Recycling and Solid Waste Management 2009 Report
Metro Vancouver Recycling and Solid Waste Management - 2009 Summary Page 1 Background Metro Vancouver is responsible for the planning and management of recycling and solid waste services for the region. This document provides a summary of recycling and solid waste management activities that took place in the year 2009. The data summarized in this report is gathered from multiple sources and compiled annually. Zero Waste Challenge The Metro Vancouver Board adopted the Zero Waste Challenge in 2007. Following the activities of the initial years, Metro Vancouver has launched the MetroVancouverRecycles.org website, assisted businesses to improve their waste diversion performance, developed communications resources to be shared with member municipalities, held regional forums on waste management and increased awareness through a holiday waste reduction campaign. Metro Vancouver had a presence at several trade shows, the Vancouver Landfill Open House, on radio shows, in print and web media, in school programming, and with the business community. In addition, Metro Vancouver worked with the private sector to establish a regional facility with 50,000 tonnes of food scraps composting capacity and continued work on construction wood waste and asphalt shingle diversion capacity. Metro Vancouver also implemented a single family residential food scraps recycling demonstration program in partnership with six member municipalities, performed a waste composition study, continued work on a multi-family waste diversion pilot, set up a pilot return-to-retail clean wood recycling depot with The Home Depot and developed a special events recycling program. New programs and initiatives to support the Zero Waste Challenge continue to be developed. One of the goals is to reach an overall recycling or diversion rate of 70% by the year 2015. Take-Back Programs - Extended Producer Responsibility Take-Back programs, also called Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) or product stewardship programs, are industry-managed programs designed to make industry fully responsible for management of goods throughout their life cycles. The concept of EPR is to hold producers and consumers liable for the costs of managing their products at end of life. Items that are managed through Take-Back (EPR) programs are banned from Metro Vancouver disposal facilities and are diverted before they enter Metro Vancouver s recycling and solid waste management system. However, the percentage of materials diverted from the system through Take-Back programs is dependant upon the number of materials or products targeted through the programs, how many exemptions are allowed, and ultimately, how many consumers use the programs.
Metro Vancouver Recycling and Solid Waste Management - 2009 Summary Page 2 2009 Recycling and Solid Waste Summary In 2009, 1,922,840 tonnes of materials were recycled and diverted from disposal in Metro Vancouver. This amounts to 57% of the waste materials generated in the region. The remaining 1,452,001 tonnes of solid waste were managed at waste-to-energy or disposal facilities operated by Metro Vancouver, the City of Vancouver or private businesses. Recycling and solid waste management may be categorized into three sectors: ; Light- Industrial, Commercial and Institutional (ICI); and Demolition, Landclearing and Construction (DLC). Garbage and recycling from single family residences are collected mostly by municipalities in dedicated vehicles. Therefore single family residential garbage and recycling percentages have a reasonably high degree of certainty. However, garbage from multi-family residences is usually mixed with garbage from ICI businesses, as they are typically collected in the same vehicles. Therefore multi-family residential garbage and recycling percentages are less certain, and should be considered approximate only. For this calendar year of 2009, the multi-family residential recycling rate was estimated to be about 16%. The following table presents recycling and solid waste quantities for each sector and Take-Back (EPR) programs. Table 1: 2009 Metro Vancouver Recycling and Solid Waste Quantities Waste Sector Recycling Rate (%) tonnes/capita 632,067 369,352 37% ~0.3 (reported) Population = 1,419,442 419,242 330,294 44% ~0.3 Multi (estimated) Population = 894,721 212,825 39,058 16% ~0.2 ICI (estimated) 576,972 399,761 41% DLC (reported) 242,962 1,029,616 81% Take-Back programs (reported) 124,110 1,452,001 1,922,840 57% ~0.6 Metro Vancouver s Recycling and Solid Waste Management System Metro Vancouver s integrated recycling and solid waste management system provides service to 21 member municipalities, and one Electoral Area. Waste from the City of Abbotsford, Thompson- Nicola Regional District, the Village of Cache Creek and the Village of Ashcroft is delivered to the Cache Creek Landfill, but is not tabulated in the Metro Vancouver Recycling and Solid Waste Quantities.
