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Municipal 3Rs in Ontario: 2001 Fact Sheet
You’ve done it again Ontario! 2001 was the sixth consecutive year that you increased your rates of reducing, reusing and recycling. In 2001 tonnage diverted from disposal rose 7.6% (to 1,381 million tonnes, up from 1,284 million reported in 2000).
Municipalities also outdid themselves when it comes to household access to recycling programs. In 2001 we saw access to recycling increase by 230,000 people. Great work everyone!
Information on this Fact Sheet was gathered for the second consecutive year through the use of an online survey for municipalities. Responses were received from 164 programs, representing about 98% of Ontario’s households served. Results are summarized in the table below, and individual topics are elaborated upon in the following pages.
Continuing increases can be linked to the monetary and knowledge investments that were made to various municipal diversion programs through the interim Waste Diversion Organization (WDO). These monies and shared expertise helped existing programs continue to grow. New programs were also able to increase waste diversion, most notably in household special waste (HSW) and composting.
Highlights (Compared to 2000)
- The increase in households with access to recycling increased from 2000 to 2001 by 5.7% with 4,297,000 households having access to recycling in 2001.
- Residential recycling tonnage increased by 3.7%, to 699,000 tonnes.
- Over 10.96 million people Ontario-wide had access to HSW programs in 2001, an increase of over 470,000 from 2000.
- HSW tonnage increased by 3.9%, to 9,216 tonnes.
- Centralized composting programs processed 325,000 tonnes of organic material from Ontario municipalities in 2001, a 13.2% increase from 2000.
| Year | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 |
00 to 01 % change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Provincial households |
4,053 |
4,119 |
4,238 |
4,387 |
4,453 |
4,532 |
1.8 |
|
Households with curb and/or depot access to recycling |
3,484 |
3,730 |
3,850 |
3,983 |
4,067 |
4,297 |
5.7 |
|
Households provided with compost bins |
1,000 |
1,050 |
1,110 |
1,120 |
1,148 |
1,190 |
3.7 |
|
Households with curb and/or depot collection of organics* |
3,323 |
3,560 |
3,746 |
3,874 |
3,944 |
4,014 |
1.8 |
|
Provincial population |
11,100 |
11,300 |
11,400 |
11,500 |
11,700 |
11,900 |
1.7 |
|
Population with HSW access |
n/a |
9,800 |
9,900 |
10,000 |
10,490 |
10,960 |
4.5 |
|
Provincial 3Rs tonnage: all activities |
972 |
1,082 |
1,175 |
1,213 |
1,284 |
1,381 |
7.6 |
|
Residential recycling: tonnes |
532 |
595 |
631 |
658 |
674 |
699 |
3.7 |
|
Municipally collected IC&I recyclables: tonnes |
30 |
17 |
29 |
26 |
47 |
45 |
(3.2) |
|
IC&I recyclables tipped at municipal MRF’s |
n/a |
n/a |
n/a |
29 |
54 |
84 |
54.7 |
|
Other recyclables (e.g., C&D, whitegoods): tonnes |
100 |
79 |
108 |
100 |
98 |
100 |
2.1 |
|
Estimated backyard composting tonnes |
100 |
105 |
111 |
112 |
115 |
119 |
3.7 |
|
Centralized composting: tonnes |
210 |
280 |
290 |
281 |
287 |
325 |
13.2 |
|
Household Special Waste (HSW): tonnes |
n/a |
5.82 |
6.25 |
6.36 |
8.87 |
9.22 |
3.9 |
*mostly leaf & yard waste
RESIDENTIAL RECYCLING IN ONTARIO
Table 1 summarizes the materials collected from 1996 to 2001 and illustrates the recovery on a kilograms per household basis for each material type.
