The City of Guelph expects the high-density, multi-residential (MR) sector to grow to over 30% of its total housing stock by 2031, up from 11% in 2011. In an attempt to improve and expand collection services to MR buildings the City added front-end service in 2018. This involved purchase...
Municipal recycling costs have continued to increase annually, due to the increasing complexity and light-weighting of the packaging supplied into the market. Sorting challenges and confusion amongst residents is growing as packaging becomes more complex and multi-layered. In turn, this contributes to higher contamination rates and higher net system costs. The...
In this final installment of the "Put a lid on it" mini-series, we continue to share the initial learnings from a litter, moisture and time-and-motion audit conducted in Durham Region in the fall of 2020. Part I focused on litter, including the causes, composition, and lids as a potential...
In this second installment of the "Put a lid on it" mini-series, we continue to explore the initial findings of a litter, moisture and time-and-motion audit conducted in Durham Region in the fall of 2020. Part I focussed on litter, including the causes, composition and lids as a potential...
Open top blue boxes at the curb can contribute to litter on the streets and moisture levels that can impact the marketability of the materials. The CIF has been working with Durham Region to develop a methodology to assess litter and moisture related to open blue boxes, and furthermore, to...
Transition to an Individual Producer Responsibility (IPR) framework, China Sword policies, and COVID-19 are all contributing to a challenging and uncertain environment for Ontario municipalities operating blue box programs. Despite this, municipalities continue to deliver services and maintain program performance. To help ensure continued efficiency and effectiveness of recycling...
Faced with a new processing RFP, Dufferin County sought to understand the costs to manage increasing amounts of bagged recyclables, and whether it would be more cost-effective to debag at the curb or process bagged materials at the MRF. Dufferin provides single stream recycling collection in Blue Boxes, with...
Accurately measuring the cost and effectiveness of municipal programs is fundamental to making informed decisions about program changes, investments, and transition planning. When it comes to recycling depots, municipalities report their costs through the annual Resource Productivity and Recovery Authority (RPRA) Datacall. However, these costs vary significantly, due in...
In anticipation of the curbside collection contracts renewal, pending regulatory/policy change and the development of a 30-year Solid Waste Master Plan, the City of Ottawa retained Dillon Consulting Limited (Dillon) to complete a study and develop a curbside collection model. The model assisted the City in identifying the most...
For this weeks blog, we're trying something new! Watch the video or scroll down for the full text. If you like this format, send your feedback to communications@thecif.ca. Contamination rates prompted Northumberland to act During Waste Management Master Planning in 2014, Northumberland County identified a need to shift from single stream...
Last week, in response to the evolving COVID-19 situation, the Ontario government ordered at-risk workplaces to close-down, while asking essential businesses and services to put in place “any and all measures to safeguard the well-being of their employees on the front-lines”. With regards to waste and recycling, municipalities across...
In 2019, the Township of Algonquin Highlands started testing the effectiveness and efficiency of using covers for 40-yard fibre recycling bins. The goal of the project was to assess whether a covered bin would improve the quality of materials and help avoid increases in processing costs. Notices from the MRF...
In Peel Region, gravity locks were installed on a few Front End Loading (FEL) bins at Multi Residential (MR) buildings where the buildings did not use chutes for recycling as a means to control contamination and improve material quality. Okay, so what do gravity locks have to do with contamination? Gravity...
Managers of municipal curbside collection programs often have a hard time gathering up-to-date information on the number of units serviced in a collection route. This issue is even more difficult in areas with seasonal populations which leads to challenges reporting out in the RPRA Datacall. These difficulties are compounded...
The pilot took place along two 100-home routes within the town of Cobourg from September 25, 2018 to March 26, 2019. Prior to and during the project, households within the pilot area were delivered the required information to participate in the program, as well as a 16-gallon yellow glass...
