Recycling projections coming up short
Posted Feb 19, 2011 12:21 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
A lot of Calgarians probably don’t want a third bin to put out on garbage day.
However, two new reports, headed to the city’s Utilities and Environment Committee, find we are not on target to meet recycling goals and organic material is a big reason why.
The Calgary Herald reports, according to one of the documents, 57 per cent of what we throw away is organic material, including yard waste and food scraps.
Aldermen Jim Stevenson, who sits on the committee, tells 660News another cart — joining the blue and black bins on garbage day — is not something he believes Calgarians want.
“I didn’t want to see them go with another bin because I don’t think the public would accept another bin, but apparently they can do it with bags,” says Stevenson.
Alderman Druh Farrell disagrees, saying she believes it’s something Calgarians care enough about.
A pilot project on organic recycling is currently in the works.
The reports add another culprit in the recycling program is a lack of a program for multi-family dwellings where it’s estimated only 20 to 50 per cent of people recycle. Those homes make up roughly 40 per cent of Calgary households.
The city wasn’t planning to add condos and apartments to the blue bin program until 2020. However, the reports note the city should reconsider and set 2015 as a goal.
In fact, it could be sooner than that, according to Alderman Stevenson.
“What I’m told is that they have now set up a dump station at Shepard landfill for the private contractors to dump the recycling and then the city is doing a transfer then to the facility that does the sorting,” says Stevenson.
As it stands right now, the city won’t meet its goal of reducing waste headed to landfills by 80 per cent in time for its goal of 2020.
Alderman Ray Jones says private sector companies, who he feels were unfairly shutout when the city launched its blue bin program, could play a big role in the program and meeting those targets.