Metro Vancouver Recycling and Solid Waste Management - 2009 Summary Page 3 Recycling Municipalities provide recycling services for the sector, and some parts of the Multi-family and ICI sectors. Most Multi-, ICI and DLC recyclables are managed by the private sector. Take-Back (EPR) programs are also managed by the private sector. The following table presents the quantities and types of recyclables collected in 2009. Table 2: Estimated Quantities of Materials in Metro Vancouver in 2009 ICI DLC Take-Back Programs Material Type Fibre/Paper 110,699 194,726 1,549 306,974 Glass 14,145 86 57,749 71,980 Metal 21,926 6,337 20,360 7,781 56,404 Plastic 9,737 5,742 6,850 22,329 Yard Waste 164,894 106,850 271,744 Backyard Compost 36,338 36,338 Small Appliances and Electronics 7,277 7,277 Lead Acid Batteries 6,000 6,000 Tires 12,770 12,770 Concrete 471,335 471,335 Asphalt 285,368 285,368 Gypsum 10,840 4,874 82,781 98,496 Wood Waste 433 22 132,568 133,023 Household Hazardous Wastes 23,097 23,097 Other (bulky, wood, soil, polycoat, etc.) 341 81,123 37,204 1,038 119,705 369,352 399,761 1,029,616 124,110 1,922,840 Waste and ICI waste disposal is handled through the regional solid waste management system. In 2009, this system consisted of seven transfer stations and three disposal facilities. The three disposal facilities are Vancouver Landfill, Cache Creek Landfill and the Metro Vancouver Waste-to-Energy Facility in Burnaby. DLC waste is handled separately from the regional solid waste management system and is disposed at a private landfill, disposed at one of several other landfills not under Metro Vancouver jurisdiction, or used as an engineered construction material at the Vancouver Landfill. In 2009, the, ICI and DLC sectors in Metro Vancouver disposed of 1,452,001 tonnes of waste to the regional system and private disposal facilities.
Metro Vancouver Recycling and Solid Waste Management - 2009 Summary Page 4 Diversion Trend In 2009, Metro Vancouver residents, businesses and industry achieved an overall recycling or diversion rate of 57%. Figures 1 and 2, below, show changes in the regional diversion rate from all waste sectors; and the total per capita generation, disposal and recycling rates for the region since 1994, respectively. Table 3 shows Metro Vancouver s regional waste and recycling figures. Figure 1: Regional Diversion Rate for Waste from All Sectors 60% 55% Diversion Rate 50% 45% 40% 35% 30% 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 Year 1.8 1.6 Figure 2: Waste Generation, Disposal and Recycling Rates 1.4 1.2 1.0 0.8 0.6 0.4 0.2 0.0 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 Disposal Recycling Generation
Metro Vancouver Recycling and Solid Waste Management - 2009 Summary Page 5 Table 3: Metro Vancouver Regional Solid Waste and Recycling Figures Year Regional Population Generated Overall % Generate d 1994 1,732,567 2,663,581 1,025,921 1,680,750 38% 1.54 0.97 1995 1,784,656 2,561,858 1,032,095 1,529,763 40% 1.44 0.86 1996 1,906,492 2,419,323 1,058,441 1,360,882 44% 1.27 0.71 1997 1,954,523 2,589,044 1,131,958 1,457,086 44% 1.32 0.75 1998 1,984,743 2,609,913 1,261,680 1,348,233 48% 1.31 0.68 1999 2,013,201 2,618,538 1,151,130 1,467,408 44% 1.30 0.73 2000 2,041,399 2,657,076 1,183,611 1,473,465 44% 1.30 0.72 2001 2,073,662 2,851,208 1,418,489 1,432,719 50% 1.37 0.69 2002 2,102,244 2,903,894 1,470,445 1,433,449 51% 1.38 0.68 2003 2,128,965 2,775,455 1,414,390 1,361,065 51% 1.3 0.64 2004 2,153,998 3,072,702 1,595,999 1,476,703 52% 1.43 0.69 2005 2,188,573 3,245,796 1,701,414 1,544,382 52% 1.48 0.71 2006 2,218,026 3,434,617 1,794,613 1,640,004 52% 1.55 0.74 2007 2,251,887 3,598,142 1,980,751 1,617,391 55% 1.60 0.72 2008 2,273,095 3,366,123 1,866,892 1,499,231 55% 1.48 0.66 2009 2,314,163 3,374,840 1,922,840 1,452,001 57% 1.46 0.63 Table 4: Solid Waste and Recycling Figures Year Population Generated (tonnes % Generated 2006 1,389,809 778,629 336,577 442,052 43% 0.56 0.32 2007 1,399,185 783,878 352,455 431,423 45% 0.56 0.31 2008 1,409,040 741,783 324,093 417,690 44% 0.53 0.30 2009 1,419,442 749,536 330,294 419,242 44% 0.53 0.30 Acknowledgements Metro Vancouver acknowledges the contributions of its member municipalities, EPR Product Stewardship Associations, and the many private recycling and processing facilities for the data used to complete this report.