Unlimited Recycling and Organics for ICI and Mixed-Use Properties Outside Designated Business Areas

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1 Page 3 Unlimited and for ICI and Mixed-Use Properties Outside Designated Business Areas Detailed results of the implementation of unlimited recycling and organics curbside collection outside DBAs for ICI and Mixed-Use properties are outlined below. Schools and Regional/municipal facility results are reported separately below. RESULTS ICI and Mixed-Use Properties Staff reached out to the eligible 5,953 properties in Niagara region via multiple surveys to determine interest in the program and to invite property owners to contact Regional staff to purchase recycling and organics containers. These surveys were completed as follows: July 28, 2016 December 31, Hand-delivery to 2,196 properties in Niagara Falls, St. Catharines, Fort Erie, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Port Colborne, Thorold and Welland as a part of the 2016 Economic Development Survey. February A mail-out to remaining businesses and business owners in Niagara Falls, Welland, St. Catharines and Thorold that did not receive the handdelivered survey as part of the 2016 Economic Development Survey. May A mail-out to 1,180 businesses and plaza owners/managers across Niagara Region, including businesses who received the initial hand-delivered surveys but who did not respond, as well as businesses in Grimsby, Lincoln, West Lincoln, Fort Erie, Port Colborne, Niagara-on-the-Lake and Pelham who were not contacted in February One qualitative measurement of program uptake is based on container purchases. Beginning in May and continuing through July, a total of 403 carts, boxes and bins were distributed to 86 properties. It should be noted that new participants and those increasing diversion efforts are underrepresented as Niagara Region staff are unable to obtain a count of properties who simply purchased boxes/bins without specifically contacting the Region during the rollout. Although increased participation in the diversion programs and increased recovery of recycling and organics materials are two key program performance results, it is also critical to lower contamination to help maximize revenue from the sales of processed recyclables. New program participants were monitored to mitigate potential issues (such as contamination, set out location issues, etc.) and were also contacted via phone call follow-up to identify if any extra support was required to make the program a success.

2 Page 4 The majority of participants directly attributed to this rollout are in the ICI sector and are from St. Catharines, however new properties were added from all municipalities with the exception of Grimsby and Wainfleet. Table 1 summarizes the total number of known ICI properties (excluding schools and municipal/regional facilities) that participated in the rollout by cart program, number of carts/boxes/bins purchased, and existing/new participants. Table 1: ICI Program Participants (Cart-Based) ICI Properties Blue Blue Boxes Grey New to Program and Already Using Program and 73 Grey Boxes Bin (12 (32 ( Table 2 summarizes the total number of Mixed-Use properties that participated in the rollout by cart program, number of carts/boxes/bins purchased and existing/new participants.

3 Page 5 Table 2: Mixed-Use Program Participants (Cart-Based) Mixed- Use Properties Blue Blue Boxes Grey Grey Boxes New to Program and Already Using Program 4 Bin (12 (32 ( Some properties that initially indicated interest after receiving the survey ultimately did not choose to participate when contacted for the rollout. Identified reasons include the upfront costs required to purchase carts, eligibility (e.g. already using a private contractor for some services), cart size (the volume of cardboard waste necessitates front-end collection), and an unwillingness to store carts and/or place curbside. Prior to the rollout, Niagara Regional records indicated that 346 ICI and 40 Mixed-Use properties outside the DBA were participating in the Region s Cart collection program, and 19 ICI properties and 16 Mixed-Use properties outside the DBA were using the Cart collection program. As a result of this program rollout, outside the DBA over 2016 counts, staff have observed: An increase of 18% in Cart program participation rate in the ICI sector; An increase of 10% Cart program participation rate in the Mixed-use sector; An increase of 100% in Cart program participation rate in the ICI sector; An increase of 6% in Cart program participation rate in the Mixed-Use sector, all outside the DBA over In addition to the known increase in cart-based program participants, the properties who simply purchased boxes/bins without specifically contacting the Region during the rollout, may be captured by future curbside surveys.

