Category Archives: Waste management

06.19.10
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Council set to strip Alma College of heritage designation

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Two years after Alma College was torched, the city is moving in for the kill.
When it sits Monday, council will consider a report from city clerk Wendell Graves that calls for repealing the heritage designation on the Moore Street property, in place since 1994.
In December of that year, the property and all key buildings were desginated under Part IV of the Ontario Heritage Act. The historical significance of the site is also recognized through a provincial plaque, which recently went missing.
This is all possible because in 2007 the city cut a deal with Alma Heritage Estates, owners of the former school for girls since 1998, which allowed the Zubick family of London, Ont., to demolish most of the college.
Under terms of that agreement, the designation bylaw would be repealed and most of the main building, except for a small portion of the facade and belfry tower, would be demolished.
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06.05.10
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A shift in behaviour or beware of the trash troopers

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You have been forewarned, a staff report to be reviewed Monday by St. Thomas council is designed to generate “a permanent shift in resident’s behaviour.”

Michelle Shannon, the city’s waste management coordinator, has submitted a draft version of a waste diversion and curbside collection bylaw designed to achieve the province’s 60% diversion target.

To do so, Shannon says the city “will need to utilize a combination of policy mechanisms and incentives to stimulate waste diversion and discourage excessive generation of garbage.”

Having read the report, the thing we see diverted most is cash from our wallets. And if anything is to be generated, it likely will be frustration.
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10.24.09
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Elgin trucking firm set to take on T.0.

ECL

A transport company that says Toronto is blowing $25 million by rejecting its bid to haul garbage is taking out ads to persuade councillors to accept what it’s offering.

The newspaper and radio ads will run Monday, the first day of a two-day session at which council will decide on awarding a 10-year contract to truck waste to the Green Lane landfill near St. Thomas, Ont.

The works committee has recommended awarding the contract to Verspeeten Cartage Ltd., which bid $132 million. That was after city staff had disqualified a bid from ECL Carriers, which said it could do the job for $107 million.

Gregory Rumble, who heads ECL’s parent company, Contrans Income Fund, says his firm should not have been rejected. “We feel we have been disqualified unfairly and it’s going to cost the taxpayers of the City of Toronto $25 million over the next 10 years. That’s a lot of money to be thrown to the side.”
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05.09.09
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Only city hall can alleviate condo owners’ concerns over double dipping

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Hardly a week goes by of late without some aspect of garbage collection or recycling muscling their way into headlines.
A particularly thorny issue for council is the so-called double-dipping faced by condominium owners and apartment tenants (although the solution is clearly a simple matter of will as is evident once you read further).
To shed light on this aspect of the municipal waste contract between the city and BFI Canada, this corner sat down with Bob McCaig, the former owner/operator of the Green Lane landfill site and provider of municipal garbage collection, but now just a concerned private citizen eager to provide insight.
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04.11.09
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City Scope update: You owe us an explanation, Joe and Steve

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In February, two levels of government doled out millions of dollars in Building Canada infrastructure funding and St. Thomas was shut out.
There was no shortage of cash to lavish on the rest of Elgin. In fact, Aylmer, Bayham, Dutton/Dunwich, Malahide, Southwold and the county itself hit paydirt on projects ranging from road and sewer maintenance to facility upgrades.
The exclusion of St. Thomas from the funding beneficiaries had council, city staff, Police Chief Bill Lynch and the rest of the St. Thomas Police Service scratching their heads.
You see the provincial and federal dollars were pegged for construction of a badly-needed police headquarters which, when completed, would have eased the burden somewhat on the strained courts that share the Colin McGregor Justice Building.
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04.08.09
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Trash, trains and Talbotville

Ian McCallum

Ian McCallum


Posted by Ian:
One year ago, on May 17, in the St. Thomas Times-Journal, I dedicated a considerable portion of my weekly City Scope column to an interesting speculative exercise. I am reprising that column, and a follow-up response from a key City of Toronto manager, in the belief there are new developments with the property in question located south of Talbotville. Here is the initial observation …

Three intriguing tales of trash, trains and Talbotville have entwined themselves over the past month to the point you would swear they spawned from the same source.
Follow carefully as City Scope sifts through the facts for a common thread.
As reported in yesterday’s T-J, the Green Lane Environmental Group, owned in part by Bob McCaig, sold its waste collection, recycling and materials recovery business to BFI Canada Inc., in a move effective May 1.
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04.04.09
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St. Thomas council noted for what it didn’t do

Ian McCallum

Ian McCallum


A body of elected representatives is most often judged by what it does. In the case of city council, one of its most prudent decisions to date this year was what it didn’t do.
Instead of endorsing a resolution from the Canadian Auto Workers which in part requires the purchase of municipal goods and services “with the highest possible level” of Canadian content, council sought input from city staff.
A wise decision.
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03.31.09
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Economic meltdown killing recycling

Posted by Ian:

St. Thomas has more than its share of waste management issues since BFI Canada took over the contract from Green Lane Environmental one year ago. Not the least of which is a strict adherance to how much in the way of recyclables are picked up each week in blue boxes and green composters. As a result the city’s diversion rate from landfill is dropping. Is this a forerunner of things to come during tough economic times as documented in The Business Insider?

Jay Yarow|Mar. 12, 2009, 9:21 AM|comment

The global economic meltdown and a shift in commodity prices are killing the market for recycled goods. A ton of copper scrap now sells for $3,000, down from more than $8,000 in 2007, tin now sells for $5 a pound, down from $300. Paper is down 80%, reports the New York Times. The prices of plastic bottles have fallen off a cliff too.

Recycling plants in the United States and China are facing massive losses. SA Recycling in the United States took a $10 million loss. China which imports more trash than anywhere in the world is now accepting less because it doesn’t make as much money from trash now. The result is that fewer items will be recycled, and more municipalities will cut back back on recycling programs once they start losing money on them.

03.29.09
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Fuel from waste coming soon

Motorists could soon be using fuel made from trash, including old tyres and plastic bottles, to power their cars, an alternative fuel expert says.

Wes Bolsen, from US company Coskata, said anything that included carbon could provide the basis of ethanol, an alternative fuel with the potential to cut the world’s reliance on petrol and slash greenhouse gas emissions.

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