Orillia scores gold for waste reduction efforts
The City of Orillia has won a Gold Municipal Diversion Award from the Recycling Council of Ontario (RCO) for a second year in a row.
The award recognizes municipalities that have minimized waste disposal in 2014 through ‘3Rs’ initiatives (reduce, reuse, recycle), and is judged by a number of industry experts. Judges examine the City’s residential waste diversion rate, waste minimization programs offered to residents and internal waste diversion programs offered at City facilities, when assessing award candidates.
In 2014, approximately 62 per cent of the City’s total residential waste was diverted from the landfill. This is the 17th award since 1998 the City has received from the RCO.
“The City of Orillia continues to be a leader in waste diversion and that is largely thanks to our residents who make recycling and composting a priority in their homes,” said Mayor Steve Clarke. “Thank you to all Orillia residents who actively take part in the City’s waste diversion programs.”
New initiatives, such as the move to every other week garbage collection, will ensure Orillia continues to be a leader in waste minimization and diversion in Ontario. In the first two months of every other week garbage collection, garbage tonnage in Orillia has dropped by more than 22 per cent when compared to the same period in 2014.
“The ongoing efforts of Orillia residents, Council, the Waste Management Advisory Committee, and City staff are reflected in this award. We look forward to increasing our waste diversion rates even more through every other week garbage collection,” said Andrew Schell, Director of Environmental Services.
The City of Orillia is one of four municipalities recognized with an award for municipal diversion this year. Other municipalities include the Region of Durham, the City of Markham and the Town of Whitby. The Region of Durham received a Platinum Award, which is the highest award, while the City of Markham and the Town of Whitby each received Silver Awards. Durham’s award is largely attributed to their recent addition of new recycling items to their blue box program, including plastic food trays; something Orillia accepts as well.
The City of Orillia is a city of 31,000 people in the heart of Ontario’s Lake Country on the shores of Lake Couchiching and Lake Simcoe. Visit our website at orillia.ca.
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