Mayor's Report - January 1998

An operations analysis of the compactor and recycling facilities for 1997 has again provided some very interesting statistics. Last year Belcarra residents generated 340,626 pounds (170.3 tons) of refuse and 154,484 pounds (77.2 tons) of recyclables. This is a total waste stream of 495,110 pounds (247.6 tons), which equates to 1,875 pounds per household in 1997! Further analysis shows that it cost $97 per ton to transport and dispose of the refuse and only $34 per ton to transport and process the recyclables (down from $38 per ton in 1996 and $104 per ton in 1993).

The proportion of waste recycled in 1997 accounted for 31.2% of Belcarra's total waste stream, which is an increase from the 27.7% recycled in 1996. It is encouraging to see the increase in the amount of waste being diverted to recycling as this lowers the total cost of waste disposal for Belcarra.

When Belcarra's recycling program began in 1990, processing recyclables actually cost a "premium" over garbage disposal costs. However, by the start of 1994, the cost of processing recyclables had decreased to $69 per ton, the same cost as the "tip fee" at the regional land fills. In October of 1994, the company that processes Belcarra's recyclables, Environmental Technologies Limited (ETL), reduced their processing charge from $69 per ton to $50 per ton. That was the "turning point". But the big news occurred in May of 1995 when ETL advised that they would pay $1.25 per ton for recyclables. This means that recycling saves the community $66 per ton!

During 1997, Belcarra residents recycled 31% of their total waste stream (see graph below). While this is commendable, we must achieve further increases in the percentage diverted to recycling if we want to appreciably reduce our volume of garbage and control garbage disposal costs in the future. In addition, if we want to achieve the provincial recycling target of 50%, then we must do much more. We can only improve our recycling effort with the total involvement and support of the users of the system, that is, the residents of Belcarra.

The cost of garbage disposal will continue to increase in the coming years, and there will be an increased price to pay if we don't continue to Reduce, Reuse, Recycle!

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