and included 26 sub-contracted companies . Its plan to centralise plastic, glass and metal processing for the province in one new facility was possibly the clinching factor, since it avoided the cost of each separate container processing plant in the province having to install the same expensive bells and whistles to sort materials. This promised to be a big money-saver for the system as a whole. Most of those 29 companies were involved in managing residential recyclables in the province prior to the May 2014 launch of the full producer responsibility program. They continue to be involved, but instead are now being paid by producers, rather than by municipalities.

While BC’s new EPR model for the Blue Box is not perfect, it clearly has a lot more going for it than its detractors are willing to admit, and is worthy of application, with some adjustments, in other provinces. A key challenge for both stewards and provinces going forward, however, is the sticky issue of free-riders, and how provinces act to effectively discourage them. Everyone wants a level playing field.

John Mullinder is executive director of the Paper & Paperboard Packaging Environmental Council (PPEC) in Brampton, Ont., which addresses technical and policy issues related to paper and paperboard packaging. John can be reached at ppec@ppec-paper.com.

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CARTS

by SWR Staff

IPL carts coming in September $46-million contract to deliver some one million carts to Peel

B

y summer’s end, IPL carts will start being delivered to Ontario’s Region of Peel, as customers receive new waste, recycling and organics collection bins that offer modern design and protection.

The region’s purchase is part of an order of more than one million total carts worth about $46 million. It’s the largest ever volume contract for IPL, which has been based in Canada since 1939.

But it wasn’t until 1990 before IPL started manufacturing wheeled carts.

Of course, the biggest news about the new carts is their proven ability to guard against hungry night predators like raccoons, who are notorious for giving it their all when it comes to a showdown with a green bin. IPL

made headlines in early 2015 for the videotaped testing procedures used for the green bins. Over 48 hours, a video camera monitored raccoons failed attempts to get at the food inside the bin.

IPL says they take great pride in the bin’s design, and think customers will enjoy improvements that make waste duties safer and easier.

“It’s just like turning the key to a door,” says Paul Palazzo, VP of sales and marketing for IPL Environmental, speaking about the green bin’s locking mechanism. “We really feel that these bins offer improved ergonomics, and it can better protect the organic material.”

IPL’s lock opens by turning it 180 degrees.

The green bins will have 100-litre capacity.

IPL had vied for the Toronto green bin contract, but unexpected issues arose during the tender process, disqualifying IPL in the eyes of Toronto staff.

Conversely, California-based company Rehrig Pacific, which earned the Toronto cart contract, had also vied for the Peel contract.

Starting in September, IPL will be­gin delivering upwards of 20,000 waste carts per day to Peel residences.

Part of IPL’s 10-year contract invol­ves providing maintenance for the carts.

“It’s all part our service for the Region,” says Palazzo.

BIN THERE, DONE THAT Toronto city council has finalized a 10-year $31-million contract to replace a half-million residential compost waste bins with new raccoonproof models.

The deal with California’s Rehrig Pacific Company comes on the heels of an intensive tender process that involved thorough testing of the bin’s claims to keep out rodents and other nighttime trash snackers.

The new bins feature a unique locking mechanism that prevents critters from opening them.

“These bins will debut the latest technology such as improved animal-resistant features and a gravity-based locking mechanism,” says Beth Goodger, GM of Toronto’s Solid Waste Management Services division. “The style and size of the bin affords us the efficiencies of automated/semi-automated collection and enhances our ability to divert even more organics from landfill, building upon our leading status as the operators of North America’s largest successful organics collection program.”

The new bins will be manufactured within the coming months and delivered to the City of Toronto by early 2016.

Toronto’s compost bins were last updated in 2002, when it rolled out 46.5-litre green bins intended to have a 10-year lifespan.

The new green bins will have about double the capacity of the current

model, but the key feature of the new bins is the top twist lock designed to keep out rodents, and more specifically, crafty raccoons.

The city says it even hired animal experts to test whether raccoons could get into the bins. Apparently, while dexterous, the creatures aren’t able to twist the latch properly to open it.

“All considerations have been made to determine the best solution for the City of Toronto’s organic waste program and more importantly, the residents who will be using the bins,” said Dennis Monestier, Canadian sales manager at Rehrig Pacific. “We’ve worked closely with the City to identify their challenges with the current collection methods and existing bins, which have been reaching the end of their life expectancy,” adds Monestier. “After a series of stringent testing phases, we were able to design a new 100-litre organics bin specifically for the City that improves the logistical efficiencies of collection and enhances the residents experience for participating in the organics collection program.”

About Rehrig Pacific Company Rehrig Pacific Company is a global leader in providing logistics optimization solutions for 11 vertical industries: Bakery, Beverage, Dairy, Environmental, Foodservice, Fresh Produce, Protein, Beer Wine & Spirits, Retail, Automotive Aftermarket & Home Improvement, and Upstream Supply Chain for CPGs.

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ENVAC

Removing Waste – Creating Value Underground vacuum systems for sustainable waste handling

One Year Anniversary Envac in Action Québec City

August 2015 Envac at the Jewish General Hospital - MTL

“La Cité Verte” is located in the centre of the Saint-Sacrement district in Québec City, between Laval University and the commercial area of the Sainte-Foy−Sillery district.

When the new wing of Montreal’s Jewish General Hospital is complete, employees will no longer have to haul huge rolling bins of smelly garbage and dirty linen up and down elevators and through different departments. Instead, they’ll bring it to a drop-off point on their floor, swipe their electronic card to open the appropriate hatch (waste or linen), and deposit the bag in a chute. When the chute is full, the bags will be sucked through a network of pipes at 60 km/h, taking less than 12 seconds to land in the hospital’s waste terminal or laundry room (for linen).

