City report suggests delaying garbage-reduction goals for five years
The City of Calgary's goal to divert 70 per cent less garbage to landfills by 2020 is too ambitious, says a new report, which also floats the idea of burning garbage for fuel.
The report, going before a committee today, recommends extending the deadline by five years. The original target was to divert 80 per cent of Calgary's waste away from landfills, but that was reduced in April.
Dick Ebersohn, a City of Calgary waste services planner and author of the report, said these targets were set in 2007, two years before the blue recycling carts were established for single-family dwellings.
"It was important to set those goals, but as the city begins to understand what's in our garbage and technology changes, we want to move from ambitious to attainable," Ebersohn said. "We are still set on achieving this target set out in 2007 but we want to delay it by five years."
Since the city rolled out its blue cart recycling program for single-family dwellings in 2009, the city is watching new technologies and learning what people are recycling. It is using that information to formulate the future recycling plans.
Waste-to-energy facilities
That could include building a waste-to-energy facility, says Ebersohn. According to the report, 10 per cent of the city's garbage could be burned and used for fuel. But only specific materials, such as sanitary products, diapers or contaminated wood are usable.
"We want to take fewer of those materials to the landfills so that at the very least we don't have to have such huge waste-to-energy facilities," said Ebersohn.
The city is looking at best practices from other cities that use waste-to-energy facilities but still minimize green house gas emissions. "We don't want to go down the path where we harm our environment."
Meanwhile, the city plans to introduce the green cart composting program to single-family dwellings in 2017. Green carts take yard and food waste. Edmonton and Toronto already have a composting programs.
The city is building a composting facility which is expected to open in 2017.
