Karen Graham
Peterborough County is seeking input from municipalities including Cavan Monaghan to establish a modern and enforceable system to encourage more recycling of waste across the County. Cavan Monaghan’s performance in this area while improving marginally is still significantly below that of the County in general. In 2014, Cavan Monaghan managed to divert 40% of its garbage by weight to recycling programs, while the County as a whole achieved a 53% diversion rate. County administrators are now developing a program to encourage all member municipalities to achieve a 60% diversion target. They are developing consistent by-laws in all municipalities, improving communication regarding appropriate recycling content and will ensure municipalities have equal opportunities to recycle through the municipal services and facilities provided to their residents.
The options under consideration include establishing annual disposal allowances, alternate week recycling/garbage collection, utilization of clear bags for garbage disposal, curbside organic waste collection in strategic locations, and the promotion of backyard composting activities, among others.
On the table in the draft proposal is a system whereby the County Council would establish an “Annual Allowance of Disposed Materials” for each Township to facilitate their cost recovery from the townships. The County will use this allowance to recover costs associated with managing waste materials at the Peterborough County City Waste Management Facility. Each township will be charged fees for disposed materials each year based on previous annual tonnages received at the County disposal facility from each Township, and a fee per tonne of material exceeding the allowance will be charged back to recover their disposal costs. The proposed allowance is based on two garbage set-outs per household per week of collection and four commercial waste set-outs per week of collection. The township must submit their comments on the proposal to Peterborough County by January 29th, 2016.
Enthusiastic supporters of our local transfer station, aka the Cavan K-Mart, will be relieved to learn that the draft by-law submitted by the County includes a provision that each municipality shall provide at least one depot for residential reuse and/or participate in an annual Goods Exchange Day. The issue is on the agenda for the next Council meeting on December 14th.