A simplistic approach to waste Unlike conventional waste collection methods, Envac lets the air do the heavy work.

Using airflow, waste is simply transported under the streets to a waste collection station located on the outskirts of a development. Instead of daily waste collections by multiple vehicles, one waste collection vehicle collects the container when full and takes it to a recycling centre or incinerator facility.

Advantages • Low energy • Improves recycling rates • Can handle in minutes what multiple waste collection vehicles take all day to do • Low long-term operating and maintenance costs • Always accessible by the user – 24 hours a day, 365 days a year • Creates cleaner and more attractive cities, residential areas and work environments • Hospital Applications – reduced health risks for both staff and patients

The System, in operation since June 2014, is one of many sustainable solutions that make the city a model to the rest of Canada. The pneumatic waste collection system in this multi-residential project manages three fractions of waste (organics, recyclables, and the rest) deposited in 48 inlets for household use and 9 inlets for commercial use, which means no trucks and no manual waste collection days.

La Cite Verte has already been named one of the 50 outstanding achievements in the history of urban planning in Québec awarded January 24, 2014; setting the bar for ecologically advanced 21st Century developments.

Happy Anniversary.

For more case studies and information, visit envac.ca

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15-06-19 15-06-16 10:59 9:14 AM AM

CARTON COUNCIL PROFILE

by Isabelle Faucher “It’s clear however, that more work needs to be done to grow the volumes of cartons collected and recycled across the country. And that’s what the Carton Council has been doing for the past five years."

‘So, what’s a carton, anyway? ...’

The tours were a good reminder of how basic education on packaging — what it is, and what it’s made of — is still needed

W

hile attending a zero waste conference this May in British Columbia, I took the opportunity to inform old acquaintances of my new role as managing director of the Carton Council of Canada (CCC). As I ran into one of these contacts at a recycling facility tour back in Ontario the following week, he offered to take a picture of me next to old corrugated container bales. Seeing my perplexed expression, he explained that he thought I might want a picture of myself beside the commodity I represent. Needless to say, a “carton 101” crash course was in order.

In addition to lending a little splash of humour, the experience was a humbling one. Having worked on cartons for some time now (I worked with the CCC for over five years in my previous position as a consultant with Reclay StewardEdge), I tend to lose sight of how cartons remain relatively unknown within the industry, despite their significant presence and growth on grocery store shelves. It was a good reminder of how basic education on our packaging — what it is, what it’s made of — is still needed.

So here it goes.

Cartons are food packaging systems made primarily of paper and used for non-carbonated beverages (milk and juice), as well as for other foods such as soups and broth. Gable top cartons, otherwise known as “refrigerated”, are made up of about 80 per cent paper and 20 per cent polyethylene; aseptic cartons, otherwise known as “shelf stable”, are made up of about 74 per cent paper, 22 per cent polyethylene and four per cent aluminum.

My second reality check came a few moments later during that same facility tour, when I innocently asked the plant manager how cartons are handled, and got a less than flattering response. Without going into details, it involved the words “wax coating”, “not recyclable” and “no existing markets”. Widespread belief notwithstanding, no wax whatsoever is used in a carton’s makeup.

Despite these two anecdotic events, through the exchanges with industry stakeholders and the recycling facilities I’ve visited since the start of my mandate, it’s clear that good things are happening on the carton recycling front. Whether in Ontario, Quebec, or B.C., the recognition of post-consumer cartons’ value as a commodity is growing, especially in the context of declining sorted office paper and the continued increase of used cartons’ commodity pricing.

It’s clear however, that more work needs to be done to grow the volumes of cartons collected and recycled across the country. And that’s what the Carton Council has been doing for the past five years – working to deliver long-term collaborative solutions with multiple stakeholders in the value-chain in order to divert cartons from disposal.

How do we do this? We form partnerships and work in collaboration with other stakeholders. An example is the partnership we’ve formed with Tim Hortons and Stewardship Ontario to evaluate whether other poly-coated paper packaging — hot and cold cups, ice cream cartons, and freezer board — can be added to the existing gable top and aseptic carton grade in order to increase volume of the grade.

We provide technical information too. For example, we recently released a Carton Recycling Primer which brings together the information gathered by the CCC over the course of its five years of existence through the several technical studies it has commissioned and the visits to sorting facilities across the country. We also publish a bi-annual newsletter with information on carton recycling markets and the list of brokers buying carton bales.

Finally, we develop communication tools.

Our ad bank contains carton recycling ads which are customizable and can be used by municipalities in various media outlets to support their education efforts. We also produced a carton recycling video entitled Something in it for Everyone, starring different stakeholders of the carton recycling value chain, including consumers, materials recovery facilities (MRF) and paper mills. This video explains the carton recycling process throughout the various stages of the value chain.

We hope these resources will be useful to municipalities, MRF operators, and other stakeholders, and will help strengthen the cartons recycling value chain. We are more than happy to receive your feedback or any other idea that may advance carton recycling across Canada.

Isabelle Faucher was recently appointed as managing director for the Carton Council of Canada. The Carton Council is committed to raising awareness, promoting best practices and ensuring adequate policy measures with the continual goal to increase carton recycling. Faucher can be reached at ifaucher@recyclecartons.ca

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

by Paul van der Werf “The agricultural market, quite simply, prefers a less stable (and drier) compost and it is completely lost on me why some would view that as a low quality compost, if all other compost standards are being met.”

Compost standards need middle ground Ontario should develop a standard for agricultural grade compost

I

was reminded how far Canada’s composting industry has come in the last 25 years while listening to Compost Council of Canada’s (CCC) executive director Susan Antler, as she delivered her keynote address at SWANA’s Northern Lights conference in Winnipeg this May. The industry has been able to carve out a niche for itself. On a kilogram for kilogram basis it outperforms all other waste diversion in Canada. They have done this by pulling up their boot straps, working hard, and as Gloria Gaynor might put it, survive.

