10-05-2014, 12:16 AM
I recall past colleagues of mine (they work in waste management policy planning at a GTA regional municipality) say that Waterloo Region's curbside collection system was a "cadillac standard", in that it's very rare for a municipality to have recycling sorted at the curb due to its high cost. Most municipalities (Region of Peel, City of Toronto, Halton Region) don't have curb-side recycling sorting, and instead have Material Recovery Facilities, massive semi-automated recycling sorting machines. These facilities allow residents to throw all of their recycling in a recycling bag/bin without the need for sorting, as the facility will sort everything out. Investing in such a facility would be very costly for the Region but would make recycling very convenient for residents and reduce the cost of the curbside recycling contract. It's likely that the initial capital costs of building such a facility outweigh any savings that would be a result of the reduced collection costs.
With regard to the green bin figures, I think that the tonnage numbers will rise as soon as the region introduces bi-weekly garbage collection when they sign the new waste collection contract in a few years. I'm also hoping that green bins will be introduced to apartment buildings and commercial and institutional buildings soon.
With regard to the green bin figures, I think that the tonnage numbers will rise as soon as the region introduces bi-weekly garbage collection when they sign the new waste collection contract in a few years. I'm also hoping that green bins will be introduced to apartment buildings and commercial and institutional buildings soon.