Divert NS, on behalf of Municipal-Provincial Priorities Group Efficiency and Effectiveness of the Solid Waste Resource Management System Prepared by: AECOM Canada Ltd. 101 – 18817 Stony Plain Road NW Edmonton, AB T5S 0C2 Canada T: 780 486 7000 F: 780 486 7070 www.aecom.com Date: September 9, 2019 Project #: 60568061 (440) Distribution List # Hard Copies PDF Required Association / Company Name Divert NS, on behalf of Municipal-Provincial Priorities Group Revision History Rev # Date Revised By: Revision Description 0 July 11, 2018 Steve Johnson Draft – Governance section March 6, 2019 Jodi Tomchyshyn Draft – Governance Section edits client comments April 11, 2019 Arnold Paintsil Draft – Best Management Practices updates August 27, 2019 Ahmad Younes, Draft – update governance section, benchmarking, and best Steve Johnson, management practices based on review comments, draft of Jodi Tomchyshyn, financial section Andy Keir September 9, 2019 Steve Johnson Final based on Priority Group comments, NSE comments, Keir Corp updated tables for formatting, and add cover letter and Executive Summary Rpt - 2019-09-09 Nova Scotia - Efficiency of SWRM System - 60568061 Final .docx AECOM Divert NS, on behalf of Municipal-Provincial Priorities Group Efficiency & Effectiveness of the Solid Waste Resource Management System Statement of Qualifications and Limitations The attached Report (the “Report”) has been prepared by AECOM Canada Ltd. 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This Statement of Qualifications and Limitations is attached to and forms part of the Report and any use of the Report is subject to the terms hereof. AECOM: 2015-04-13 © 2009-2015 AECOM Canada Ltd. All Rights Reserved. Rpt - 2019-09-09 Nova Scotia - Efficiency of SWRM System - 60568061 Final .docx AECOM Divert NS, on behalf of Municipal-Provincial Priorities Group Efficiency & Effectiveness of the Solid Waste Resource Management System Executive Summary Nova Scotia has long been recognized as a Canadian leader in solid waste minimization, having achieved the lowest per capita disposal rate in Canada. This result is largely due to the innovative mix of regulations; policies; funding; promotion & education; and the combined, inter-related and individual efforts of key stakeholders. However, this success has come at the cost of Nova Scotians bearing the highest gross waste management operating costs in Canada. With a reduction in diversion credits from Divert Nova Scotia, the Minister of Environment requested an Efficiency Study. This study, administered through the Steering Committee, is to identify opportunities to streamline Nova Scotia’s waste resource management system by identifying opportunities for improved efficiency, productivity, and cost effectiveness while maintaining the environmental benefits of diversion, and meeting regulatory requirements. This study is developed in four distinct sections; governance, best management practices, financial analysis, and community profiles. A summary of each section and its respective conclusions and recommendations is as follows: Governance 1. Nova Scotia’s Waste-Resource Strategy is more than 20 years old and should be revised to enable additional change. The lack of a clear, shared provincial vision on the future of Nova Scotia’s waste-resource management system has contributed to the current over capacity and high-cost system. Regulated provincial triple bottom line goals and targets would assist planning, including service, accessibility, cost, jobs, etc. Goals and targets should be achievable, clear, and enforceable, and the responsible parties must be clearly identified. 2. The absence of a provincial requirement to consider the cumulative effect of proposed municipal solid-waste resource infrastructure on the whole of Nova Scotia has contributed to the over-supply of landfills, material recycling facilities (MRFs) and compost facilities. Looking forward, if Nova Scotia implements Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for packaging and printed paper the regulated industry (i.e., the producer responsibility organizations or PROs) would define the optimal number of MRFs as the PRO(s) seeks to implement the most cost-effective means of achieving regulated recycling targets. These recycling facilities would be funded by producers and would cease to be a taxpayer funded cost. For landfills and compost facilities, an arm’s length from government organization, like Prince Edward Island’s crown corporation the Island Waste Management Corporation, might be useful to regulate and/or manage the complement of publicly funded landfills and compost facilities in Nova Scotia to ensure the cumulative effect of public infrastructure investment is considered from a triple-bottom line perspective on the average Nova Scotia taxpayer. Given that waste management is an essential public service, key principles could be established as to guide decisions (e.g., fairness of access, equitability of costs across Nova Scotia taxpayers) in an updated Nova Scotia Waste-Resource Strategy. 3. Municipalities are not obligated to plan regionally or supra-regionally and have little incentive to do so. In the absence of guidance, municipalities are acting rationally when they make decisions they believe to be in the best triple-bottom line interests of their local public (e.g., jobs, environment, cost), as opposed to the best interests of Nova Scotia. Rpt - 2019-09-09 Nova Scotia - Efficiency of SWRM System - 60568061 Final .docx i AECOM Divert NS, on behalf of Municipal-Provincial Priorities Group Efficiency & Effectiveness of the Solid Waste Resource Management System 4. Elected municipal councils and Chief Administration Officers (CAOs) are the key decision-makers affecting short and long-term solid waste-resource