The industry continues to evolve. On paper, agricultural use has always been the most obvious place for compost to be used. It has been difficult to develop that market mostly because ascribing value with the subsequent exchange of money has proven elusive. Part of the reason for this is that Canada’s various composting standards aim for the highest denominator of compost quality. They treat all compost alike, and as I like to say, it results in the production of compost I would happily give my own mother. Farmers, however, do not want to pay for this grade of compost.

There is room for compromise In Ontario, market penetration of compost into the agricultural market has been growing for the last five years. This is mostly because some facilities have developed a product farmers want and may be willing to

pay for. This has been coupled with “show me” exercises, where individual compost facilities have worked with farmers to demonstrate their compost. This has been given some additional heft and credibility via agricultural trials being spearheaded by the CCC and Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA).

Real progress has been made. At least some of this progress is potentially threatened when changes to Ontario’s composting standards come into force this July.

Generally, Ontario’s new composting standards, released in 2012, have been well received. New compost classes, updated performance measures, and opening the door to biosolids have been helpful and represent progress. Compost facility operators were given 2.5 years to meet some of the new requirements.

The prescribed moisture content of at least 40 per cent during the curing process has raised some concern generally, but not exclusively, from those selling their compost into agricultural markets. In a perfect world this concern would have been identified and incorporated during the development of the new compost standards. While things move in real time, there are sometimes parallel streams of real time. In this case, as the compost standards were being completed, an agricultural grade compost product was being developed and tested.

The extent of compost stability should really be a function of the end market. This should be different for composts that get used in a flower bed versus those applied to an agricultural field.

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DEAR MINISTRY ...

The Ontario Waste Management Association (OWMA) has been attempting to convince the province to address industry’s outstanding concerns around higher moisture requirements for compost quality standards set to be introduced in July.

“The sector is evolving, and as a result, an open dialogue is important for both sides,” writes Peter Hargreave, OWMA’s director of policy, in an April 9 letter to the Ontario Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change.

The ministry responded to the OWMA’s letter on April 29, noting that there will be no more changes to the proposed guidelines (created in 2012) at this time.

The new guidelines state that moisture levels must remain at 40 per cent for 21 days of the curing period. But Hargreave says many facilities are creating a less wet (or less mature) compost for farming, and there may be no reason to require them to raise moisture levels, something that would require significant cost increases and a much larger carbon footprint.

Higher moisture levels, in part, are an attempt to cut compost odours. But it’s not that simple, says Hargreave.

“If the compost is too mature, it will not as readily supply oxygen and ‘organic food’ for the soil micro organisms,” writes Hargreave.

“It underlines the importance of matching the right product with the right application.”

Hargreave adds that the new change could actually encourage facilities to work through the Fertilizer Act or NASM, producing an inferior product, and increasing the potential for off-site odours.

Hargreave also questions the ministry over whether there will be a wider qualifying range during moisture testing, which can have a five per cent margin of error.

Read both letters in full on the OWMA website.

O R G A N I C M AT T E R S Quite simply defining agricultural grade compost as low quality/ Class B, and relegating it to additional approvals pathways, creates unnecessary barriers and costs to maintaining and growing this important market. There has been recognition in other jurisdictions, such as Europe, for the value of “fresh” (i.e. agricultural grade) and “mature” composts . It’s recognized that both can be of a high quality.

Frankly, this has shades of the upcycling/downcycling nonsense we hear about in relation to recycling. Not all organic waste needs to be converted into the highest value end compost. I think that agricultural use of compost is viewed by some as downcycling, when in fact it is the most obvious place where compost’s organic matter needs to go. Isn’t the real point that waste is being kept out of the disposal stream? And in this case, moving compost to an agricultural market is actually upcycling.

There is a fairly simple solution to all of this: The development of an agricultural grade compost standard for compost that can be freely applied to agricultural land only. This would require one fundamental change to the current standard. The current stability requirement would need to be elevated (i.e. from four milligrams of carbon in the form of carbon dioxide per gram of organic matter (on a dry weight basis) per day to some higher level) along with the prescribed curing moisture content requirement. All other standards would remain the same.

It is important that only high quality composts, ones which meet appropriate standards, be produced and applied to lands. Compost stability is an important consideration but requirements should be more nuanced to facilitate the development of different types of high quality compost.

Paul van der Werf is President of 2cg Inc. in London, Ontario.

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with Eriez’ Eddy Current Separators This prescribed moisture content is ostensibly to facilitate compost stabilization. Compost stability is also prescribed. It may well be that the rate of stabilization slows down when the moisture content is below 40 per cent. However, if stability requirements are met why does it matter what the moisture content was during the curing process?

The current discussions about this requirement are also largely a surrogate to the real debate: the need to develop a standard for agricultural grade compost.

Compost produced from source separated organics (SSO) takes a long time to finish so that it can be sold into high value markets (i.e. from a compost stability and product appearance). This takes space and time, and costs money. While it may have been the original intent of every compost facility to sell into this market, the realization that their space and process did not lend itself to this, not to mention a large untapped market, led them to look elsewhere and develop an agricultural grade compost.

The extent of compost stability should really be a function of the end market. This should be different for composts that get used in a flower bed versus those applied to an agricultural field. Both approaches can lead to the production of high quality composts, appropriate to market requirements. The agricultural market, quite simply, prefers a less stable (and drier) compost and it is completely lost on me why some would view that as a low quality compost, if all other compost standards are being met.

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REUSE

by Diane Blackburn “Currently, a lot of the 300,000 tonnes of annual Canadian coffee waste is disposed in landfill or incinerated.”

