Report
to / Rapport au:
Enviromental
Services Committee
Comité
des services de l’environnement
and
Council / et au Conseil
07 May
2002 / le 07 mai 2002
Submitted
by/Soumis par: R.T. Leclair, General
Manager / Directrice générale
Contact/Personne-ressource: P. McNally, Director / Directeur
Utility
Services Branch / Direction des services publics
|
|
|
Ref N°: ACS2002-TUP-UTL-0013 |
SUBJECT: HOUSEHOLD SPECIAL WASTE - COLLECTION EVENTS SUMMARY AND STRATEGY
OBJET : DÉCHETS DOMESTIQUES SPÉCIAUX
SOMMAIRE
DES COLLECTES ET COMPTE RENDU
REPORT
RECOMMENDATIONS
That the Environmental Services Committee recommend
Council approve:
1.
the Household Special Waste program as outlined in this report; and
2.
officially changing the name
of the program to Household Hazardous Waste, from Household Special Waste, in
keeping with the future direction of the Province.
RECOMMANDATIONS
DU RAPPORT
Que le Comité des services de l’environnement
recommande au Conseil d’approuver :
1. le programme de déchets
domestiques spéciaux décrit dans ce rapport; et
2. la modification de l’appellation officielle du Programme des déchets domestiques spéciaux, qui deviendrait le Programme des déchets domestiques dangereux, compte tenu de l’orientation que doit prendre le gouvernement provincial dans l’avenir.
BACKGROUND
The permanent Household Special Waste (HSW) depot
currently operated by the City of Ottawa was established at the Trail Waste
Facility in 1992 by the former Region of Ottawa-Carleton (the Region). Historically, due to the location, the
participation rate of the eastern municipalities has been low at the permanent
depot. The Solid Waste 3Rs Study,
completed by the Region in 1990, addressed the possible expansion of the
program to include service in the east end of the City. Extensive public consultation was conducted
for the Solid Waste 3Rs Study. As a
result, on 12 July 1995, Regional Council requested that a mobile depot program
for HSW collection be implemented on a trial basis to serve residents in the
east end of the City. In 1998, Regional
Council expressed continued concern about the inequity of service to residents
in the east end of the City, and the program was continued. Starting in 1999, at the request of the Ward
4 Councillor, a mobile depot was also located in the western part of Ottawa-Carleton.
Each resident using the permanent HSW depot at the
Trail Waste Facility is required to complete a survey, where they have the
opportunity to provide any comments or questions. The participation of households in the different areas of the
City can be tracked through the postal codes on the completed surveys, and also
through the numerous calls that are received throughout the year by staff from
residents requesting information on the proper handling of HSW and where it can
be brought for disposal. Those
residents who do not have a "Take It Back!" directory are provided
with one.
From the inception of the program to the end of the year 2001, twenty-eight mobile HSW depot one-day events have been held: twenty-five in the eastern part of the City and three at the City's facility on Maple Grove Road located in the former City of Kanata. Drain-All Environmental Ltd. has been hired by the City for the years 2001 and 2002, to receive, sort and package HSW received from the public, and transport the material to various recycling and disposal facilities. City of Ottawa staff members assist with the supervision, distribution of surveys, and traffic control. All events are open to the public from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. during the one-day event.
DISCUSSION
2001 Mobile Depot Events
Five
mobile depot events took place in 2001, as follows:
May 5 -
Robert O. Pickard Environmental Centre
June 9 - Lansdowne Park
September
15 - Lansdowne Park
October
13 - Maple Grove Road
October
27 - Robert O. Pickard Environmental
Centre
A total of 6,554 vehicles attended the five one-day
events in 2001, compared to 6,719 vehicles in the year 2000, and 6,405 vehicles
in 1999. A breakdown of the materials
and quantities of household special waste collected in 2001 is provided in
Attachment A. The set-up for all
five events typically consisted of three to four tractor trailers, a truck to
collect the bulked oil, and a forklift.
The City of Ottawa and contractor staff complement attending each event
numbered from thirty to fifty.
The total cost for the five events was approximately $264,000. These costs included all staff and equipment required to receive, process, transport and dispose/recycle the household special waste. Not included in the cost was the City staff time to supervise the events and the advertising costs. Advertising costs have been somewhat reduced because the mobile events are now published in the annual collection calendar.
