February 22, 2010
Opinion
Carefully consider city's new recycling model
Following is the viewpoint of the writer, executive director of Cosmopolitan Industries Ltd. in Saskatoon.
Everybody wants to recycle more, but the devil is in the details. The key question is: What will be the collection method?
The Container Recycling Institute presented a study in December 2009 that is critical of single-stream, co-mingled collection systems. It goes so far as to recommend against their further implementation. The article (found at www.container-recycling.org/) is a must-read for those who are seriously interested in recycling. The study, Understanding Economic and Environmental Impacts of Single-Stream Collection Systems, finds that single-stream collection results in greater costs and lower end-quality of the materials collected.
"Recycling's real purpose is re-manufacturing. Most laypeople, and perhaps most local officials, assume that all recycled items go to their best use. They are shocked to learn that the materials they dutifully put in a recycling bin may in fact wind up in the landfill," the study reports.
It also says that, on average, 40 per cent of glass from such a co-mingled collection system winds up at landfills. In contrast, dual-stream systems see an average 90 per cent of glass recycled, with container deposit systems such as SARCAN's yielding 98 per cent of glass reused for bottle making.
The report cites a 2002 study in Minnesota, which found that source-separated processors lost only 1.6 per cent of materials to residuals or materials that had to be removed by the processor, compared to 10 per cent to 12 per cent under dual-stream collection system and 27.2 per cent under single-stream systems. So even though the single-stream systems showed an increase of 20.8 per cent in tonnage collected, they also showed a net decrease of 12.2 per cent in overall tons recycled.
A 2006 study in Washington showed similar results.
"Choosing an appropriate recycling program for their communities can be challenging as municipal leaders attempt to find a balance between economic and environmental sustainability. Over the past decade, recycling systems have evolved towards collecting the maximum amount of recyclables in the shortest amount of stop time with the least amount of labor. This strategy has achieved cost savings at the collection end," concluded the institute's December study.
However, the savings at the collection end are more than offset by the loss in value received for the "contaminated" product from remanufacturers. With the global economic downturn, the demand for poorer quality material has also been significantly lessened.
The 2007 Saskatoon Waste and Recycling Plan estimated that a single stream co-mingled curbside collection system would recycle 19,000 metric tonnes of household waste materials, at a cost of $415 per tonne or $7.8 million per year.
The current collection system in Saskatoon comprises the city, Cosmo, SARCAN and Saskatoon Curbside Recycling. We are proud partners! These organizations currently recycle 13,000 metric tonnes of household waste materials, at a cost to the 2008 mill rate of $10 per tonne or $100,000 a year.
To gather up the 6,000 tonnes of low-value, hard-to-collect items by using a universal co-mingled curbside collection system, as the plan envisioned, would cost in excess of an additional $7.7 million. This amounts to about $1,300 for each additional tonne collected.
No one wants to see this material go to the landfill. However, there is a significant cost to be incurred to keep it out. How we keep it out does matter.
We all want to recycle more material, but which system do we want? Let's choose carefully because whatever system we choose, we will have it for a very long time.
Cosmo's recommendation is for a source-separated/curb-sorted collection system. This could be a depot system in combination with a subsidized curb-sort collection. Sorting recyclables at the curb is critical to keeping the adults with intellectual disabilities employed, and it is the best choice for recycling's real purpose -- remanufacturing!
http://www.thestarphoenix.com/opinion/Carefully+consider+city+recycling+model/2595979/story.html