Grounds as vital as beans Ontario coffee company making fire logs, potting soil from used coffee grounds

T

he aroma coaxes us from sleep with the promise of instant alertness and ‘good to the last drop’ flavour. Ah, the seductive lure of the roasted bean. So potent is that siren call that we are willing to inhale exhaust fumes at takeout windows in anticipation of the steaming java that will jump start our day.

Coffee is the elixir of the masses, with a whopping 500 billion cups served globally every year from the estimated eight million tonnes of coffee produced. The next time you are waiting for that exorbitantly priced latte, calculate how many of those individual servings of coffee are going to landfill or being disposed indiscriminately across the planet.

Factor in the coffee roasting industry’s habit of dumping defective beans during production, and the amount of coffee waste is staggering. Fortunately, scientists and entrepreneurs are now turning their attention to how this ubiquitous waste can be recycled into new product.

And so we turn our attention to ReGround Organics, a specialty recycling company owned by Brad Walker, located in Ontario’s Kawartha Lakes region. ReGround has set its sights on making potting soil more sustainable by incorporating coffee grounds into the carefully balanced mix.

“Every bag of Sustainable Potting Soil contains the equivalent of 53 cups of recycled coffee making it easy for everyone to remove their coffee footprint,” says Walker. “To achieve this goal we are partnering with forwardthinking businesses and property owners to steadily increase the amount of coffee grounds that are substituted for other limited natural resources.”

Currently, a lot of the 300,000 tonnes of annual Canadian coffee waste is disposed in landfill or incinerated. But coffee grounds are a versatile, nutrient-rich leftover of the coffee production process containing nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, magnesium, calcium and copper, ideal as a compost additive and nitrogen “Innovative efforts and solutions like Grounds to Gardens will help overcome the waste diversion challenges that are prevalent in Ontario’s commercial sector,” says Jo-Anne St. Godard, Executive Director, Recycling Council of Ontario (RCO).

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REUSE

response was enthusiastic and green thumbs everywhere are eagerly anticipating the availability of “Sustainable Potting Soil” in retail outlets.

Lovers of the bean, rejoice!

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

CANADA WINS

rich fertilizer for soil amendment. Coffee grounds can also be turned into cheap, reusable, clean and environmentally friendly biofuel products such as fire logs that burn brighter and hotter than sawdust logs, while producing 85 per cent less carbon monoxide. To relieve the environmental stress on Ontario peat bogs, substitutes for peat in soil compounds are needed. Coffee is proving to be just the right element to balance the soil mix.

ReGround collects used coffee grounds and transports them to their processing facility. Then, using a patent-pending process, the grounds are ‘aged’, mixed with manure, aged a little longer until the mix composts into rich dark potting soil that delivers the faint aroma of coffee.

While the process sounds simple enough to do in your own backyard, there is a little more to it, and so a serious team of experts has been assembled by ReGround to ensure that the end product will be of very high quality. Long term their goal is to also produce nitrogen-rich turf grass amendment and organic fertilizer.

ReGround started experimenting with the potting soil concept about two years ago, and of course they needed raw materials to get rolling. So, where to get a high volume of coffee grounds? Fortunately the company’s entrepreneurial owner is a landscaper. He reached out to one of his commercial clients, real estate advisory firm Bentall Kennedy, and asked if he could collect the grounds from coffee shop tenants at Cloverdale and Eglinton Square shopping malls in the Greater Toronto Area. That unusual request piqued the curiosity of Ari Dimitraklas, a Bentall Kennedy operations manager, and a partnership was born. Dimitraklas was excited by the prospect of trialing a recycled product with such huge potential and felt that Earth Day would be the perfect occasion for a product launch.

On Saturday, April 25, Cloverdale and their sister mall, Eglinton Square, launched “Grounds to Gardens”. The day was sunny, the mall display a lush display of blooms and greenery. The shopping public was invited to pot pansies right on the spot. The kicker to the whole event was electronics recycling collection, whereby anyone bringing old electronics was given an 18-litre bag of new potting soil. The public

Canadian coffee roaster, Club Coffee, has released what will be the world’s first 100 per cent compostable, fully certified single-serve coffee pod, developed in conjunction with international experts and scientists at the University of Guelph.

“The amount of used single-serve pods sent into the waste stream last year could have circled the earth 11 times. That’s not acceptable,” said John Pigott, CEO of Club Coffee. “We have the most viable solution available to that issue — a pod that will be certified as 100 per cent compostable and can be converted to useful compost.”

Club Coffee made headlines in fall 2014 when it announced a $600-million anti-competitor lawsuit against coffee pod giant Keurig.

The PÜRPOD100 product will be made from renewable, bio-based materials that are 100 percent compostable. Even the ring of the pod is made using coffee chaff — the skin of the coffee bean that comes off during the roasting process.

— SWR Staff

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R E G U L AT I O N R O U N D U P "Municipalities need to implement best practices and use new innovative technologies in waste management."

Cities position for Ontario’s new waste laws

T

he Ontario Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change is again working on new legislation to replace the Waste Diversion Act, 2002. Like the previous attempt at this legislation, it is expected that it will continue to make individual producers of designated wastes responsible for end-of-life management with the existing Industry Funding Organizations being phased out. In anticipation of the new legislation, the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) released a discussion paper that sets out the views of the Association with respect to the framework for waste diversion.

In the paper, the Association outlines a number of principles it expects to be included in the new legislation. Some of these principles include maximizing diversion of material from disposal; expanding the legislation to include diversion in the industrial, commercial, institutional sector; and minimizing the costs to municipal taxpayers in connection with the management of products and packaging.

Other principles articulated by the Association relate to energy conservation and impacts on climate change, such as increasing the efficiency by which natural resources and energy are used and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The Association also recommends focusing more on reduction and reuse efforts and encouraging environmental considerations when designing products and packaging.

