Public works for green jobs

When it comes to waste management, public sector reinvestment is a planet-friendly solution.

With landfill sites quickly filling, and some cities exporting their garbage, municipal governments are turning to a more environmentally sustainable and cost effective plan – wet/dry recycling.

Pioneered in Guelph, Ontario, the expanded recycling program diverts nearly 60 per cent of garbage from the city landfill. Households separate their garbage into wet and dry materials. The wet materials include food waste, diapers, dryer lint and pet feces. Dry materials include paper, cans, glass, plastic, clothes, shoes and styrofoam.

The Guelph recycling program, operated by members of CUPE 241, will save the city money over the long haul, extending the life of an existing landfill and avoiding the high cost of trucking garbage long distances or building a new landfill. Toronto municipal employees are working with the city to implement a similar program.

"Wet/dry recycling will save the city $600 million in waste export costs over the next 20 years, as well as recovering $65 million in reusable materials each year," says CUPE 416 president Brian Cochrane.

The local’s plan, developed with environmental consultants, would divert 75 per cent of garbage and yard waste from landfills through a combination of recycling and composting. The publicly owned and operated program will create 900 jobs in the city. Quicker and more efficient pickups mean collection vehicles will burn less fuel and spend less time on busy city streets sorting materials at the curb. The Toronto plan relies on public financing, with its lower rate of interest than private sector borrowing.

Public investment in wet/dry recycling, popular in Europe for many years, is catching on in North America, with plans running on a trial or full-scale basis in Truro, Nova Scotia, Northumberland County, Ontario and several U.S. cities.