Winnipeg, MB - Winnipeggers are thinking green. In 2014, more waste was diverted from our landfill than ever before, a new landfill gas system helped to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in our community and recycling and garbage collection services saw significant improvements. These accomplishments and more are the result of the implementation of the City's Comprehensive Integrated Waste Management Strategy.
2014 was the second full year implementing the strategy and we are already seeing notable improvements in our ability to divert more from the landfill as well as the impact of new programs that benefit our community and the environment. In addition, there has been significant improvement in both contractor performance and customer adoption of the cart collection program.
Highlights of the 2014 Comprehensive Integrated Waste Management Strategy Annual Report (which will be received on April 14 by the Committee on Infrastructure Renewal and Public Works) include the following milestones:
- Diversion rate surpasses target - Winnipeg’s waste diversion rate for 2014 was 29.7%, surpassing the target diversion rate of 25%.
- Tonnes of yard waste composted - Almost 30,000 metric tonnes of yard waste was composted on the new nine-hectare compost pad, established in 2013. This represents a 28% increase over the full first year of curbside collection in 2013 and 3.5 times higher than the 2011 tonnage.
- Greenhouse gas reduction - In its first full year of operation, the new landfill gas system at the Brady Road Resource Management Facility captured and flared 109,740 tonnes of carbon dioxide. This is equivalent to avoiding the carbon dioxide emissions of 23,046 passenger cars.
- Improved collection service - There was a 47% reduction in reports to 311 of missed recycling, garbage and yard waste collection as compared to 2013.
- Abandoned waste declining - There was a 60% reduction in reports to 311 of abandoned garbage in 2014 as compared to 2013, demonstrating that changes to large item pickup offers improved customer service.
Also in 2014, a Request for Proposals was issued to develop an Organics Diversion Strategy which will identify a framework and potential options to manage all types of organic material that arrive at the Brady Road Resource Management Facility, including kitchen waste, leaf and yard waste, biosolids, landscaping waste, animal waste, and wood waste. Organics diversion programs will be necessary in order to reach the Comprehensive Integrated Waste Management Strategy’s goal of reducing residential waste by 50%.
As well, construction was completed on a new three-hectare pilot facility that will compost about 20% of the more than 50,000 tonnes of the nutrient-rich end product of sewage treatment (biosolids) produced each year at the City’s three sewage treatment plants. This pilot facility is expected to be operational in 2015 and produce over 300 cubic metres of compost per week for use as a final cover at the Brady Road Resource Management Facility.
The full 2014 Comprehensive Integrated Waste Management Strategy Annual Report is available here.