Stantec’s view of Simcoe County’s waste options

Update – since this report was written, the County has released a third presentation (Performance and Projections, now posted at the end), which contains the information on the IC&I waste. KH

By Kate Harries WaterWatch
The December 16 Simcoe County waste management strategy committee meeting heard two presentations from Stantec, both of which are posted below.
The first is Stantec’s description of the County’s current waste system – four landfill sites, four transfer stations, 34 inactive landfill sites. As of January 2010, Stantec estimates five to six years’ capacity remains at three sites, namely Nottawasaga, Oro and Tosorontio.
A further three sites were identified as having potential landfill capacity: Medonte, Sunnidale and Georgian Triangle (Site 42). All three have environmental assessment act approvals, two have environmental protection act approvals and all three need environment ministry design and operations approvals.
Curbside collection contractors are Mid-Ontario Disposal, Miller Waste Systems, WSI and Moreau Enterprises Ltd.
All organic (green bin) materials are sent to Hamilton’s Central Composting Facility under a 5-year comtract signed in September, 2008.
Bradford West Gwillimbury residents put the most material out for collection (34.71 kg/unit/month), Ramara’s the least (17.31 kg/unit/month).

Some information was presented to the committee that appears to have been deleted from the version of the presentation posted below (which was forwarded to us by the County) on collection of Industrial, Commercial and Institutional (IC&I) waste by the County. It accounts for 16.1 per cent of the solid waste stream. The County has no obligation to collect such waste but, Janine Ralph of Stantec told the committee, “some municipalities chose to offer a level of service to the commercial sector.” Rob McCullough, the County’s environment services director elaborated: “it would be very difficult for us to turn a commercial taxpayer away when he’s paying for the service at the (landfill) site.”
There was a pie chart – also been eliminated – that showed the interesting statistic that 12 per cent of solid waste is pet waste.
Stantec’s second presentation focused on diversion and disposal options. For improved diversion, options could include clear bags, to better enforce mandatory recycling, larger containers for curbside recyclables, and waste collection every two weeks…
Short-term disposal options include exporting waste, expanding current landfills and looking at “partially” approved landfills. For long-term disposal, Stantec suggests looking at the “partially” approved landfill option, export of waste, energy-from-waste and a new long-term landfill disposal site.
The second presentation concludes with a list of considerations to take into account when making decisions on the options (for instance the need to adapt to changes the province will be making to the Waste Diversion Act that are expected to have a profound impact on private sector participation in waste management in Ontario).
The zero waste philosophy does not underpin the Stantec assessment but Zero Waste Simcoe chair Gord McKay, who is vice-chair of the Simcoe County waste management strategy committee, expressed optimism that there are opportunities within the structure Stantec laid out.
The waste options were presented neutrally, he noted, and “some of these options can be used to lead us towards a zero waste management solution,” he said, urging that citizens get involved in the outreach process that is about to start, through the County and Zero Waste Simcoe.
The next meeting of the committee, on January 18, will be a day-long meeting. There could be important decisions in terms of setting the direction for waste management in Simcoe County. More information will be posted on this site before the meeting, which SDS41 supporters are urged to attend.
Stantec: Current system
Stantec: Diversion and Disposal Options

Stantec: Performance and Projections