Figure 2 shows that over the last 10 years, there has been a 74% increase in the amount of recovered recycling materials while between 2000 and 2001 there has been an increase of 3.7%. This is higher than the increase seen between 1999 and 2000 where the increase was 2.4%. Figure 3 illustrates the growth in households with access to recycling with a 43% increase since 1992. The increase between 2000 and 2001 was 5.7% with 4,297,000 households having access to recycling in 2001. Figure 4 shows the individual material categories and their tonnes for 1996 to 2001. Paper has historically been the most significant proportion in the blue box followed by glass, metal and plastic. Figure 5 illustrates the quantities of paper, glass, metal and plastic recovered as a percent of total recovery in 2001.
| Material | Tonnes (000’s) | 00 to 01 % change | Kilograms per HHLD | 00 to 01 % change | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | |||
|
Paper |
367 |
429 |
462 |
492 |
513.7 |
526.2 |
2 |
105 |
115 |
120 |
122 |
126 |
122 |
(3) |
|
Glass |
104 |
102 |
100 |
101 |
94.9 |
102.6 |
8 |
30 |
27 |
26 |
25 |
23 |
24 |
2 |
|
Plastic |
16 |
20 |
22 |
22.2 |
22.8 |
26.9 |
18 |
4.5 |
5.4 |
5.7 |
5.6 |
5.6 |
6.3 |
11 |
|
Metal (subtotal): |
45 |
44 |
47.4 |
43.3 |
42.6 |
43.5 |
2 |
13 |
11.8 |
12.3 |
10.9 |
10.5 |
10.1 |
(3) |
|
10.5 |
11.0 |
12.8 |
11.1 |
10.6 |
10.9 |
3 |
3 |
2.9 |
3.3 |
2.8 |
2.6 |
2.5 |
(3) |
|
34.7 |
33.0 |
34.6 |
32.2 |
32.0 |
32.6 |
2 |
10 |
8.8 |
9.0 |
8.1 |
7.9 |
7.6 |
(4) |
|
TOTAL |
532 |
595 |
631 |
658 |
674 |
699 |
4 |
153 |
159 |
164 |
165 |
166 |
163 |
(2) |
|
Households Served (000's) |
3,484 |
3,730 |
3,850 |
3,983 |
4,067 |
4,297 |
6 |
|||||||
Discrepancies are due to rounding.
HOUSEHOLD SPECIAL WASTE
Over 10.96 million people Ontario-wide had access to HSW programs in 2001, an increase of over 470,000 from 2000. The number of event days increased by 22 to 210 while the number of depots increased by 3 to 65. The total number of HSW programs was 70, an increase of 5 programs from 2000. Efforts continued to work with programs to standardize lab pack and other unit conversions for both paint and flammables/organics.
The quantity of liquid HSW diverted from sewers and landfill was estimated as 7.28 million litres and the amount of solid HSW was Figure 6 1.94 million kilograms. The liquids included acids, antifreeze, bases, flammables, inorganic oxidizers, oil, organic oxidizers, paints and pesticides. The solids included aerosol cans, car batteries, dry cell batteries, oil filters, pharmaceuticals, propane tanks and cylinders, syringes, and miscellaneous. The liquid HSW has increased significantly since 1999 due in part to the conversion changes in both paint lab packs and flammables/organics lab packs.
In 2001, 36 programs reported operating “Use-it-Up” areas, up 6 programs from 2000. In 2001, 28 programs are aware of retail or manufacturer take back programs for HSW. The number of programs collecting fluorescent tubes dropped to 8 programs from 15 in 2000.
21 programs reported that they participated in the rechargeable battery “Charge Up to Recycle” program.
| Category | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Programs |
61 |
54 |
58 |
70 |
65 |
70 |
|
Depots |
n/a |
48 |
51 |
64 |
62 |
65 |
|
Events |
n/a |
152 |
167 |
173 |
188 |
210 |
|
People Served (millions) |
n/a |
9.8 |
9.9 |
10.0 |
10.49 |
10.96 |
|
Municipalities Served |
n/a |
<300 |
280 |
327 |
~303 |
300 |
|
Total HSW Diverted (tonnes, 000’s) |
n/a |
5.82 |
6.25 |
6.36 |
8.87 |
9.22 |
|
n/a |
1.41 |
1.20 |
1.38 |
2.92 |
2.93 |
|
n/a |
1.57 |
1.71 |
2.03 |
1.91 |
2.19 |
|
n/a |
1.26 |
1.14 |
1.03 |
2.23 |
2.16 |
|
n/a |
0.76 |
0.81 |
0.81 |
0.66 |
0.46 |
|
n/a |
0.29 |
0.37 |
0.27 |
0.30 |
0.52 |
|
n/a |
0.53 |
1.03 |
0.84 |
0.85 |
0.96 |
| No. & Type of Program | Summary | People Served (000s) |
|---|---|---|
|
26 Depot Only |
39 Depots |
3,570 |
|
28 Event Days Only |
65 Events |
720 |
|
16 Combination — Depots and Event Days |
26 Depots & 145 Events |
6,670 |
|
70 HSW Programs |
65 Depots & 210 Event Days |
10,960 |
CENTRALIZED COMPOSTING ACTIVITY
Centralized composting programs processed 325,000 tonnes of organic material from Ontario municipalities in 2001. This represents a 13.2% increase from the previous year. The number of municipalities providing this service dropped slightly from 2000, but this is due to municipal amalgamations. As well almost 90% of Ontario’s households are in municipalities providing this service.
