Bylaw 31/2018 Amendment to Waste Management Bylaw Agenda Item: 5C
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Town of Cochrane Council Report Meeting: Regular Council Meeting Date: October 9, 2018 Originated By: Fabrizio Bertolo, Manager, Waste & Recycling Title: Bylaw 31/2018 Amendment to Waste Management Bylaw Agenda Item: 5c RECOMMENDED ACTION That Council gives First Reading to Bylaw 31/2018. STRATEGIC / SUSTAINABILITY PLAN ITEM Town of Cochrane Strategic Plan 1.2 Future infrastructure, facilities and plans be developed and implemented to accommodate growth. 1.4 Promote/Advocate the Cochrane Sustainability Plan by aligning our plans and actions. 3.3 Promote and celebrate a culture of engagement, customer service, innovation, responsibility and accountability. Cochrane Sustainability Plan 4. We contribute to the solution on climate change BACKGROUND Attached for First Reading is Bylaw 31/2018 which proposes to amend Town of Cochrane Waste Management Bylaw 08/2018, to reduce residential waste pick up (black carts) from every week to every two weeks. Council adopted the Zero Waste Framework in the Fall of 2012 as the Town of Cochrane’s waste management vision. The Zero Waste Framework outlines how Cochrane can achieve Zero Waste by focusing on reducing our environmental footprint by minimizing the amount of waste that must be landfilled through waste reduction, reuse, recycling, redesign, composting and other actions. The overall vision is Zero Waste with the interim goal of 80% of waste diverted from the landfill by 2020. The Zero Waste Framework identifies 5 Pathways to achieving our goals: Organics (in all sectors), Multi-family Recycling, Industrial Commercial Institutional Recycling, Construction & Demolition Recycling and Events & Public Spaces. Diversion Rate for the Town of Cochrane moved from 31% (2016) to 61% after the implementation of the Organics program. The total amount of waste sent to landfill decreased by 1,237MT in 2017/2018 (30% less) due to the quantity of organics diverted to the compost facility. This translated in savings for the Town of Cochrane of $74,000 as the cost for processing organics is half of the disposal rate. Waste sort Bylaw 31/2018 Amendment to Waste October 9, 2018 Management Bylaw To evaluate the composition of the waste sent to landfill a waste sort was conducted in August 2018 on the content of 50 garbage carts randomly sampled throughout all neighborhoods in Town. Results show a high fraction of organics and recyclables are still sent to landfill (51% of the overall content of black carts) while the percentage of actual garbage in black carts is only 49%. Volume of waste in black carts Based on data from survey results and volume audits, the majority of waste carts (black carts) in Cochrane are half or less than half full on a weekly basis. On average black bins are 56% full on a weekly basis across Cochrane. However, the results determined the majority of Cochrane residents have black carts that are half full or less. Results from the August 2018 waste sort show 51% of the material in black carts is comprised of organics and recyclables and can be diverted to the green cart or blue cart. This means that if all recyclables and organics are diverted into blue and green bins the black carts would only be 27% full, on average, on a weekly basis. Reducing waste collection frequency Data shows that on average black carts are 56% full and over 50% of the families in Town fill up ½ or less of their back cart on weekly basis. It is currently possible to switch from every week waste collection to every second week waste collection maintaining the infrastructure in place while improving efficiency of waste collection service. This would also encourage behavioral changes to allow families to divert their waste to the green and blue bins. This option would allow for a reduction of the 2019 costs for residents. The implementation of the change of frequency for waste collection would start in May 2019. Benefits of every second week waste collection can be summarized as follow: • Reach 80% of waste diverted from landfill by 2020 as set by the "Zero Waste Framework" (approved by Council in 2012) • Reduces cost for the service and maintains cost for residents at $21.55/HH/month in 2019 (offsetting contractual cost increases for 2019) = NO COST INCREASE FOR WASTE, RECYCLING AND ORGANICS COLLECTION; • Encourage behavioral changes; • Continue building the capital reserve for replacement of current carts and future development; • Implement additional services for residents; • Become the first community in Canada to divert 80% of waste from landfill; Bylaw 31/2018 Amendment to Waste October 9, 2018 Management Bylaw • Introduce pay-as-you-throw waste disposal system so that residents would pay based on the amount of garbage generated with a basic cost per household of $21.55/month which includes waste collection with a 120L cart every two weeks (starting May 2019) and several options to dispose of extra waste. • Options for extra