Waste Watch
Encyclopedia
The Island Waste Management Corporation (IWMC) is a Canadian
provincial Crown corporation operated by the Government of Prince Edward Island
.
Headquartered in Charlottetown, IWMC is responsible for collecting and disposing of solid waste in the entire province.
Faced with ever-increasing amounts of solid waste
heading to antiquated, poorly-designed community landfills across the province during the 1980s, the provincial government conceived its Waste Watch program in the early 1990s with the eventual goal being to standardize the collection and disposal of waste, while closing all small community landfill
s. IWMC was established to administer and provide solid waste management services throughout the province. The company sub-contracts the collection and disposal services and collects an annual fee for its operations through provincial property taxes for both residential and commercial properties.
Implementation of the program began in Prince County
, eventually being expanded by the late 1990s and early 2000s to the entire province once adequate waste handling facilities were constructed.
IWMC provides every property owner and tenant in the province with 2 standardized carts (there are 3 sizes available) - 1 black cart for non-recyclable and non-compostable material, and 1 green cart for compostable material. Each rugged wheeled plastic cart has an identification number assigned to each property or tenant with GPS
-enabled tracking chips embedded into the plastic to enable tracking should a cart go missing. Waste disposal fees are collected through province-wide property tax assessments and provide IWMC with revenue to operate its collection and disposal programs.
In addition to the green compost and black waste bins, all recyclables must be source separated by property owners and placed in clear plastic recycling bags.
IWMC has contracted Superior Sanitation, a Charlottetown-based waste hauling company, to provide all waste collection services with a fleet of waste collection vehicle
s.
IWMC has contracted ADI Engineering, a Fredericton, New Brunswick
-based engineering and consulting firm, to operate its central composting plant.
Waste collected in black bins which is safe for incineration is incinerated at the Tri-Gen energy-from-waste plant in Charlottetown and ashes are buried in a modern landfill outside Charlottetown.
Construction and demolition debris is collected and hauled by approved contractors who dispose of the material in approved pits, pending removal of recyclable material. IWMC's Waste Watch program does not currently have the ability to handle e-waste.
Since the introduction of Waste Watch, Prince Edward Island has become a leader among Canadian provinces in the source separation
of waste and diversion of waste from landfills, largely explained by the province's small geography which is comparable to many large counties and municipalities.
Compost from biodegradable waste
collection is sold to garden supply distribution chains and recyclables are sold to recycling firms in central Canada and the northeastern United States.
The Waste Watch program is mandatory and property owners or tenants who refuse to separate waste do not have it collected (or in some extreme cases are fined).
The complete Waste Watch program has been in operation since July 1, 2002 and the recycling program has been in use since July 1, 2000. The Waste Watch program has diverted 64-66% of the Island's waste to either compost or recycling.
*For more than two decades, carbonated beverages in PEI were sold in reusable glass bottles redeemable at local grocery and convenience stores. However, after May 3, 2008 it will once again be legal to sell carbonated beverages in cans. Canned beer
was banned in 1976 but the ban was expected to be lifted as early as mid-2007.
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
provincial Crown corporation operated by the Government of Prince Edward Island
Government of Prince Edward Island
The Government of Prince Edward Island refers to the provincial government of the province of Prince Edward Island. Its powers and structure are set out in the Constitution Act, 1867....
.
Headquartered in Charlottetown, IWMC is responsible for collecting and disposing of solid waste in the entire province.
Faced with ever-increasing amounts of solid waste
Waste
Waste is unwanted or useless materials. In biology, waste is any of the many unwanted substances or toxins that are expelled from living organisms, metabolic waste; such as urea, sweat or feces. Litter is waste which has been disposed of improperly...
heading to antiquated, poorly-designed community landfills across the province during the 1980s, the provincial government conceived its Waste Watch program in the early 1990s with the eventual goal being to standardize the collection and disposal of waste, while closing all small community landfill
Landfill
A landfill site , is a site for the disposal of waste materials by burial and is the oldest form of waste treatment...
s. IWMC was established to administer and provide solid waste management services throughout the province. The company sub-contracts the collection and disposal services and collects an annual fee for its operations through provincial property taxes for both residential and commercial properties.
Waste Watch
IWMC operates and maintains the Waste Watch program, a 3-stream source separation based waste management system implemented across the entire province.Implementation of the program began in Prince County
Prince County, Prince Edward Island
Prince County, is located in western Prince Edward Island, Canada. The county's defining geographic feature is Malpeque Bay, a sub-basin of the Gulf of St...
, eventually being expanded by the late 1990s and early 2000s to the entire province once adequate waste handling facilities were constructed.