Leaf & yard waste materials in addition to grass clippings and Christmas trees constitute the principal sources of organic feedstocks. 6 municipal composting programs also collected approximately 8,500 tonnes of food materials at curbside (3% of the total feed material).
Three quarters of the composting programs use windrow as their composting method; 21% use static pile; 4% use the in-vessel method.
Residential use is the primary means of compost demand followed by municipal public works departments, landscapers, topsoil blenders, and landfill cover. Uses in garden centres, agriculture, land reclamation and in the greenhouse industry continue to represent an opportunity.
| Year | 1994 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 00 to 01 % change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
No. of programs |
30 |
32 |
67 |
74 |
77 |
84 |
84 |
0 |
|
No. of municipalities1 |
152 |
150 |
241 |
235 |
217 |
199 |
190 |
(5) |
|
Households w/ access to service (000’s) |
3,070 |
3,323 |
3,560 |
3,746 |
3,874 |
3,944 |
4,014 |
2 |
|
Tonnes processed (000’s) |
149 |
219 |
280 |
2902 |
2813 |
287 |
325 |
13 |
|
Kgs/hhld with access |
48.5 |
65.9 |
78.7 |
77.4 |
72.5 |
72.8 |
81.0 |
11 |
1 The decline since 1997 is the result of municipal
amalgamations.
2 2 Unusually high tonnage reflects material resulting from 1998 ice
storm.
3 There are 13 small programs which did not report tonnes. These
programs represent approximately 70,000 households with access to central
composting. Twenty-three thousand tonnes have been estimated for these programs
and included in the total of 281,000 tonnes.
BACKYARD COMPOSTING ACTIVITY
The number of compost bins distributed by Ontario municipalities to-date is 1.19 million. Over 74% of municipalities subsidize the sale of compost bins to residents. Based on municipal composting participation studies, it is estimated that residential participation rates continue to remain high (half the studies reported an ongoing participation rate of 75% or greater).
| Year | 1994 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 00 to 01 % change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
No. of municipalities providing units1 |
|
481 |
|
419 |
|
380 |
|
(3) |
|
Households provided with compost bins (000’s) |
|
1000 |
|
1110 |
|
1148 |
|
4 |
|
Kilograms per unit diverted2 |
|
100 |
|
100 |
|
100 |
|
n/a |
|
Approximate tonnes diverted (000’s) |
|
100 |
|
111 |
|
115 |
|
3 |
1 The decline since 1997 is the result of municipal
amalgamations.
2Estimated backyard composting tonnes have been adjusted to 100
kilograms per unit to reflect more accurately tonnage diverted from this
activity.
MUNICIPAL PROGRAM RECOVERY RATES
Table 6 shows material recovery rates for municipal recycling programs in Ontario.
| Program Type | of Households with access to recycling | Kilograms per Household | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paper | Glass | Metal | Plastic | Total | ||
|
Curbside |
81 |
127 |
25 |
10 |
6 |
168 |
|
Depot |
3 |
76 |
15 |
12 |
5 |
108 |
|
Curbside & Depot |
16 |
108 |
22 |
12 |
7 |
149 |
|
Total |
100 |
|||||
- 63% of recycling programs offer curbside collection, representing 81% of all households with access to recycling.
- 3% of all households recycle through a depot program, which accounts for 18% of recycling programs in Ontario.
