RCA & PAC Workshop June 18, 2018 · Calgary’sBlue Cart Program • Number of Single-Family Households Served by The City of Calgary’s Blue Cart Program (as of December of each

RCA & PAC Workshop

June 18, 2018

Background

• In 2015, Goal: 70% diversion of residential waste from City landfills by 2025.

• In 2009, we began the Blue Cart Recycling Program providing single-stream curbside recycling services to single family households up to 4-plexes.

• 240 L size carts are used and picked-up by side loader trucks.

• There are no excess materials accepted at the curb.

• There are currently 27 Community Recycling Depots (CRDs) located throughout the city.

© The City of Calgary. 2017. All Rights Reserved.

Calgary’s Blue Cart Program

• Number of Single-Family Households Served by The City of Calgary’s Blue Cart Program (as of December of each year)

YearNumber of Households with Blue Cart Service

Number of Households Added To Program Each

Year

2010 285,401

2011 290,862 5,462

2012 295,818 4,956

2013 301,025 5,207

2014 306,596 5,571

2015 312,670 6,075

2016 318,056 5,386

2017 321,732 3,675

V05


Tonnes of Residential Materials Recycled Through City of Calgary’s Blue Cart Program and CRDs (2004-2016)

34

,00

0

36

,00

0

40

,00

0

41

,00

0

18

94

0

10

81

3

12

97

7

11

70

5

11

25

3

11

11

9

10

74

3

89

41

80

64

36

74

6

58

07

3

56

25

4

56

87

7

52

93

5

52

48

2

53

51

8

49

81

6

48

28

4

0

10,000

20,000

30,000

40,000

50,000

60,000

70,000

80,000

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

Tonnes

Year

Blue Cart Recycling

CommunityRecycling Depots

Recycling Rates for Various Materials in The City of Calgary’s Residential Recycling

Program (2010 vs. 2013-2014)

91%

78%

71%

79%

29%

58%

89% 90%

73%70%

32%

42%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

ONP OCC Mixed Paper Glass Plastics Metal

2010 2013-2014


• Materials collected are sent to a third party Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) for processing and marketing

• Privately owned and operated by Cascades Recovery+

• Processing fee based on shipped/marketed material

• List of acceptable and unacceptable materials

• Specified Recovery Rates, yearly tonnages and contamination rates

Materials Recovery Facility (MRF)


• Calgary has experienced declining tonnages and in particular a decline in the kg/hh/year of recycled material.

• Since 2010, the largest decline in the tonnages of materials is from printed paper (newspapers, magazines, flyers) and paper packaging (cardboard and boxboard).

• Alberta’s high success in the beverage container deposit return program keeps most of these materials (glass, PET, milk jugs, aluminum cans) out of the Blue Cart Program.

Recycling Facts/Findings


• Increased Internet use, digital or electronic means lead to decrease in printed paper and increase in compact format

• Smaller household leads to decrease in traditional recyclable materials and increase in multi-layer packaging

• Busy lifestyles make convenience a priority that leads to increase take-out food

• Generally, there is an increase in lightweight packaging and new packaging designs

External Factors


One Tonne of Residential Recyclables –Weight vs. Volume (Ontario 2012)


• Convenience factor

• Compact

• Lightweight

• Non-traditional to Multi-layer

• New Designs

Packaging Challenges


• Limited market or no market

• Materials tend to crack and break during processing

• Manually sorting is expensive

• Materials cannot be sorted with the optical sorting technology

• Inconsistent recovery

• Materials contain residue

• Materials can contaminate other materials that are normally recyclable

MRF Challenges


• Cereal and cracker box liners

• Fruit & vegetable bags

• Bags for potato chips

• Wrappers for cheese slices, snack bars, instant noodles,

Crinkly Wrappers and Bags(not acceptable in the Blue Cart Program)



• Stand up food pouches for baby food and hand soap refills

• Frozen food pouches for beef jerkies, dried fruits

• Zipper locked for frozen foods like berries, vegetables, prawns

Flexible Pouch – Stand-up and Zipper Lock

(not acceptable in the Blue Cart Program)



• Net bags for oranges, onions, avocados, lemons and limes

• Woven plastic bags for rice

Woven and Net Plastic Bags(not acceptable in the Blue Cart Program)



• Toy, electronic and small household good packaging

• Food trays with dividers like cookie trays or take out containers

• Clear plastic bakery packaging

Clamshell and Moulded Packaging



• Foam coffee cups

• Foam plates and take-out containers

• Foam meat trays (and absorbent pads)

• Shipping materials such as foam blocks and peanuts

Extruded Polystyrene(not acceptable in the Blue Cart Program)


Spiral Wound Containers(not acceptable in the Blue Cart Program)


Single Serve Coffee Pods(not acceptable in the Blue Cart Program)



Loose Plastic Bags(not acceptable in the Blue Cart Program

• Plastics have the lowest recycling rate

• Confusing for consumers how to recycle

• Cannot be sorted out or inconsistent recovery rate at the recycling facility

• Markets are non-existent or criteria for quality standard are high

Conclusions


Discussion, so what now? . . .

• Maximize recyclable materials e.g. use of different materials

• Explore opportunities to recycle new materials

• Recycle at select drop off locations

• Improvement in optical sorting technology

• Industry standard

• Producers – ways to recycle product


V05

Thank You!


Carlson Yepes

Email:[email protected]

Phone: 403-268-9924

Documents

RCA & PAC Workshop June 18, 2018 · Calgary’sBlue Cart Program • Number of Single-Family Households Served by The City of Calgary’s Blue Cart Program (as of December of each