IWMC provides every property owner and tenant in the province with 2 standardized carts (there are 3 sizes available) - 1 black cart for non-recyclable and non-compostable material, and 1 green cart for compostable material. Each rugged wheeled plastic cart has an identification number assigned to each property or tenant with GPS
Global Positioning System
The Global Positioning System is a space-based global navigation satellite system that provides location and time information in all weather, anywhere on or near the Earth, where there is an unobstructed line of sight to four or more GPS satellites...
-enabled tracking chips embedded into the plastic to enable tracking should a cart go missing. Waste disposal fees are collected through province-wide property tax assessments and provide IWMC with revenue to operate its collection and disposal programs.
In addition to the green compost and black waste bins, all recyclables must be source separated by property owners and placed in clear plastic recycling bags.
IWMC has contracted Superior Sanitation, a Charlottetown-based waste hauling company, to provide all waste collection services with a fleet of waste collection vehicle
Waste collection vehicle
Garbage truck refers to a truck specially designed to collect small quantities of waste and haul the collected waste to a solid waste treatment facility. Other common names for this type of truck include trash truck and dump truck in the United States, and bin wagon, dustcart, dustbin lorry, bin...
s.
IWMC has contracted ADI Engineering, a Fredericton, New Brunswick
Fredericton, New Brunswick
Fredericton is the capital of the Canadian province of New Brunswick, by virtue of the provincial parliament which sits there. An important cultural, artistic, and educational centre for the province, Fredericton is home to two universities and cultural institutions such as the Beaverbrook Art...
-based engineering and consulting firm, to operate its central composting plant.
Waste collected in black bins which is safe for incineration is incinerated at the Tri-Gen energy-from-waste plant in Charlottetown and ashes are buried in a modern landfill outside Charlottetown.
Construction and demolition debris is collected and hauled by approved contractors who dispose of the material in approved pits, pending removal of recyclable material. IWMC's Waste Watch program does not currently have the ability to handle e-waste.
Since the introduction of Waste Watch, Prince Edward Island has become a leader among Canadian provinces in the source separation
Source separation
Source separation problems in digital signal processing are those in which several signals have been mixed together and the objective is to find out what the original signals were. The classical example is the "cocktail party problem", where a number of people are talking simultaneously in a room ,...
of waste and diversion of waste from landfills, largely explained by the province's small geography which is comparable to many large counties and municipalities.
Compost from biodegradable waste
Biodegradable waste
Biodegradable waste is a type of waste, typically originating from plant or animal sources, which may be degraded by other living organisms. Waste that cannot be broken down by other living organisms are called non-biodegradable....
collection is sold to garden supply distribution chains and recyclables are sold to recycling firms in central Canada and the northeastern United States.
The Waste Watch program is mandatory and property owners or tenants who refuse to separate waste do not have it collected (or in some extreme cases are fined).
The complete Waste Watch program has been in operation since July 1, 2002 and the recycling program has been in use since July 1, 2000. The Waste Watch program has diverted 64-66% of the Island's waste to either compost or recycling.
Waste Watch separation rules
- Waste: includes anything that cannot be composted or recycled (e.g.: #6 and #7 plastic).
- Compost: includes anything from the ground. Any human waste, any food scraps, any wet paper/cardboard, plant matter. e.g.: toenail clippings, leftover food scraps, grass, plants, leaves.
- Recycling #1: any paper products (e.g.: newsprintNewsprintNewsprint is a low-cost, non-archival paper most commonly used to print newspapers, and other publications and advertising material. It usually has an off-white cast and distinctive feel. It is designed for use in printing presses that employ a long web of paper rather than individual sheets of...
, looseleaf. - Recycling #2: any plastic products or metals (including tinTinTin is a chemical element with the symbol Sn and atomic number 50. It is a main group metal in group 14 of the periodic table. Tin shows chemical similarity to both neighboring group 14 elements, germanium and lead and has two possible oxidation states, +2 and the slightly more stable +4...
and aluminiumAluminiumAluminium or aluminum is a silvery white member of the boron group of chemical elements. It has the symbol Al, and its atomic number is 13. It is not soluble in water under normal circumstances....
). On the bottom of most bottles and plastic containers is a number code surrounded by a recycling emblem, ranging from 1-7, permitting these plastic items to be recyclable.*
*For more than two decades, carbonated beverages in PEI were sold in reusable glass bottles redeemable at local grocery and convenience stores. However, after May 3, 2008 it will once again be legal to sell carbonated beverages in cans. Canned beer
Beer
Beer is the world's most widely consumed andprobably oldest alcoholic beverage; it is the third most popular drink overall, after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of sugars, mainly derived from malted cereal grains, most commonly malted barley and malted wheat...
was banned in 1976 but the ban was expected to be lifted as early as mid-2007.