The AMO paper also emphasizes the importance of including clearly defined roles for those involved in the waste reduction process, and establishing performance indicators to measure results and track progress. Compliance is another aspect of the Association’s focus in that it believes penalties and incentives are needed as part of the framework.

The Association has strong views on the role of municipalities and the importance of empowering them collectively, particularly in respect of governance, data collection and management, master contract negotiations, dispute resolution, and allocation of funds among municipalities.

Other recommendations in the paper include changing waste diversion measures from the current “weight-based” system to metrics based on volume and/or units sold and recovered to address the movement by industry towards use of lighter weight materials in products and packaging; and need for oversight of the program by an agency that is accorded sufficient power and is impartially controlled.

Municipalities want to ensure that the new framework takes into account the extensive investment they have made in infrastructure for the collection of waste, and the contracts entered into for waste collection

with the private sector. The Association is also claiming that it has an exclusive right to collect Blue Box materials from residents, and states that they should be given the right to continue to provide this service and be appropriately compensated for doing so.

Federal Report Comments on Solid Waste Management The Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development released a report entitled The Management of Municipal Solid Waste and Industrial Materials, which covers topics such as technological innovation in the management of municipal solid waste and industrial materials, and in reduction, reuse and recycling. The report also addresses recovery of energy from waste; best practices of municipal, provincial and territorial jurisdictions; and the role of the federal government in improving waste management through the implementation of extended producer responsibility regimes and supporting research and development initiatives.

The report prepared by the Committee focuses on the role that consumers play in waste reduction, as well as manufacturers who need to improve on products and packaging so that they are easier to reuse and recycle. In addition, the report suggests that municipalities need to implement best practices and use new innovative technologies in waste management, and that all levels of government need to take action to encourage the most efficient use of all resources across the entire supply chain.

The report makes numerous recommendations, including that the feds continue to work with all levels of government and stakeholders to ensure best practices in waste management are shared and utilized; that the feds encourage all Canadians to incorporate reduction, reuse and recycling into daily routines; and that the feds continue to support the efforts of the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment to promote the use of waste management best practices. Other recommendations include that the feds encourage scalable solutions for waste that will work throughout Canada and that it continue to support the commercialization of new technologies that will improve waste management and consider potential incentives to support the adoption and implementation of new technologies in waste management. Finally, the report recommends that the government continue to encourage the use of cellulosic fuel.

Rosalind Cooper, LL.B., is a partner with Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP in Toronto, Ontario. She can be reached at rcooper@fasken.com

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OPTICAL SORTER

The Optical Solution Machinex optical sorter offering five-fold performance increase at Ontario’s Northumberland MRF

M

achinex has introduced a powerful new high-speed optical sorting machine that uses a short wave infrared (SWIR) hyperspectral detection system.

Known as the MACH Hyspec ™, the technology comes in different models to detect different material types, such as plastics (PET, HDPE, PVC, LDPE, PP, PS, etc.) fiber products, including carton containers, wood and wood by grade (natural versus painted).

The new optical sorter also has the options of color recognition and a metal detector. The MACH Hyspec can be used in different types of material recovery facilities, such as single-stream, construction & demolition, municipal solid waste, and other applications.

The sorter takes less than one millisecond to analyze the belt, allowing for the processing of a high volume of material in a short amount of time.

“For over 12 years, we have integrated optical sorting in to the systems we design and were supplied by European manufacturers,” says Pierre Paré, CEO of Machinex Group. “For a few years, with the collaboration of the INO services (National Optics Institute), we have been developing our own range of optical sorting machines. The goal is to become more self-sufficient in our supply and have a machine that better meets our standards. Our customers can now benefit from a complete solution with Machinex equipment and service.”

Machinex recently installed a MACH HySpec Optical Sorter at the Northumberland County Material Recovery Facility to recover PET plastic. The county, between Toronto and Kingston, currently processes approximately 15,000 tons per year of single and dual-stream residential and IC&I material.

“The MRF’s container system was designed in 1996,” says Karl Allen, plant manager at the Northumberland facility. “Since then, processing equipment and the types of materials in the Blue Box has changed significantly. Today, we see high volumes of PET beverage bottles and thermoform packaging items.”

Machinex went through a pre-qualification process that left it as one of three companies selected to submit a bid in to the equipment tender.

Machinex offered the lowest price and was ranked the highest for its equipment design and innovation.

According to Allen, what previously took up to 10 manual sorters to accomplish, now takes 1-2 manual sorters.

“Our primary goal was to achieve 95 per cent capture rate at a speed of four tonnes per hour entering the optical,” says Allen. “In the first two days of operation we met and surpassed our goals by achieving a capture rate of over 97 per cent, while processing over four tonnes per hour.

Allen also added that, “in the first two months of production with the MACH Hyspec we have witnessed a 39 per cent increase in PET materials captured. By capturing close to 100 per cent of the PET from the sorting line the company has also seen higher capture rates for all other down-system container materials including HDPE, mixed plastics, polycoat and aluminum cans.

Machinex has made history in The Bahamas by partnering for the design and installation of the For the MACH Hyspec, the higher depth country’s first recycling facility, which took four months to complete and opened on May 28. field detection of 430 mm on the belt has The $7-million 125,000 sq-foot facility strong efficiency for the ejection of rollwill process up to 80 tonnes of residential and ing objects, the company says. Maintenance commercial waste per hour. managers may also appreciate this machine Renew Bahamas president and CEO Gerbecause there are no moving parts used in the hard Beukes said the construction of the MRF optical and detection system. The risk of fire is represents a major step forward for the country. also reduced to a minimum by unique, patent“What we are doing has not been done at pending light system technology, creating difthis scale anywhere in the country or in the fused light that generates low heat on the maregion,” said Beukes. “We can now say The terial passing through the sorter.

