Over the years, CIF has funded numerous projects and studies that included analysis of data on waste. Data has been generated from a variety of sources and operational activities, primarily the CIF/SO Terms of Reference (TOR) standardized waste composition studies. In 2020, the County of Peterborough, Township of Drummond/North Elmsley, and Quinte Waste Solutions requested that the CIF develop a tool to streamline the analysis of waste audit data.
Although an abundance of data exists, it has never been amalgamated or put into a framework that would allow municipalities to easily access it in order to report over time, compare with other municipal groupings, or analyze trends.
The CIF worked with a developer of data management services to create a flexible data tool that will provide report outputs based on imported local data and requested comparable provincial program information (with municipal identification kept confidential). Sufficient controls are in place with the developer and system users to keep the system secure.
What’s a WAMT?
WAMT refers to the “Waste Analysis Management Tool” and is a user-friendly waste audit data analysis tool that allows municipalities to:
- Analyze their individual results
- Compare and contrast their results with the results of other similar municipalities
- Produce and download graphs and tables
The WAMT is pre-loaded with data from 20 municipalities
During development and testing of this tool, data was uploaded from 20 municipalities representing all WDO groups with diverse programming (Single Stream/Dual Stream, Box/Cart) and three different audit types – Single Family, Multi-Residential, and Depot from various years. These municipalities have provided support for the development of WAMT and their identity will remain anonymous. Thanks again to those that agreed to share data – you know who you are!
Data in, reports out
The tool allows municipalities to take their curbside, multi-residential, and depot waste data, upload it into the system, and output reports based on queried requests including:
- Generation rates – total and by waste stream
- Contamination rates, materials, and cross-contamination in dual stream recycling
- Capture and diversion rates
- Seasonal comparisons
Although a base number of municipalities are in the WAMT, as more register and upload data into WAMT, they will authorize the sharing of their data with other municipalities, essentially growing the system.
Municipalities must upload their own data, utilizing a “customizable” excel import template which will provide initial capture rates by material, detailed contamination reports, statistics and graphs prior to upload.
The outputs of the tool provide valuable information regarding rates and trends, which are considered key components in future IPR negotiations and contracts. This information may assist municipalities in utilizing existing CIF models to determine material specific costing for collection and/or processing.
Demonstration of the WAMT on Thursday, October 7, 2021
On October 7, 2021, from 10am to 11am, CIF is hosting a demonstration of the WAMT.
Note, this demonstration is limited to Ontario municipal and First Nation staff.
For more information about the WAMT and the demonstration, please contact admin@thecif.ca.