Almost everyone is recycling and almost two thirds are composting in Nova Scotia

This is the message from a survey commissioned by the provincial Resource Recovery Fund Board in Nova Scotia, Canada.



The Association of Municipal Recycling Corodinators (AMRC) reports that the purpose of the survey, conducted last November, was to assess public opinions concerning the enhancement of existing waste management programmes and gather public comments on the direction of industry stewardship in Nova Scotia.



More than 700 Nova Scotians, over the age of 18 were randomly surveyed by a telephone poll. In addition, three focus group studies were held in Halifax, Kentville and Sydney.



Highlights from the survey are as follows:

96 per cent of Nova Scotians indicate they recycle

89 per cent find it either very or generally convenient to recycle

63 per cent indicate that they participate in composting programmes

83 per cent of those surveyed return their used beverage containers for a refund at the province’s

85 Enviro-Depots®

98 per cent feel that it is at least somewhat important that industry contributes to the management of its waste

83 per cent think government should regulate industry

30 per cent said they would prefer to pay a recycling or “eco-fee” at the cash register that is separate from the cost of the product purchased

95 per cent feel that industries such as fast food restaurants should be responsible for providing recycling and composting containers in their restaurants

Nova Scotia is widely lauded as a world leader in recycling because it diverted 50 per cent of solid waste from landfills in the year 2000. When 96 per cent recycle and 63 per cent compost, and this only delivers 50 per cent diversion, one can see that it is a major challenge to increase effective participation.



By the way, Nova Scotia reported recently that:

all municipalities in the province provide 100 per cent kerbside recycling and 75 per cent provide kerbside composting.

open burning of solid waste is no longer allowed in Nova Scotia.

more than 3,000 jobs in this province are related to solid waste-resource management. More than 1,000 of those jobs were created as a result of the Solid Waste-Resource Management Strategy

I am not too close to the statistics involved here, but the 1995 strategy for Nova Scotia (see http://www.gov.ns.ca/enla/emc/wasteman/swms.htm) declared that:



A goal of 50 percent diversion of solid waste by the year 2000 has been formally adopted in the new Environment Act. The best estimate for waste generation in Nova Scotia, using 1989 as a base year, is 623,000 tonnes per year. This means that over 311,000 tonnes per year must be diverted in just over four years.



This seems to peg diversion to a fixed tonnage from an earlier year. I may be mistaken, but this would suggest that diversion becomes easier using this formula with each passing year if waste arisings are growing. I would welcome opinions on this.



If you would like a copy of Status Report 2001 of Solid Waste-Resource Management in Nova Scotia Nova Scotia Too Good To Waste We Did It, and We’re Proud of it!, it is available from Nova Scotia’s website at:



http://www.gov.ns.ca/enla/emc/wasteman/status01.PDF