59 Carden St.

A different tack

Posted by Magda
Waterloo region voted in October to ship its food wastes to Hamilton or Niagara for composting instead of building their own facility. I'm sorry I didn't see this story before -- it's interesting how different their decisions are from the ones being made here.

Staff advised the trucking option, saying building a composter would take three or four or more years, would cost $30 to $100 more per tonne, and would be riskier.

• Waterloo Region to ship trash on trucks, The Record, Oct. 2

Producers paying for recycling?

Posted by Magda
The province is suggesting producers should pay the whole cost of dealing with the garbage they produce. That could mean just recyclables, or recyclables and garbage. That kind of system is common in Europe; in Ontario, companies like bottle manufacturers and newspaper printers pay half the cost of recycling, with municipalities paying the other half.

I'm working on a story for tomorrow's paper. In the meantime, here's some background reading:

• Review of the Waste Diversion Act -- the province is examining, and asking for feedback on, whether to make changes to how it deals with trash.
• Questions to be answered in the review of the blue box program.
• A website on producer responsibility -- a term that refers to producers taking back or paying for waste that comes from their products

How it works

Posted by Magda
My colleagues, Thana and Ryan, went to the wet-dry this morning to see how the new glass recycling works. In this photo, waste manager Dean Wyman explains the system to Councillor June Hofland.

Read more in the paper tomorrow.

(Photo by Ryan Pfeiffer)

Glass recycling at last

Posted by Magda
The glass you put in your blue bag is finally going to be recycled, starting tomorrow. It's been a long road -- your glass has been going to landfill since early 2005. But a new, laser system that can determine what's glass and what's not has solved the problem.

Delayed again

Posted by Magda
When the city issued a request for proposals from companies that want to build a compost plant here, the deadline was Sept. 5 -- two days ago. That was extended once, and now it's been extended again, to Oct. 20. Stay tuned.

An interesting twist

Posted by Magda
First, she was charged with violating the Environmental Protection Act by "discharging a contaminant ... namely odour" and by failing to maintain the wet plant in an "environmentally safe manner which minimizes odours." Now, she's one of the authors of the plan that charts Guelph's garbage future.

Cathy Smith, the city's former solid waste manager, now works for environmental consultant Gartner Lee. In that role, she is one of four authors of the city's Solid Waste Management Master Plan, which comes to a committee of council Friday.

Once it's passed by the committee and, later, by council, the plan will guide the city's priorities on waste management for the next 25 years.

The charges, by the way, were dropped when the city pled guilty to other related charges and ended up being fined $40,000.

The *real* reason

Posted by Magda

The reason for the closure of the city's wet plant in the summer of 2006 has long been a hot topic around here. Now, the city's new plan for its trash has this to say:

The city successfully operated the Wet-Dry-Plus program until 2006 when a series of structural issues and complaints about off-site odour impacts from the organic waste processing facility forced that facility closure (page 25).

I remember -- fondly -- an intense debate with my former colleague, Brian Whitwham. A few councillors had told him the plant was closed because of odour problems; I insisted it was because of the decaying roof. Here's what he ended up writing in February, 2007:

In a vaguely worded motion last May, the previous council closed the facility shortly after the city had been denied a federal-provincial grant to fix the roof. But several members of the previous council have said they intended to close the plant because the Ministry of the Environment had concerns about alleged odours from the facility.

I couldn't remember what the actual motion said, so I looked it up this afternoon (page 9):

Whereas the city has requested that the Ministry of the Environment issue an order to facilitate an air management pilot project at the organic facility and such an order has not yet been received by the city;

And whereas the city has requested from the MOE various amendments to the Certificate of Approval for the Waste Resource Innovation Centre and such amendments have not yet been received by the city;

And whereas the city's application for COMRIF funding for the necessary upgrades to the organic facility has not been approved;

And whereas the city intends to continue to divert its organic waste from landfill;

Therefore be it resolved:
1. That the City of Guelph temporarily cease receiving and processing organic waste at the organic facility as soon as technically feasible and in compliance with all approvals and regulations;

2. That during this period of interim cessation of processing organic waste at the organic facility, staff be directed to divert, as soon as possible, organic waste from the landfill, and that staff be authorized to issue an appropriate RFP;

3. That the MOE be requested to respond to the City of Guelph's prior request for the issuance of an order and for amendments to the City's Certificate of Approval;

4. That staff be directed to report back on feasible options for the diversion of organic waste from landfill including funding implications;

5. That the city undertake the strategic plan for solid waste management, as approved in the 2006 budget.

(The motion, by the way, passed unanimously, with Laura Baily, Christine Billings, David Birtwistle, Lise Burcher, Cathy Downer, Ray Ferraro, Rocco Furfaro, Peter Hamtak, Maggie Laidlaw, Dan Moziar, Dan Schnurr and Mayor Quarrie voting for, and Gloria Kovach absent.)

I've got to say I'm a little miffed by the fact the motion doesn't match up with the reasons given in the report.

And, of course, by the fact that Whitwham was right.

In case you were wondering...

Posted by Magda
The city extended the deadline to apply to build Guelph's new municipal composter at the request of an interested company, Dean Wyman, Guelph's waste manager, said today.

I wondered about the extension yesterday. The new deadline is Sept. 26 instead of Sept. 5.

Glass to be recycled by mid-September

Posted by Magda
Soon, your pickle jars start going to recycling again, at long last.

It'll be a week or two before the city's new glass sorting system is running. The sorter has been installed, and staff are now learning how to calibrate the laser that helps separate broken glass from ceramics, paper, bottle caps and other contaminants, Dean Wyman, the city's waste manager, told me today.

Your glass has been going to landfill since NexCycle, the company that used to buy broken glass from the city, stopped taking it because it was contaminated. That was early in 2005.

Fixing the problem will go a long way toward achieving the city's goal to divert 55 per cent of waste from landfill by 2011. In 2006, the city diverted 39 per cent.

• Guelph's glass may be recycled again, Dec. 6, 2007
• Councillors approve glass recycling system, Dec. 18, 2007
  

A change of heart

Posted by Magda
The city wants to change directions, slightly, on the new compost plant.

From the beginning of the process to rebuild the plant, staff have been clear they want to leave the door open to hire someone to design and build the plant but let the city operate it. Now, they've changed their minds.

The change seems significant. The request for proposals was delayed in part because of this debate: the consultant writing the request assumed the city would want the winning company to actually operate the plant, and was informed part way through that the city wanted both options.

The change is a response to some convincing arguments. Legal firm Aird and Berlis told the city having the company operate the plant would likely save the city money, improve performance, cut risks, and give better access to cutting edge technologies. And technical consultant CH2M Hill said most plants in Ontario are operated by outside companies.

Along with the change, staff have extended the deadline for applications to Sept. 26. I wrote recently about the fact the number of interested companies is dwindling -- it'll be interesting to see how many applications come in. In the meantime, a council committee will decide whether to approve the change next Friday.