As debate continues over whether dirty diapers, feminine sanitary products and plastic will be allowed in Ottawa’s organic waste facility, some major city garbage producers say they will not be using the Green Bin program at all when it starts next month.
The Ottawa Humane Society will not dispose of its pet waste and kitty litter using the new organic Green Bin program because they received no information or bins to dispose of these compostable items, says society spokesperson Tara Jackson.
“We get over 7,400 cats a year,” she says. “You can imagine how much litter that is.”
But while advertisements for the Green Bin program highlight kitty litter as a main product that can be broken down organically, the city hasn’t included Ottawa’s biggest pet waste producer in the composting program.
“We may explore the program at a later time, but I can’t even say how it would work on our scale,” Jackson says.
Plastic isn’t allowed in green bins, so dog feces and litter from residential homes must be collected in newspaper or cardboard to be considered for organic disposal.
Without plastic bags it would be tough to collect waste on the animal shelter’s scale, Jackson says.
But if Orgaworld, the company that owns Ottawa’s organic waste facility located in Gloucester, prevails at a provincial environmental review tribunal against city council in May 2010, plastic will be allowed in green bins.
The plant would use a chemical process to break down the plastic, but city council says it wants to avoid the system because when used at Orgaworld’s London facility it caused complaints due to its bad odour.
When waste is wrapped in plastic it decomposes anaerobically, meaning it has no oxygen, says Lori Waller, an Ecology Ottawa representative. This causes a worse smell than when oxygen is involved.
But the smell isn’t the worst outcome of anaerobic decomposing, she says.
“This creates methane, which is a more potent gas than carbon dioxide, and that’s a big problem . . . When it’s composted that doesn’t happen.”
Despite an ongoing Green Bin program in place for residents, there is no organic waste collection for the shelter in Toronto either, says Humane Society of Canada spokesman Darcy Gates.
“There is no nation-wide standard for (shelters), but it’s up to municipalities to involve them.”
While residential waste makes up about 30 per cent of an average landfill’s volume, garbage from institutions makes up about 20 per cent, says Waller.
“Institutions do a bad job of diverting their waste.”
Pet litter should be diverted to an organic facility though, says Susan Antler, executive director of the Compost Council of Canada.
“Pet litter is similar to animal manure. It’s not a part of our everyday thought process . . . cow and horse manure are accepted by gardeners.”
But to become useable manure, pet litter must go through high heat in a facility to remove pathogens.
“The issue is, it’s not a part of our familiarity but it’s the best possible use of people’s resources.”