4 Page 6 School Implementation In May 2017, all schools and school boards in Niagara region were contacted with an explanation of the service level changes and to solicit interest, especially in Niagara Region s organics program. Interested schools were contacted via phone-call starting in September 2017 and rollouts were staggered to accommodate a site visit and presentations at each school as required. Schools wishing to join Niagara Region s recycling program were encouraged to purchase Blue and Grey Boxes for collection within the classrooms, and Blue and Grey for curbside collection of the recyclables. Schools wishing to join Niagara Region s organics program were provided with free Kitchen Catchers for every organic waste generating room within their school (such as classrooms where students eat lunch and staff rooms). At schools where students do not eat in the classrooms, such as high schools, free Bins were provided in lieu of Kitchen Catchers to place in the cafeteria and other common areas. Schools were also encouraged to purchase Bins and/or for curbside collection of the organic waste. New promotional and educational materials were created as a part of the rollout, including French sorting posters, high school sorting posters and a recycling and organics best practices guide. Previously, only English elementary and daycare sorting posters were available. The recycling and organics best practices guide was created to provide schools with useful and practical tips for implementing and maintaining their recycling and organics programs. As of March 7, 2018, a total of 21 schools represented by the Conseil Scolaire Viamonde (CSV), District School Board of Niagara (DSBN), Niagara Catholic Districts School Board (NCDSB) and private schools expressed interest in joining or expanding Niagara Region s recycling and/or organics program, and a total of 18 schools received a site visit to help with program implementation. In total, 16 schools joined a new recycling and/or organics program while three schools expanded their already existing programs (see Table 3 below). It is important to note that the DSBN and CSV currently receive on-site collection of recyclables by Niagara. The NCDSB is currently in a recycling contract with a private company and they receive on-site collection so there was no interest from the NCDSB to switch recycling providers at this time.

5 Page 7 Table 3: School Participation by Program Type School Board Joined Expanded Joined Expanded CSV DSBN NCDSB Private Total A total of three (3) Grey were purchased as a part of the recycling program and a total of 17 and 15 Bins were purchased for the organics program. Additionally, 17 Bins and 211 Kitchen Catchers were provided to schools at no charge to help with the organics program implementation and expansion (see Table 4 below). Table 4: Containers Delivered by School Board School Board Blue Cart Purchased Grey Cart Purchased Cart Bin Purchased Bin Free Kitchen Catcher Free Purchased CSV DSBN NCDSB Private Total Prior to the rollout, there were a total of five (5) schools using Niagara Region s curbside recycling program and 33 schools participating in the organics program. To date, there has been a 20% increase in the rate of schools participating in Niagara Region s recycling program and a 45% increase in the rate of schools participating in Niagara Region s organics program over previous rates. Prior to the unlimited rollout, 1.9% of schools were participating in Niagara Region s recycling program, and 12.6% of schools were participating in the organics program. As a result of rollout, a total of 2.4% of schools are now participating in Niagara Region s recycling program and a total of 18.9% of schools are now participating in Niagara Region s organics program. This is in addition to the Niagara and private sector recycling programs already in place.