Bahamas is an exporter of recyclate materials, Since 2013, Machinex quietly installed which are being sold to customers on the global scene. It is also the start of our efforts to substanseveral MACH Hyspec systems at customer tially reduce the negative environmental footprint of these troubled lands,” he added. facilities throughout Canada, the U.S. and — SWR Staff the UK.

THE BAHAMAS’ FIRST MRF

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PRIMER

by John Schumacher "Protect against a customer’s failure to pay their debt."

Credit Insurance for Recycling Businesses

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usiness owners purchase insurance for property, equipment and vehicles, but often times the single largest business asset is ignored.

For most recycling companies, trade debts or accounts receivable can represent as much as 40 per cent of total assets. A large loss in this category can shut down a business. Credit insurance – also called trade, bad debt or accounts receivable insurance – is often an overlooked insurance protection that provides coverage for many losses linked to bad debt and other related situations.

Credit insurance is a policy that protects against a customer’s failure to pay their debt due to bankruptcy and other circumstances.

This coverage can be purchased for either a specific client, referred to as named buyer, or for all business receivables, referred to as portfolio coverage.

The premiums are based on the number of customers, the amount of debt included in the policy, and other factors based on a customer financial analysis.

Managing Financial Risk • The insurance company will analyze the financial stability and credit-

Credit Insurance Pay Out

• The policy places a ceiling on bad debt losses and allows for the re-

Generally, there are two scenarios where a credit insurance policy will pay the policy Managing risk includes evaluating your exposures and then balancing it with appropriate coverage, owner. The first situation covers while considering premium costs the event of a customer’s bankruptcy. In this situation, the policy will immediately pay the policyholder the amount of uncollectable receivable up to limit on the policy and subject to policy deductibles. The second scenario covers the event that a customer simply fails to pay the outstanding receivable. If the insurance company is unsuccessful at collecting the outstanding balance, they’ll pay that loss after a predetermined number of days — typically 180.

lease of a significant amount of bad debt reserves — positively impacting earnings.

Managing risk includes evaluating your exposures and then balancing it with appropriate coverage, while considering premium costs. Evaluating the risk associated with receivables is a recommended step in evaluating the overall risk factors for a waste and/or recycling business.

worthiness of the policyholder’s customers and create an insurable credit limit for each customer.

• The same analysis can be done for new customers to establish an approved or insurable credit limit. This step can help create a larger credit limit for new customers, which can increase the pace of business expansion with new customers or into new markets.

• The insurance company will conduct ongoing credit analyses of customers in case they change financial status.

Expanding Sales • Credit insurance also allows businesses to extend more credit to newer customers (buyers) without increasing risk of bad debt. The credit insurance carriers engage in the credit evaluation of current and prospective customers. This brings efficiency into the credit decision process while providing a risk transfer mechanism via insurance.

• Credit insurance can also be utilized with international trade providing reduced risk with sales to overseas markets.

Reduced Lending Rates/Bad Debt Reserves • Credit insurance reduces the cost of lending where account receivables are part of the collateral based on lower risk to the banking institution.

Strategic Benefits of Credit Insurance Preventing a Large Loss • Credit insurance protects a company from bad debt losses, a leading cause of business failure. This is accomplished through a credit analysis conducted by the insurance carrier for businesses that may be extended credit or for existing businesses where additional credit expansion is being considered.

About John Schumacher: Schumacher focuses on insurance placement and risk management for businesses within the waste/recycling and food industries. With 25 years of experience, his primary responsibility to his clients is to understand their businesses and create strategies for reducing their risk and overall cost of insurance. He graduated from Illinois State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Occupational Safety. He is a Certified Safety Professional (CSP) and is HACCP-Certified.

John Schumacher is senior VP of Assurance. He can be reached at jschumacher@assuranceagency.com or through www.assuranceagency.com

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EXPLORING RELOOP EPR

by Clarissa Morawski “For me, after nearly 20 years in the business of waste reduction in Canada, this is an exciting new chapter. In August, our family moves to Barcelona, Spain, where we are keen to experience the culture and customs of the Catalonian people.”

Reloop: Vision of a circular economy

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or decades, our economies have developed a ‘take, make, use, and across Europe. This includes producers, distributors, recyclers, acadispose’ pattern of growth, a linear model resting on the flawed demia, NGOs, trade unions, green regions, and cities. By connecting assumption that resources are infinite, easy to source, and cheap people with specific competencies (e.g., research, advocacy, technical, to dispose of. We manufacture products and packaging, use them for multi-media), Reloop works as a network to promote the environmental a short time, and then throw them away with no thought about repair and economic benefits of a circular economy, and also allows for inforor reuse. As a result, valuable materials that could help boost Europe’s mation-sharing between stakeholders. economy are ending up as waste in landfills or incinerators, or as litter.

The circular economy is an alternative to the traditional linear ecoNext Steps for Reloop nomic model. In a circular economy, products and materials remain in The launch of Reloop is timely, following the European Commission’s the production cycle for as long as posannouncement in December 2014 sible, and are continuously re-used, re- March 25, 2015 marked the official to withdraw the Circular Economy cycled or safely returned to nature. The launch of Reloop, Europe’s first Package (CEP) from its 2015 Work goal is to reduce or eliminate waste — Programme. Over the next couple of pan-European organization to months, the Commission will be renot just from the manufacturing process, but also throughout the various stages of focus specifically on issues relating questing input into the re-draft of the a product’s lifecycle.

