Meaford residents have responded to the implementation of the controversial 'pay as you throw' bag tag program by reducing the amount of garbage they place at the curb each week for pick up by waste management workers.
Data provided to The Independent by the municipality shows that over a four month period from July to October in 2008, 560 tonnes of garbage was collected for disposal. In the same period in 2009 just 401 tonnes was collected which is a 28.4 percent reduction.
The municipal bag tag requirements took effect in July of this year and require residents to purchase stickers at a cost of $2 each. The stickers must be affixed to garbage bags in order for them to be picked up by municipally contracted waste collectors.
The plan initially sparked controversy during the public meetings for the preparation of the 2009 budget with many residents expressing displeasure at having to pay a fee to have their garbage collected.
As Chris Collyer, Environmental Services Technologist for the Municipality of Meaford explains, residents have come to accept the new program.
“Overall the initial resident reaction to bag tag implementation has calmed down and has become accepted,” Collyer told The Independent, “Speaking with colleagues at a recent waste management seminar, it is becoming the norm to have some type of user pay system which makes the resident more accountable for what goes into the bag. Residents become more aware, and to reduce household costs tend to put more, or all recyclables into the blue box and compost streams.”
Taking a quick glance at the numbers, it might seem curious that recyclables collection in the same four month time frame have also declined from last year by slightly more than 10 percent. But as Collyer explains, though one would have expected the volume of blue box collections to have increased as the garbage volume has declined, there is a simple reason for this anomaly.
“Recycle numbers have declined due to the LCBO glass return initiatives recently implemented. This has taken a significant tonnage from the blue box collection system,” said Collyer, “Also packaging changes over time as can be seen in the plastic industry. An example is bottled water containers are becoming thinner walled thus the same number of bottles captured will result in lower overall tonnages.”
Collyer says that the municipality will be stepping up its promotional and educational efforts in the new year to encourage more residents to be active participants in diverting waste to the recycling and composting streams in hope of achieving a 70 percent diversion goal.
The most significant reductions in household waste destined for the curbside pick up, and ultimately the landfill, can be found by diverting kitchen organic waste to backyard compost bins, or the municipal compost pick up service. The majority of the weight of residential refuse is from kitchen food scraps.
“[Compostable material] is the one waste stream that if captured and participation is increased, can significantly help in achieving the 70% waste diversion goal.” advised Collyer.