Mobile Depot Events Planned for 2002
To date, three east-end
mobile events have been planned and advertised in the annual 2002 waste
collection calendar that is distributed to every household in the City of
Ottawa. No events have been set for
locations other than the northeast and central eastern end of the City, as part
of a strategy to return to the original Regional Council approved direction and
to re-focus the mobile depot program to provide a level of service in the
eastern part of the City, with the permanent depot at the Trail Waste Facility
serving the west end. The Department's
2002 budget funding of $250,000 is sufficient to hold only four or five
events. To maximize this investment in
the program, it is important to locate events where highest capture rates will
be realized. The main purpose of the
HSW depot program is to provide the public with an "upstream"
solution for disposal of special/hazardous wastes.
It is important to note that
the mobile depot locations can also directly affect the quantity of material
received. For example, last year the
quantity of materials collected was lowest at the event held at Maple Grove in
the former City of Kanata (see Attachment A).
This event was the one held in the closest proximity to the permanent
depot at the Trail Waste Facility. It
is possible that many residents in that geographic area utilize the permanent
waste facility, which is open any Saturday, rather than attend the one-day
special event. The number of vehicles
and the capture rates also directly affect the cost efficiency of an event.
There are other considerations when choosing mobile depot locations, including the ability to ensure public safety via adequate material handling space, proper spills containment, ability to adequately manage the traffic flow to ensure that there is no blockage or congestion on main roads, and to provide a traffic configuration to allow for safe entry and exit of upwards of one thousand vehicles. Another requirement is that every site used for depot purposes must be registered and approved in advance by the Ministry of the Environment (MOE). This year, as a result of the recent strike that affected MOE workers and created a backlog at that agency, City staff has focused on sites that have already been licensed, to assure legal access.
The dates and locations of
the three mobile events presently confirmed for 2002 are:
June
8 - Robert O. Pickard
Environmental Centre
September 14 -
Robert O. Pickard Environmental Centre
October 5 - Drain-all Environmental Services, 2705
Stevenage Road (between Hawthorne and Russell Road, south of Walkley).
The event at the Drain-All
facility may result in cost savings from reductions in set-up requirements,
double handling of materials, and staff time.
The event will serve as a pilot to assess future suitability in terms of
cost effectiveness and also suitability from a traffic flow perspective, as
traffic back-ups and resulting safety concerns have occurred at some locations
in the past. No event is planned for
Lansdowne Park due to scheduling conflicts with the Canadian Football League
and the facility's other priority bookings.
This site has also been problematic from a traffic management
perspective, causes some concern to Bank Street small businesses, and it also
does not draw residents from the eastern part of the City of Ottawa.
It is possible to schedule
one additional mobile event for 2002; however, the results and analysis of the
Drain-all site pilot event may affect the choice of location. The dates and sites for any additional
events, therefore, have yet to be determined.
Another possibility being investigated by staff is a late fall event
that would include an emphasis on computer take-back, in partnership with other
agencies. If held, this event would
require special attention, as two lanes of traffic to the location would have
to be accommodated. A past pilot at Lansdowne
Park concluded that it is not a suitable site for this type of event, as
vehicle line-ups and traffic-flow constraints were problematic. While our goal is to keep the average
wait-time per vehicle to twenty minutes or less, traffic snarls can cause an
increase in wait time, and result in frustration for members of the public.
Program Name Change
The current Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) Certificate of Approval (C of A) for the City of Ottawa already reads Household Hazardous Waste facility; therefore, there is no legal requirement regarding the name change on our C of A.
The name change issue is one of public perception, as specific definitions of hazardous wastes are anticipated to change in the near future. Currently, there is a Canadian Standards Association (CSA) working group developing new and "clearer" definitions for HHW products for the Province. It is expected that some new hazardous waste categories may result from this effort. The Association of Municipal Recycling Co-ordinators, of which the City of Ottawa is a member, will review the CSA's draft report. The anticipated noticeable change to be seen in the future is in the maps and calendars distributed to the public, as they will refer to the City’s Household Hazardous Waste program and depots, rather than Household Special Waste programs.
“Take it Back!”
It should be noted that the City of Ottawa’s product
stewardship program, “Take it Back!” (TIB) also handles many of the
materials that are commonly received at the permanent and mobile depot, see
Attachment A. In the future, staff will
focus on auditing the TIB partners to better quantify the capture rate from
this program, and continue to raise public awareness and support for the TIB
program. In addition, the TIB program
offers the public more local, convenient locations for
many materials as well as extended hours compared to the mobile depots or the permanent
depot. In addition to customer
convenience, a key goal of the TIB program is to save costs to the City by avoiding
the double handling of many of the more "benign" materials, and
increasing cost efficiency at the permanent and mobile depots.
