Environmental Benefits
The update to the Waste Management Mater Plan (WMMP) was completed in 2022 identified additional opportunities to further improve waste diversion rates in the City of Peterborough through added activities. The review affirmed that the goals of the 2012 WWMP goals of maximizing waste diversion, minimizing waste generation, and maintaining fiscal responsibility were completed and/or still relevant for the 2022 WMMP iteration.
The review evaluated the waste disposed from 2012-2020, and a decrease of 3.7 percent in the amount of residential waste sent to landfill or 1,489 tonnes was observed. Diversion of materials away from the landfill recorded a rise of 0.7 percent or 126 tonnes despite the continuing decrease in the overall weight of blue box material available for collection despite the light weighting of packaging (i.e., glass to plastic) and the continued transition from print media.
The updated evaluation determined that an achievable residential diversion rate in Peterborough is between the range of 76 to 83 percent with the implementation of the recommendations within the new garbage collection program. In 2021, the total residential waste collected by the waste management system was 35,760 tonnes which diverted 52 percent or 18,525 tonnes of waste diverted from the landfill. Achieving the 76 to 83 percent diversion goal will be realized through the collective implementation of the SSO food diversion program, identified as GROW Peterborough, the transition to a clear garbage bag program, and the transition to an alternating frequency (bi-weekly) collection of garbage.
By the numbers
Approximately 8% (1,000 tonnes) of material in the garbage stream has been identified (consistently in historic audits of Peterborough residential waste) as targeted blue box material. A transition to a clear bag for garbage will contribute to reduced collection and landfill disposal costs and support longer-term landfill capacity. The clear bag and bi-weekly garbage collection will support diversion opportunities.
The increase in food waste diversion from landfill through the Green Bin (GROW Peterborough) project currently underway will result in the diversion of approximately 5,000 tonnes of residential organic material (per year from the City of Peterborough) being deposited in landfill and extend the capacity of the landfill accordingly.
Additionally, given that the moisture from the organic portion of the waste (garbage) stream contributes extensively to the production of greenhouse gases and leachate, the reduction of this material in the landfill will result in reduced detrimental environmental impacts and leachate treatment costs.
Weekly garbage and organics collection is not recommended due to the detrimental environmental and economic impacts; they would require additional equipment and staffing. It is estimated that increasing garbage collection to a weekly schedule would require an additional capital expense of approximately $3.2M, and annual increased operating expenses of approximately $1.6M per year indefinitely.
Curbside collection of garbage under a manual system utilizing clear bags offers substantial time-in-motion efficiencies over bins or automated cart-based programs in addition to substantial operating and capital cost savings. Therefore, collection of residential garbage every-other-week, as well as weekly Source Separated Organics collection as recommended in the WMMP can be completed by the existing City of Peterborough Public Works collection fleet and staffing.
