<B>Ontario Residential Paper Recovery Tops 50 Percent</B>

Over half of all the paper products ending up in Ontario homes are being recovered and recycled into new paper products, according to a report by the Paper & Paperboard Packaging Environmental Council, an Ontario-based association.

Within the paper group, the diversion rate for old newspapers is 72 percent. For old corrugated containers it is 40 percent, and for other paper, defined as boxboard and mixed fine papers, the diversion rate is 28 percent.

The amount of paper being recovered is gratifying but clearly can be boosted by greater promotion of recycling, user fees on garage, and the development of practical means of recovering paper from multi-family apartment buildings.

Virtually all of the used paper or board not currently being captured for recycling in Ontario could be recycled here, reducing the need for the mills to import used paper and board from elsewhere. That is the challenge. Increase the recovery, reduce the imports.

Of all the three segments of the residential waste stream, the recyclables stream is performing by far the best. Some 46 percent of the dry recyclables in the home are being captured through the “Blue Box” system.

The compostable or organics stream needs major attention – only 24 percent is being diverted – and the catchall category (other materials, which includes textiles, furniture, renovation waste, appliances, etc.) is even worse. Another factor to be considered is the volume of materials rather than their weight. It is the amount of space taken up in recycling trucks that largely drives municipal recycling costs, rather than the weight of materials. This was amply proven in a pioneering study that applied the activity-based costing approach to Ontario’s various curbside-recycling systems back in 1995.