Canada – City of Vaughan presses for 60% landfill diversion

We are always keen to spread the word on community initiatives wish push the limits of resource recovery or landfill diversion. We are grateful to the The Association of Municipal Recycling Coordinators (AMRC) in Ontario, Canada for bringing this case study to our attention.



Greening Vaughan pushes for 60%



The City of Vaughan has launched Greening Vaughan, a "comprehensive (multi-phased) waste reduction program" aimed at diverting waste from landfill.



The initiative offers Vaughan‘‘s 200,000+ residents increased recycling opportunities and an organic collection program using dedicated containers. Greening Vaughan mirrors Mission Green in Markham, which has seen diversion from landfill almost double from 35 to 66% since it expanded its blue box and added organics collection.





Phase 1 of Greening Vaughan, which is aiming to meet the provincial diversion goal of 60%, began in September. Not only has Vaughan increased the number of materials accepted in the blue box program, it has increased the collection frequency from every other week to weekly pick-up. New materials accepted include all plastic bottles, jugs and containers, aluminum pie plates and aluminum foil, empty aerosol cans and empty/dried out paint cans. Vaughan has also introduced a four-bag limit on waste. Additional bags require a special tag. The cost of those tags has yet to be determined. They will be offered at no charge during the first phase of the program. Collection remains as a weekly service for now, but will move to every other week in two years.

Phase 2 sees the introduction of weekly organics collection. That starts November 14, 2006.

Phase 3 of Greening Vaughan is currently scheduled for September 2007. At that point, garbage collection goes to every other week and the bag limit is reduced to three. "Greening Vaughan demonstrates the City‘‘s commitment to move towards environmentally responsible alternatives to our waste disposal crisis," said Mayor Michael Di Biase. "I encourage all residents to embrace this change as it unfolds over the next two years." "The introduction of the concept of bag limits is something the Region and the City of Vaughan have identified as a critical factor in driving program participation," said Regional Councillor Mario Ferri, and vice chair of the Region of York Waste Management Committee. "I am pleased that our city is taking a leadership role in this area."