Pet waste, diapers among considerations for green bin

New  Tecumseth Free Press July 3, 2013
Simcoe County councillors beat back a series of recommendations put forward by the waste management department that included considerations for hard caps on bag limits, full user pay, mandatory separation of recyclable and organics, and reallocation of about $380,000 to implement the diversion measures.
Council met in special session on June 27th to deal with the ‘County of Simcoe Waste Management Strategy and related matters.’ Some of the proposed changes like bag limits and user mandatory separation, would have required amendments to the waste collection contract that took effect on April 2, 2013.
Instead, councillors decided to stick with the current program that included uniform collection services across the County, “to be maintained without implementing any changes prior to the 2015 Waste Management Strategy Review with the understanding that the discussions on alternative strategies will continue in preparation for the 2015 review.”
They did however direct staff to prepare a report for an upcoming Corporate Services Committee meeting that lays out the potential cost of including pet waste, diapers and sanitary products in the source separated organics program, an initiative supported now in principle.
Additionally, councillors reiterated support for development of a central composting facility that would divert from landfill, and lessen the need to export materials.
As for the surplus from the cost of exporting waste in the 2013 budget, those funds have been “reallocated to capital and operational costs to improve waste diversion in the County of Simcoe and any unused portions be put in the waste management reserve for future initiatives.”