- The curbside recovery rate of 168 kgs/hhld has increased by 1.8% since 2000 (165 kgs/hhld).
MUNICIPAL RECYCLING INFRASTRUCTURE
Figure 7 categorizes material recovery facilities (MRF’s) by the annual municipal tonnage handled. Most of these facilities sort and bale recyclable materials and ship them to markets. Some of the small sites sort but do not bale. Some sites handle material from IC&I sources exclusively, and these sites are excluded from this analysis.
- 63 MRF’s in Ontario received recyclables from municipal collectors in 2001, the same as 2000.
- 49% (51% in 2000) of the MRF’s each handled less than 5000 tonnes per year and served 9% of the households (12% in 2000).
- 27% (24% in 2000) each handling 5,000 to 20,000 tonnes per year served 25% of households (the same in 2000). 20% (25% in 2000) each handling more than 20,000 tonnes per year served 66% of households (63% in 2000).
DATA COLLECTION METHODOLOGY
This report is the product of a partnership of seven organizations: the Ontario Ministry of the Environment’s Waste Management Policy Branch (MOE), CSR: Corporations Supporting Recycling, the Municipal Chief Administrative Officer Bench Marking Group (CAO), Recycling Council of Ontario (RCO), the Association of Municipal Recycling Coordinators (AMRC), the Municipal Waste Integration Network (MWIN) and the Composting Council of Canada (CCC). For the second time, the 2001 data call was made available online for municipalities to complete. generated and distributed passwords and a web address for municipalities to log in and access their survey, validated the returned data, developed estimates covering the municipalities that did not report quantities, and produced the fact sheet. The partnership approach relieves municipal waste management professionals from responding to five or six similar annual surveys, and avoids publication of contradictory reports. This is the fifth update of the partnership’s original Fact Sheet published in October 1997 regarding 1994 and 1996 activities.
The Municipal 3Rs Survey form was used to collect information from 193 known municipal 3Rs programs across Ontario. Survey responses were received from 164 programs, from about 98% of Ontario’s households. Tonnages have been estimated for the 29 non-responding programs by making an estimate based on the performance of similar programs.
The survey responses have been checked for inconsistencies with respect to topics covered in this Fact Sheet. Checking will continue as analyses proceed. clarification when inconsistencies appear.
The partners wish to thank all municipal staff who participated in the survey
and whose contributions are the key ingredients in this Fact Sheet;
i.e., the facts themselves. The partners look forward to continuing to share
summarized information and
analyses, and to expanding it through follow-up and subsequent surveys.
INFORMATION SOURCES:
2001: 3Rs Information Partnership 2001 data survey
2000: 3Rs Information Partnership 2000 data survey
1999: 3Rs Information Partnership 1999 data survey
1998: 3Rs Information Partnership 1999 data survey, and AMRC’s survey
of HSW programs
1997: 3Rs Information Partnership 1998 data survey, and AMRC’s more
detailed survey of HSW
programs
1996: 3Rs Information Partnership 1997 data survey
1994: MOE Highlights -
1994 Waste Diversion by Ontario Municipalities
1992: OMMRI Overview of 1992 published in April 1993 Populations: Statistics
Canada, CANSIM, Matrices 6367-6378 and 6408-6409 Households: Ontario Ministry of
Municipal Affairs and Housing
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS:
This report would not have been possible without the special contributions of the following people: Jason Cline, Joe Hruska, Cynthia Hyland, Beverly Stone and Donald Wiedman.
DISCLAIMER:
The information contained in this report is derived from data submitted by survey respondents. The partners cannot and do not make any representation as to the accuracy of the data provided by survey respondents.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, CONTACT THE PARTNERS AT:
MOE John Fox 416-314-9398
john.fox@ene.gov.on.ca
CSR Gordon Day
416-594-3456 x221 day@csr.org
OMBI Jay Stanford 519-661-5411
jstanfor@city.london.on.ca
RCO Jo-Anne St. Godard
416-960-1025 x13 joanne@rco.on.ca
AMRC
Cynthia Hyland 519-823-1990
amrc@albedo.net
MWIN Mark
Collins 905-477-8400 x284
mcollins@gartnerlee.com
CCC Susan Antler
416-535-6710 ccc@compost.org
Published September 16, 2002
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