Only about 45 per cent of recyclable items from households across Ontario ever make it to waste recovery plants. More than half of municipal garbage goes to landfills instead.
But if households started recycling more, municipalities could strike deals with a new breed of entrepreneurs who understand that garbage equals dollars.
BFI Canada’s Bracebridge branch collects Muskoka’s municipal waste but it also picks up its recyclable materials and turns them into cash.
Paul Wills, division manager for BFI Canada, said collected recyclables are trucked to a facility in Bracebridge where they are sorted, processed and sold.
“Everything we sell goes back to the manufacturing of a product,” said Wills. “There are all sorts of stuff you buy every day that is made of recycled plastic.”
Fibers also get revamped into a number of different products such as newsprint, boxboard and even the backs of roofing shingles, he said.
The company has a contract with the District Municipality of Muskoka to collect waste and recyclables. About 70 per cent of the revenue from processed recyclables goes back to the district.
Last year the district saw about $500,000 in revenue from the sale of processed recyclables, which it used to offset the cost of its waste management program, according to staff.
The North American waste stream contains about $8 to $10 billion worth of valuables, said Wes Muir of Waste Management Canada, a private recycling and disposal company.
A major challenge for municipalities is finding markets for recyclable materials.
“Recycling has been around for three decades, but the problem is that end markets have not been established for many materials,” said Muir.
Thirty to 40 per cent of North American recycled materials are going to China, India and South America, where demand is growing.
But where processed recyclables go depends on the market, said Wills.
Source: Cottagecountrynow.ca