waste: o In excess waste bags (with Town logo) on collection day or at Eco Centre (currently $3/bag) – when needed o In clear bag at Eco Centre Tuesday-Saturday ($3/bag of garbage) – when needed o Additional (120L) waste cart ($45 upfront + extra $13/month) • Does not penalize residents who are using (or want to use) the curbside collection program and Eco Centre as intended (51% of waste in the black cart is comprised of recyclables and organic waste that can be diverted to the blue/green cart or Eco Centre). Exemption Based on feedback received by residents, Administration will adopt a care and compassion option to recognize families that may temporarily not be able to meet new requirements. This will include: Residents with two or more children under the age of four in diapers. • Application process; Town staff to review and approve. • Approved applicants get excess waste bags or an extra 120L black cart for six months. Residents with a medical or health related situation. • Application process; Town staff to review and approve. • Approved applicants get excess waste bags or an extra 120L black cart for six months. These exceptions are based on practices in other municipalities like Airdrie, Niagara Region, Waterloo and Region of Peel. Communication/education campaign (Dec 2018-May 2019) In the case of waste collection reduced to every two weeks, Waste and Recycling section in collaboration with the Communication office will work with residents to achieve the goal and help residents with challenges. The communication/educational programs will be developed through a number of tools: • Provide a strong message to explain how waste diversion can translate into savings for the Town and single families; • Importance of organics diversion to achieve the goal; • Staff to help families at their homes to set up the system and overcome challenges; • App for waste collection days reminder; • Work with champion families (large families, teenagers, etc.); • Help residents feel they are contributing to positive change; • Strong communication campaign against illegal dumping. Consequences of not moving ahead with the reduction in waste collection frequency • Goal of 80% waste diverted from landfill won’t be achieved; Bylaw 31/2018 Amendment to Waste October 9, 2018 Management Bylaw • All residents will pay more for the service; • More trucks on our roads; • Risk of being rejected at landfills; • Fewer options for waste disposal in the future. COMMUNICATION / PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT As part of the recommendation received by Council in 2017 a very robust public communication/educational campaign was conducted in 2017/2018. Administration worked on a number of programs summarized as follow: 1) Collection calendar A waste, recycling and organics collection calendar was delivered to each household in Cochrane in December 2017. The calendar contained the specific collection days for each cart in each neighborhood and information regarding cart placement and recycling/organics collection. 2) Working with schools Waste and recycling staff were at several schools and daycares to talk about recycling and diverting waste from landfills. Programs through Green Calgary were sponsored and delivered to most of the elementary schools in Town. Eco Centre hosted numerous tours for elementary schools with the goal of showing how many items can be recycled and the importance of diverting materials from landfills. 3) Focus group A working session with interested residents was held at the Eco Centre to discuss waste diversion strategies. A live waste sort was performed to help participants better understand the quantity and type of material Cochrane residents are sending to landfill. 4) Let’s Talk Cochrane Waste and Recycling staff were present at the August 16, 2018 – Let’s Talk at Cochrane Street Market. A Let’s Talk Waste Reduction BBQ was held on August 23, 2018 at the Cochrane Legion to evaluate specific challenges/barriers in waste diversion and ask for feedback (see Appendix A for feedback/comments). 5) Green Corner Videos A total of 9 Green Corner videos were produced and played on social media, website, YouTube and at the local movie theatre. The green corner videos are used to educate on proper use of waste carts and Eco Centre and on proper cart placement. 6) Zero Wastey Videos A total of 21 short videos were produced featuring community members talking about proper use of Eco Centre and Blue and Green carts. Videos were played on social media, website, YouTube and at the local movie theatre. 7) Carts Audit The cart audit allowed staff to reach all residents in Town and address specific issues resulting in numerous calls, emails, FB requests for clarification, info about proper use of waste carts, etc. Bylaw 31/2018 Amendment to Waste October 9, 2018 Management Bylaw Approx. 9,000 garbage carts were audited by Town staff between May and August 2018 and tags (yellow/green) were left on the carts when an educational message was considered necessary (e.g.