The mobile depot program continues to be an
important part of the City’s environmental protection program infrastructure. With the budget allowing for a maximum of
five mobile events, the locations must be strategically chosen to ensure
highest possible capture rates and focus on offering a level of service to the
residents of the east end, as the permanent depot serves the west end of the
City.
In general, public participation and support for the
mobile depots, permanent depot, and the “Take It Back!” program is high
and increasing.
The efficient capture of hazardous material is the key to the City of Ottawa’s ability to offer an "upstream" solution to many current environmental issues. The HSW program is a prevention program with the goal of ensuring that appropriate mechanisms for disposal of hazardous materials are available to the public. In addition, it works in tandem with the City of Ottawa’s sewer-use program, as part of our environmental protection infrastructure. Material that is not captured via proper City disposal options is likely to find its way down the drain or into a storm sewer, and may adversely impact the wastewater plant and ultimately our biosolids, and our local rivers.
As of 01 January 2002, several changes affecting
Waste Generators, as defined in Ontario Regulation 347, came into effect. Some of these changes affect the Household
Special Waste depot program operations.
All Generators are now required to register annually before 15 February,
and fees are charged for registration, manifests, and per tonne of waste
shipped. Fortunately, municipal
household waste depots are exempt from paying these fees. Along with these changes, comes the advent
of the Hazardous Waste Information Network (HWIN). The network is a web-based system that allows generators,
carriers, and receivers to register their activities online with the Ministry
of the Environment. The HWIN also
enables and requires users to create and to process electronic manifests over
the web. Using this system, contractors
hired by the City of Ottawa will be able to enter the appropriate manifest
information online, potentially saving City staff data entry work. Staff working at the Household Special Waste
depot can then simply review the documentation and sign off on it or reject it,
accordingly. As a result, there may be
some ability to realize cost savings by working at the contractor’s location,
because of this new provincial policy.
The program is open to all residents of the City of
Ottawa.
The 3R’s Strategy originally identified the requirement of a HSW/HHW
program, and also the need for a level of service to the east end residents.
Mobile Household Special Waste depot funds of
$250,000 are available in Capital budget Account 900349.
Attachment A – Type and Quantify of Materials Collected at the Mobile Events
Staff of the Transportation, Utilities and Public
Works Department will proceed with the implementation of the report
recommendations.
ATTACHMENT A
Type and Quantity of Materials Collected at the Events
|
MATERIAL DESCRIPTION |
UNIT TYPE |
May 5 ROPEC 2001 |
June 9 Lansdowne Park 2001 |
Sept. 15 Lansdowne Park 2001 |
Oct. 13 Maple Grove 2001 |
Oct. 27 ROPEC 2001 |
Total Year |
|
Waste Paint |
m3 |
53 |
95 |
83 |
30 |
51 |
312 |
|
Waste Flammable Liquids |
lab pk |
122 |
249 |
217 |
94 |
166 |
848 |
|
Waste Acids |
lab pk |
3 |
4 |
7 |
5 |
4 |
23 |
|
Waste Bases |
lab pk |
6 |
8 |
13 |
4 |
8 |
39 |
|
Waste Oxidizers |
lab pk |
9 |
4 |
7 |
2 |
8 |
30 |
|
Waste Aerosols |
lab pk |
14 |
26 |
25 |
10 |
17 |
92 |
|
*Waste Pesticides |
lab pk |
12 |
25 |
28 |
9 |
21 |
95 |
|
*Waste Pharmaceuticals |
lab pk |
1 |
3 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
10 |
|
*Waste Dry Cell Batteries |
lab pk |
3 |
7 |
7 |
3 |
5 |
25 |
|
*Waste Oil |
litres |
2732 |
2500 |
3182 |
2792 |
4750 |
15,956 |
|
*Lead Acid Batteries |
battery |
156 |
184 |
140 |
176 |
125 |
781 |
|
*Waste Antifreeze |
litres |
410 |
615 |
1025 |
410 |
615 |
3075 |
|
*Waste Gasoline |
litres |
615 |
615 |
410 |
615 |
820 |
3075 |