Meaford is tops at waste diversion

By BILL HENRY, QMI AGENCY April 17 2012
Meaford is among the top Ontario municipalities for keeping organic materials and recyclables out of landfills.
Meaford’s overall 60% waste diversion rate is up 10% from 2010, according to the 2011 waste management summary report accepted by council at last Tuesday’s committee of the whole session.
That makes Meaford’s diversion rate the highest among 75 similar-sized Ontario municipalities, and third among 223 municipalities in the province, behind Orillia and Simcoe County.
Coun. Lynda Stephens, who championed waste reduction as a citizen waste management committee member before her election and has continued with the cause as a councillor, said it’s good news that will only get better for the community.
“I’m really excited about this. It’s taken a long time,” Stephens said Wednesday.
Much of the diversion success relates to adding, during 2011, new curbside collection of organic materials throughout the rural areas, Stephens said.
That boosted the 2011 organic collection rates by 77%, to 325.54 tonnes, and helped reduce overall garbage tonnage by 23%, to just over 800 tonnes shipped out to landfill sites in Michigan.
Moving curbside waste collection to every two weeks, while collecting recycling and organics weekly, boosted 2011 recycling numbers by 17% to 919 tonnes.
Meaford should move closer to the provincial 70% diversion target for 2012 with a full year collecting organics and several other new diversion initiatives, Stephens said.
The new measures include three-way garbage, plastic and paper bins at public parks and beaches this year, new coffee cup recycling bins at arenas and other facilities and plans for more public education about waste diversion, Stephens said Wednesday.
“We’re very ripe for that right now because I think people are really understanding the benefits of reducing their garbage,” she said.
The largest hurdles are behind Meaford, with growing staff and public support for the diversion programs, Stephens said.
“Staff have really taken over this with a real gung-ho,” she said.
The next challenge is to divert more waste from larger buildings, schools and apartment facilities.
Diversion rates for all Grey County municipalities are among the top 60 in the province, Stephens said, pointing to a partnership with Owen Sound to manage household hazardous waste and with Habitat for Humanity to handle e-waste.
During 2011, the e-waste program collected 60 skids of materials, equal to more than 12,000 kilograms diverted from landfill waste, the report said.