CEP — which has an end-of-year deadto waste and diversion that Moving towards a circular econline — and it is important that all stakerepresents the interests of and holders’ voices are heard, not just those omy requires changes throughout the of large multi-national interests. value chain, from product design to new serves as the voice for industry, modes of consumer behaviour. This, in government, and Reloop has developed a posturn, depends crucially on the developition paper that identifies important environmental ment of policy drivers that incentivize considerations for DG Environment the shift to a system where waste pre- organizations at when developing the new CEP related to waste. Among these convention, reuse, and closed-loop recyc- the European siderations is that the new CEP introduce ling are prioritized, by assigning value Union level. In this article, Clarissa targeted collection programs for marine to resources through deposits and related economic incentives. This is where Morawski, Reloop’s managing debris packaging offenders like beverage Reloop comes in. containers and plastic bags. Reloop is director, explains what the also proposing that the new CEP include organization is all about and why preparation for reuse and recycling tarWho is Reloop?

Reloop was formed as an international it’s important to move towards a gets for packaging by material, including not-for-profit association of like-minded circular economy.

60 per cent for plastics, 80 per cent for interests who share a common vision metal and glass, and 90 per cent for paper of a circular economy. In a world where the climate is changing, and and cardboard by 2025 (as per the original CEP which was introduced in where the demand and competition for energy, water, and other natural 2014). Considerations also include minimum criteria for extended proresources is greater than ever before, Reloop aims to work as a platform ducer responsibility (EPR) and definitions in all waste related directives for advances in policies that promote a world where resources remain (like the packaging directive for example) that are consistent with those resources, and where they create jobs. of the Waste Framework Directive (2008/98/EC). Of all the consideraAlthough it is based in Europe, the organization is open to all nations proposed by Reloop, perhaps the most important is the development of a revised recycling rate calculation methodology that takes into actionalities (including non-European countries) and consists of founding members, honorary members, and members-at-large, from all sectors count losses throughout the recycling chain. This methodology is conJune/July 2015 www.solidwastemag.com 37

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EXPLORING RELOOP EPR

Clarissa Morawski moderates a panel at the European Reuse Conference on March 25, 2015.

sistent with that of the Canadian Standards Association’s CSA SPE-890, A Guideline for the Accountable Management of End-of-Life Materials, which is slated to be published later this summer.

As Europe moves forward on a path to de-carbonate the economy and work towards zero emissions and zero waste, it is imperative that policies be designed to support this goal. If crafted properly, the EU CEP will support a level playing field among member states, stimulate innovation in products design, and incentivize reverse distribution systems for higher quantity and quality recycling within Europe. Reloop will continue to work closely with its members and with the Commission to ensure that progress towards a circular economy continues and remains high on the political agenda.

For me, after nearly 20 years in the business of waste reduction in Canada, this is an exciting new chapter. In August, our family moves

to Barcelona, Spain where we are keen to experience the culture and customs of the Catalonian people. With members of our team on the ground, CM Consulting will continue to service our Canadian clients and publish our bi-annual reports on waste batteries, beverage containers and WEEE recycling programs in Canada. For team bios, please visit www.cmconsultinginc.com/about-waste-management-analysts/.

I will continue to be actively engaged in the development of Canadian stewardship policy and I promise to keep the readers of SWR fully informed on developments of the CEP in Europe.

Saludos!

Clarissa Morawski, Principal of CM Consulting based in Peterborough and Managing Director of Reloop in Europe. She can be reached at clarissa@cmconsultinginc.com

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WA S T E WAT C H Waste Watch continued from page 7 ...

Montreal Waste pickup shifts The City of Montreal is investing in 500,000 new brown bins to be distributed to households in 2016, so that every borough has one garbage pickup and one compost pickup each week. At the moment, 10 Montreal boroughs have waste collection twice a week, while nine boroughs have waste picked up once a week. Montreal officials want to move to a once-a-week pickup schedule by 2019.

Saskatoon eyes landfill ban

Saskatoon city council is exploring its options for banning paper and cardboard from landfill, as it tries to pump up the city’s waste diversion rate. While the city explores landfill ban implementation options and program costs for consideration during its 2016 Business Plan and Budget deliberations, officials are still perusing local data. As it stands, Saskatoon estimates that 20 to 35 per cent of the IC&I waste stream is comprised of paper and cardboard.

GFL acquires liquid waste collector

Ontario-based GFL Environmental Inc. has agreed to acquire 100 per cent of the shares of M&R Environmental Ltd., a Vancouver-based market leader in liquid waste collection. Last year alone, M&R helped clients divert nearly 19 million litres of used oil from landfill; also diverted were 871,900 kilograms of used oil bottles and 1.5 million kilograms of used oil filters — all while recycling over two million litres of antifreeze.

BC HazMat recycler pulls out

In the midst of public controversy, environmental solutions company Aevitas has quashed plans to build a hazardous materials recycling facility in Chilliwack, B.C. The planned facility, which already recived city approval for rezoning, would have been located about one kilometre from the Fraser River. That proximity created fear in environmental circles around the risks of recycling products like lamps, transformer oil and electrical byproducts like mercury or PCBs seeping into the famous salmon-bearing river

Calgary composting moves forward

Calgary city council has approved the transfer of an additional $10 million to pay for the city’s joint organics and biosolids composting facility, after initial bids came in higher than the expected $133 million.

By delaying some local program, and finding cost-savings from others, Calgary is set to move forward with the RFP process for the joint facility set for Calgary’s Shepard landfill site.

Ship Ahoy

Captain John’s Harbour Boat Restaurant was a mainstay for Toronto dinner and dancing since the 1970s, but the famously ailing vessel has now been sold to the Marine Recycling Corporation. Moored in Lake Ontario at the foot of Yonge Street since 1975, the 90-metre long ship has now been towed to Port Colborne to be scrapped for an undisclosed amount of cash.

Waste Watch continues on page 40

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WA S T E WAT C H

Waste Watch continued from page 39 ...

