Trash limits 'no limit' Thu,

London Free Press July 30, 2009

London lags behind other cities when it comes to curbside restrictions

By RANDY RICHMOND

After a series of environmental successes, Londoners can be forgiven for feeling a little smug about being green. But that sunny view would have to overlook the curb, where the lowly garbage container symbolizes London's shaky reputation for waste disposal. While some Southwestern Ontario centres have slapped strict limits on how much trash can be put at the curb, or charge for each bag, London remains with a four-container, no-fee limit some say is no limit at all. "I think it is really quite excessive," Controller Gina Barber said. "It's not just a four-bag limit -- it is four containers. You can put more than one bag in a container." The Free Press surveyed other cities in the region and found London lags behind some when it comes to bag limits. Other cities with four-bag limits share the same, relatively poorer rates of diverting waste from landfills. But the survey also shows bag limits aren't the be-all and end-all to waste diversion. In fact, it appears green bin programs and easy-to-use recycling programs can be just as effective as bag limits. The Cadillac of waste-diversion cities may be Hamilton, where a phased-in program will result in a one-bag curbside limit by next spring. Now, Hamilton residents can put out two bags, but the second must be a clear bag. If there are recyclables in that bag, collectors will leave it. Residents do get a break on the limit three times a year, allowed to put out three bags after New Year's, Thanksgiving and Victoria Day. Plus, residents can book collectors to come and get large items, such as couches. Three years ago, Hamilton also established a green bin program, collecting not only food wastes but yard clippings weekly. "When you figure 30% of household waste is organic, that makes a big difference," said Pat Parker, manager of solid waste policy. The city also expanded its recycling program and provided, free, two blue boxes to every resident. "We have one of the broadest ranges of acceptable items," Parker said. The numbers speak for themselves. In 2005, about 30% of city garbage was being diverted from the landfill. That reached 44% in 2008. Other municipalities have adopted a fee system in which residents buy tags to put on their garbage bags. Woodstock and other Oxford County communities went to a bag tag system in 2003, and the fee now is $1.25 per bag. "We saw the increase in recyclables right away, without a doubt," said David Creery, Woodstock's head of engineering. But tags alone aren't the reason for the city's improving diversion rate, Creery said. Halfway through 2008, Woodstock made some big changes to its recycling program. In the past, residents had to separate recyclables into seven different streams that were sent to a local facility. "It was pretty ugly," Creery says of the workload put on residents. Now, they only have to separate the recyclables into two streams -- paper and containers -- and the kinds of material allowed have been expanded. "We made it a lot easier for residents," Creery said. "Our recycling numbers are up substantially. The jump from making it easier was greater than the jump from the tags." Recycling rates have already shot up 12%, after only half a year of the program. Waste tonnage has gone down only about 1%, but that's not bad considering how much the city is growing, Creery said. Woodstock is looking at a green bin program for the curbside, but Creery noted backyard composters are still the most inexpensive way for municipalities to get rid of food waste. "If you make it easier, that has a bigger impact than the imposition of a bag tag." That's why Kitchener's bag limit may be misleading. Residents there have a 10-bag limit. Other municipalities in the Waterloo region have a three- to six-bag limit. Those limits would suggest terrible rates for waste diversion. Instead, Waterloo rates rank among the best in Ontario, at 45% in 2007 and 47% last year. "Rather than a bag limit, we try through education. We have been successful with our numbers," said Cari Howard, Waterloo Region's waste project manager. Of course, Waterloo has benefitted from an expanding green bin program, which began with 5,000 homes in 2006 and should have all single-family homes covered by 2010. By offering that program, Waterloo hasn't needed to limit its bag collection, Howard said. "Bag limits are a stick rather than a carrot," she said. "Typically speaking, most households in the region are only setting out one to two bags of garbage per week." In London, some politicians have been pushing for both the stick and the carrot approach -- with a tougher limit on bags, combined with the green bin program. City staff is preparing a report, due in November, on how to begin phasing in the green bin program in 2010. But there may only be enough money for a small pilot project next year. The green bin program would allow the city to reduce the garbage bag limit, said Jay Stanford, London's director of environmental programs. The city's limit isn't as relaxed as it appears, he added. While other cities have 52 trash pickups a year, London's eight-day schedule means there are only 42 pickups. "We are actually closer to a 3.2-bag (per week) limit," he said. Even so, a green bin program could bring the four-bag limit to two, Stanford said. The city has a reputation for being slow off the mark for waste diversion. It was Ontario's last major urban centre to adopt the blue-box program. The four-bag limit was introduced in 2006, long after other Ontario cities created stricter limits. In the past two years, however, London has shown it can get tough on pollution and waste, Barber said. The city led the charge in Canada against plastic water bottles and recently approved a proposed $23-million recycling plant, a tougher anti-idling bylaw and mandatory use of paper or compostable plastic bags for leaf collection. Barber thinks it's only a matter of time before Londoners shed the label of garbage hogs. "There has been some resistance on council, but I think that is changing," she said. "We tend to underestimate the intelligence of residents. They can figure out we have to make changes and they can figure out how those changes will work."

TRASH LIMITS AND DIVERSION RATES

London: Four-container limit*, 39.7% landfill diversion (2007)

Chatham-Kent: Four-bag limit, 28.8% landfill diversion

Sarnia: Four-bag limit, 36.6% landfill diversion Stratford: $2.10 bag tag, 50.4% landfill diversion

Waterloo: Six to 10-bag limit, green bin, 45% landfill diversion

Hamilton: Two-bag limit, green bin, 42% landfill diversion

*Containers can hold multiple bags