September deadline for decision on waste collection

By Kate Harries AWARE Simcoe September 1 2011

Simcoe County councillors have been told by their staff that they have some tough choices to make – by September – on how best to handle the residential garbage that is going to the county’s landfill sites.

Changes are also needed for industrial, commercial and institutional waste which makes up 10 per cent of the amount managed by the county. Pickup of IC&I waste varies widely, having been grandfathered from pre-amalgamation arrangements. No green bin program exists and recyclable diversion rates are low.

The county has 6 1/2 years of landfill space left, and once that’s filled, disposal costs will soar from the present $40 a tonne (at its own sites) to $80 or $90 a tonne outside of the county, Environmental Services Director Rob McCullough warned. Incineration costs would be even higher.

Nine options were presented to a special council meeting Wednesday by McCullough, who noted that at present, the average household puts 29 bags a year out for collection, and purchases an average of two extra $2 tags.

–Option 1, “Pay As You Throw,” or user-pay, would result in an annual $58 user-pay charge, based on $2 tags. The waste levy, with most collection costs removed, would fall to $102.10.

–Option 2 is the status quo – with pickup for one bag a week covered in the waste levy of $148.64, and the cost of tags for extra bags raised to $4.

–Option 5a, which attracted support from several councillors, provides for bi-weekly garbage pick-up, with a limit of one bag every two weeks (although organic pickup would be weekly, because of odour issues). A lower waste levy, of $131.99 is projected as fewer trucks will be needed.

Option 1 and 5a are both projected to boost diversion rates and decrease waste generation, which is the name of the game – a diversion program is costly, no waste because of good design and recovery by manufacturers and informed consumers is best.. Option 2 is not expected to lead to improvements.

The reaction from politicians was varied.

Bradford West Gwillimbury Mayor Doug White vigorously opposed any change to the status quo. “We’re doing a remarkable job,” he said, pointing to the county’s second-place ranking in Ontario for diversion – and residents don’t want to have to store “smelly crap” in their garages and face increased costs.

He urged adding to the list if recyclables the county will accept, in line with other municipalities in the 416-905 areas – from pet waste to diapers, Styrofoam to plastics.

McCullough said the county has identified markets for previously hard-to-handle plastics like clam shells. Also, he is proposing that the county take over marketing recyclables, which has previously been the responsibility of the contractors, and which will result in increased flexibility and a better financial return.

But for Collingwood Deputy Mayor Rick Lloyd, “the status quo just doesn’t cut it.” Because of the push-back on Option 1 (user-pay) Lloyd favours 5a.

The difficulty of bringing in uniformity of collection across the county was highlighted when Penetanguishene Mayor Gerry Marshall spoke enthusiastically in favour of Option 8 – providing ‘free’ bag tags to every household, with the proviso that instead of being mailed out, they be available for pickup. In his town, each household is allocated 26 tags.

“It won’t work in Severn,” said Severn Deputy Mayot Sandra Cox, because her township is too large to expect residents to drive to pick up their tags.

And Adjala-Tos representatives indicated they’re satisfied with their one-bag per-week limit (no extra tags available at any price). But McCullough pointed out that although this policy gives that township’s residents the highest curbside diversion rate in the county (54 per cent), the amount of waste residents drive to the landfill site is 16.3 kg per household per month, double the county average of 8.7 kg

Innisfil Mayor Barb Baguley questioned the desirability of one county-wide collection contract. Presently the county is divided into four collection areas, each with a separate contract.

“I know that locally we look to having those big contracts divided up,” she said. This expands the number of potential bidders.

Willma Bureau, the county’s collections supervisor, said there will be economies of scale. McCullough added that these could amount to millions of dollars.

Under questioning by Tay Mayor Scott Warnock, McCullough confirmed that the annual bulky pickup service will remain in place for 2012, with no change possible until 2013.

The waste collection options will be discussed by the corporate services committee, meeting Sept. 14. The committee’s recommendations will then go to the Sept. 27 county council meeting for a final decision. Both meetings are open to the public.