6 Page 8 Regional and Municipal Buildings Implementation Regional Locations To inform Regional staff of the change to collection limits, outreach to Regional properties corresponded with Keen on s corporate-wide Desk-side Waste Diversion Program implementation, whereby Regional staff are provided with a Deskside Grey Box for paper recycling, a small Caddy for food waste and other compostable waste and a mini-garbage container for the small amount of remaining waste. Keen on is an internal multi-departmental committee tasked with the goal to identify and implement initiatives to minimize waste and increase diversion at Regional facilities. By partnering with Keen on, staff saved on resources and engaged in face-to-face interactions to encourage participation in the Region s curbside recycling and organics programs and to address questions. For the Desk-side Waste Diversion Program implementation, all Regional properties were required to have a recycling and organics program and any buildings that were identified as not having a recycling and/or organics program were automatically added to the Region s curbside program if possible. There were a total of 71 Regional properties outside the DBA that were targeted for outreach as a part of the desk-side diversion program. As a direct result of this rollout, there were a total of five (5) Regional properties that joined the Region s recycling program and a total of 36 Regional properties that joined the Region s organics program. A total of 111 containers were provided to Regional properties as a part of the desk-side diversion program rollout free of charge. At the time of this report, the deskside rollout is still underway in 17 locations outside the DBA, which may result in additional Regional properties joining the curbside program and/or distribution of Grey, Blue or. Prior to the rollout of the unlimited program to Regional properties, 18 Regional properties were already using Niagara Region s recycling program and seven (7) were already using the organics program. As a result of the rollout, the participation rate of Regional facilities using Niagara Region s recycling program has increased by 29% and the number of Regional properties participating in the organics program has increased by five-fold (514%) over previous rates. Municipal Locations At the Public Works Officials meeting on December 12, 2017, information was provided on the increased level of service for municipal properties as part of the unlimited ICI curbside recycling and organics collection program. A letter was sent to each municipal Public Works Official to further detail the changes and provide them with directions on

7 Page 9 next steps to implement the Region s programs at any of their municipal facilities. In total, there are 237 eligible municipal properties. As of April 6, 2018, the City of Welland is the only municipality that has already started participating in Niagara Region s recycling program at select locations, but three other municipalities are expected to join this year for one or more properties. Due to minimal uptake from the local area municipalities, the increase in the number of municipal properties participating in the Region s recycling program is negligible. It should be noted, however, that municipalities have their own recycling contracts or other arrangements in place. Financial Implications The total program rollout cost for 2017 directly attributable to the ICI and Mixed-Use properties phase is $13,484. Costs were incurred through creation of promotion and educational material ($120), equipment costs such as vehicle and trailer rental for cart deliveries ($5,683), and outreach costs such as postage and printing for surveys ($7,681). The total program rollout cost for 2017 directly attributable to the schools phase of the rollout was $2,900. Of this, $1,767 was spent on promotional and educational items that were created for and used directly in the school unlimited rollout and $1,133 was spent to provide containers to schools. To support the Regional and municipal building component of the program, Niagara Region s Waste Management Services Division provided a total of $2,963 worth of containers to various Regional properties. By partnering with the Keen on team for the Regional component of the rollout, staff resourcing requirements were minimal. Municipalities purchase carts and containers at cost. Although there are ongoing program costs for collection and processing, the Region is preserving landfill capacity which could result in additional tipping fee revenues in future years. The 2017 annualized collection cost for unlimited recycling and organics outside the DBA is estimated to be $116,101 which includes integration of enhanced collection service costs for Welland and Port Colborne into base collection service costs. Based on the known count of ICI businesses, Mixed-Use properties and schools with program uptake, the 2017 per tonne processing cost and assumptions for tonnages based on an average of comparator municipalities, annualized organics processing costs are estimated to be $9,360.

8 Page 10 NEXT STEPS Implementation of the program will continue, with a focus on increasing participation and increasing recovery of recyclables and organic material. In order to accomplish this, a key step is continued targeted social marketing and outreach. For example, one planned activity is the ICI Recognition Program titled Rethink Your Waste at Your Workplace (highlighted in WMPSC-C , dated January 22, 2018). Engagement with schools is ongoing through presentations and creation of new promotional and educational material, such as a hardcopy item titled Tips for a Successful School Program highlighting the success story of the organics programs at Quaker Road Public School in Welland, and that includes feedback from students and staff in an interview format. Additionally, connections with external agencies such as Links for er Learning, a not-for-profit environmental organization that can help schools purchase containers as part of their Waste Free Schools program, were established during program rollout and should continue to be pursued and maintained. Next steps also comprise contact with the remaining 17 Regional facilities to be included in the final stage of the 2018 Desk-side Waste Diversion Program implementation. These properties are also potential curbside organics and recycling program participants. Finally, as a number of properties were not able to join the Region s recycling program based on volumes of cardboard generated, completion of a review regarding possible provision of Regionally-offered front-end cardboard collection outside DBAs will occur for the next collection contract.