Niagara Region’s Move to Drive More of Us to Recycle Reaps Dividends for Environment

Organics and recycling up one year after change to every-other-week curbside collection

“We are making our communities a better place for today and for future generations by using our Green Bins, recycling properly and minimizing the amount of garbage we put at the curb.

Thank you to everyone for doing their part and let’s keep improving our use of the Green Bin and Blue and Grey Box.”                                         – Jim Bradley, Niagara Regional Chair

News from Niagara, Ontario’s Regional Government, with a Foreword from Doug Draper at Niagara At Large

Posted October 21^st, 2021 on Niagara At Large

A Foreword by Niagara At Large reporter and publisher Doug Draper –

One year after Niagara’s Regional Government reduced the amount of garbage a householder could leave at curbside to one container every other week, the move is already working green magic

During a media event at Niagara Region’s Glenridge Naturalization Site this October 21^st  –  called to celebrate the first anniversary of every-other-week garbage collection – Niagara’s Regional Chair Jim Bradley and other regional representatives announced double-digit increases in the volumes of waste residents are now putting in their green compost bins and recycling boxes.

It has been enough to divert or  reduce  the amount of waste going to landfill sites, or what we once called garbage dumps, just as significantly.

“I want to thank Niagara for their increased participation in recycling and usage of the Green Bin,” said Catherine Habermebl, Director of the Region’s Waste Management Services at the first anniversary event.” It is great to see the progress so far and we want to continue to increase Niagara’s waste diversion rate.

It didn’t really seem all that long ago – that’s if you consider the 1980s not that long ago – that householders across Niagara and just about every region of Ontario could put as many bags of garbage we wanted to out at the curb.

Once a year, the regional government and local municipalities also let residents across Niagara place as much other unwanted items from their homes at curbside for a trip to landfills that, even then, were rapidly running out of space.

Then in the mid-to-late 1980s, Blue Box recycling came along and then-Ontario Environment Minister Jim Bradley and the Liberal government of the day worked aggressively to fund it and make it grow.

A decade later, municipal governments, including Niagara Region, began placing limits on the number of garbage bags householders could place at curbside. First it cut the number of bags to three per week, and later to one per week.

It was a decision that caused at least some residents to accuse Niagara and other municipal governments across Ontario that were implementing the same limits of reducing service and of ripping them off, to put it bluntly.

Yet it worked.

The less garbage householders were allowed to put out, the more recycling and composting they did, and the more space it saved in landfills that cost taxpayers tens-of-millions of dollars to replace.

Now here we are today with what we should all greet as some very good news from Niagara Regional representatives.

• Doug Draper, Niagara At Large

Here is the October 21^st News Release from Niagara’s Regional Government –

Niagara Region held a media event today (this October 21^st, 2021) at Glenridge Naturalization Site to celebrate the one-year anniversary of every-other-week garbage collection and acknowledge Niagara residents for their amazing work in increasing the use of the Green Bin.

Niagara residents are doing their part as Green Bin tonnage is up 24 per cent and garbage tonnage is down almost 16 per cent. Recycling tonnages have also increased by almost 8 per cent since the new collection changes came into place.

Niagara Region partnered with Land Care Niagara to secure a tree to plant at the end of today’s event to celebrate the milestone. Niagara residents have demonstrated their commitment to the environment through their diversion efforts. To recognize this, Niagara Region will contribute to Land Care Niagara’s rural tree planting and natural heritage programs. Through these programs, they plan to plant 20,000 trees in 2022.

Glenridge Quarry Naturalization Site, the venue for today’s event, operated as a municipal landfill site from 1976 to 2001. In the 1990s, it was decided that a naturalization site with a trail system would replace the landfill once it closed on Jan. 1, 2002.

Niagara Region launched the new curbside collection changes on Oct. 19, 2020, which saw the following collection changes for low-density residential properties:

* Recycling (Green Bin, Blue Box, Grey Box) collected every week

* Garbage collected every-other-week, with residents able to put out two bags/cans

The collection changes help to preserve landfill space by diverting organics, and other recyclables, help keep collection costs down, save our natural resources and reduce our impact on climate change. Niagara residents and businesses were informed of the pending changes through a communications campaign starting in summer 2020, which encouraged residents to Box It. Bin It. Sort It.

The new collection contract also split Niagara Region into two areas:

* GFL Environmental Inc. is the contractor for Collection Area One (Grimsby, Lincoln, Pelham, Thorold, Wainfleet and West Lincoln)

* Miller Waste Systems Inc. is the contractor for Collection Area Two (Fort Erie, Niagara Falls, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Port Colborne, St. Catharines andWelland.)

Visit the Niagara Region Waste Management website <http://www.niagararegion.ca/waste>for more information on programs and services or download the Niagara Region Waste app.

Quotes

“On behalf of Niagara Region staff and our partners in curbside collection, disposal and processing, I want to thank Niagara for their increased participation in recycling and usage of the Green Bin. It is great to see the progress so far and we want to continue to increase Niagara’s waste diversion rate. If you have questions about how to use your Green Bin, please check out the resources on the Niagara Region website, download the Waste Management app, or contact us.” ~ Catherine Habermebl, Director Waste Management Services

“The increase in our Green Bin usage and in our recycling program shows Niagara residents commitment to being environmentally oriented, which I always knew they were. We are making our communities a better place for today and for future generations by using our Green Bins, recycling properly and minimizing the amount of garbage we put at the curb. Thank you to everyone for doing their part and let’s keep improving our use of the Green Bin and Blue and Grey Box.” ~ Jim Bradley, Niagara Regional Chair

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