XeroWaste & GMT Clear

This new reseller and professional services partnership allows XeroWaste Solutions to deliver software that covers all operational aspects from in-vehicle and mobile technology to back-office ERP modules.

Learn to use GMT CLEAR software to manage customer requests, service agreements, route planning, invoicing, credit management and an array of other operational tools for management.

Whitehorse Dumping

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

www.municipalwaste.ca Following a fuel spill in Whitehorse in April, attention has shifted to the city’s ongoing illegal waste dumping problem, which costs the city’s waste department some $50,000 per year. The fuel spill occurred when a fuel drum tipped over and spilled about 50 litres of diesel fuel, after the drum was dumped near a community garden.

Project1

11/13/06

10:28 AM

Page 1

Leung a Top CEO

Emterra founder and CEO Emmie Leung has been ranked No. 15 on the annual W100 list of Canada’s Top Female Entrepreneurs.

The 17th edition of the W100 list ranks female entrepreneurs in the June issue of Canadian Business and online at PROFITguide.com and Chatelaine.com. The judges consider the size, growth rate and profitability of the businesses the selected women own and run.

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Company

Advertisers’ Index

June/July 2015

Page # Company

Page #

2cg/Paul van der Werf . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

IPL Environmental . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

ALLU Group Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Machinex Technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . IFC

Chevy Lane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Municipal Waste Association . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Ecoverse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Paradigm Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Envac Systems Canada Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Perkins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Environmental Business Consultants . . . . . . . . . . 40

Recycling Council of Alberta . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Eriez . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Trux Route Management Systems Inc. . . . . . . . . 40

Freightliner Trucks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

Van Dyk Recycling Solutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Goodyear Truck Tires . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Walinga . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Heil/Environmental Solutions Group . . . . . . . . . . 27

Xerowaste Solutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

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

by John Nicholson “An example of the unfair pricing for renewable electricity in Canada vs. EFW can be found in Ontario.”

Pricing Energy-from-Waste in Canada The Development Challenge for EFW

panies is “my process does not have an emissions stack, so how can I model air emissions?” nyone in the know with energy-from-waste issues from around the Another point raised by EFW developers in Canada is the lack of world realizes that North America is sadly trailing Europe with respect given to the industry when it comes to pricing of the electricity respect to the utilization of this option for the management of solid generated. There are arguments for and against the renewable nature of waste. the feedstock for an EFW facility, but one would be hard-pressed to find The reasons for the paucity of EFW facilities in North America coma municipal waste worker in Canada who thinks the 3Rs could make pared to Europe can be attributed to government policy (the European either energy recovery or landfilling obsolete in the next 20 years.

Union has a landfill tax) and land availability (population density in Norm Lee, director of waste mansome European countries makes land expense). agement in the Region of Peel (which In North America, the cost of disencompasses Mississauga, Brampton, and Caledon) is an example of a veteran posal in a landfill can range anywhere municipal waste management profesfrom $30 to $70 dollars, whereas thersional who is of the opinion that zero mal treatment of waste can be north of waste will be achieved in the not too $100 per tonne. Jim Harnum, Toronto’s waste management division manager, distant future. It is his professional view was quoted in the Toronto Star in March that there will be plenty of MSW to feed 2013 comparing his municipalities cost EFW facilities for the next 20 years. for disposal at the Green Lane landfill at $67 per tonne to incineration rates of up Does EFW deserve to $150 per tonne.

Preferred Pricing?

Besides government policy, or lack Most governments across the country have a policy statement on the When it comes to energy pricing for thereof, and financial considerations, diversion of waste from landfill. electricity from EFW facilities, the inpart of the recalcitrant acceptance of energy-from-waste in Canada dustry appears to be getting treated unfairly. There are environmental can be traced to the misinformation provided by its opponents. (I’ve benefits of EFW that are comparable to renewable energy generation that attended conferences where opponents have talked about people dying are not being considered by regulators in the setting of electricity pricing. in the streets around modern European incinerators) and concerns based One benefit is the lower carbon emissions of EFW vs. landfilling. on the operating history of pre-modern incinerators that existed into the An example of the unfair pricing for renewable electricity in Canada 1990s in some municipalities that had little in the way of air pollution vs. EFW can be found in Ontario. Electricity from landfill gas is concontrols. sidered a renewable and generators receive $0.17 per kilowatt-hour (kwhr) through Ontario’s Feed in Tariff program. Electricity generated from an EFW facility is part of the FIT program, therefore, EFW facilities sell Underappreciated the electricity generated to Ontario’s Independent Electricity System In many ways, EFW has been underappreciated in Canada. With many Operator (IESO) at a price of about of $0.08 per kw-hr. provincial and municipal governments setting diversion from landfill Despite the Ontario government’s policy statements for waste divergoals with specific deadline dates, there is minimal associated conversation of the 4th R – energy recovery. sion from landfill, the IESO, under the direction of the Ministry of Energy, A major hurdle for the development of any thermal treatment facility provides preferred pricing for electricity from landfill gas over EFW. in Canada is the environmental permitting process. A good number of EFW supports the waste management hierarchy (3Rs and energy rejurisdictions in Canada define all thermal treatment technologies as “incovery before landfilling). Most governments across the country have a cineration”. New technologies such as gasification and pyrolysis are not policy statement on the diversion of waste from landfill. One way govincineration but are treated the same as mass burn combustion, which is ernments can encourage landfill diversion is by better supporting EFW through fair electricity rates. incineration. The result means that calling any thermal treatment technology ‘incineration’ means a long, expensive and arduous approvals process that must be followed to even set up a pilot-scale facility. A John Nicholson, M.Sc., P.Eng., is a consultant based in Toronto, Ontario. Contact John at john.nicholson@ebccanada.com frequent comment I hear from new thermal treatment technology com-

A

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