A new push to divert commercial, industrial and institutional waste from landfills will put unequal pressure on small Centretown businesses because they don’t have the space to recycle as much as big polluters.
Last week, two years of public consultation into the city's plan to divert 60 per cent of industrial, commercial and institutional recyclables from the landfill by 2015 came to a close. The plan was already approved by council, but now that the public input stage is complete, the city must have its budget approved in January.
“There are vast differences in the waste being produced by these groups and their ability to divert,” says Lori Mellor, president of the Preston Street BIA.
For small restaurants to start composting they would have to hire an extra employee to sort through plate scrapings, says Mellor. They would also struggle to find space to store the waste and it might attract rodents to residential neighbourhoods, she says.
“Many of my restaurants on Preston Street are small houses that have been converted to restaurants, so space is always at a premium,” says Mellor.
Compared to the waste created by industry and institutions, which have more space and better removal systems, small businesses are off the radar, says Mellor.
But the city knows it needs more information, says Don Grant, senior sustainability consultant for Jacques Whitford, the environmental planning company contracted by the city to create the waste management plan.
The plan isn’t to pressure businesses with a ban on recyclables at municipal landfills right away, says Grant. The city will start by asking businesses for information, finding out how much they are recycling and what obstacles prevent them from recycling, then setting up the infrastructure to help them recycle more, says Grant.
The plan starts with light pressure, but the city will begin to charge businesses a surcharge for loads of waste dumped that contain recyclables, says Grant. Eventually, recyclables will be banned altogether, he says.
“The only thing we can do is impose restrictions at our landfill because we don’t pick up garbage for businesses,” says Kevin Wylie, manager of solid waste planning and diversion for the city.
Businesses hire private collectors to manage their waste and, depending on the collector, the waste can go to the municipal landfill or the collector’s own private landfill, says Wylie.
But Mellor isn’t happy with the collection programs available for small businesses.
“It’s ridiculous and onerous,” says Mellor. Commercial organics are a small burden on landfills because they decompose quickly, says Mellor.
The small restaurants on Preston Street recycle all their beer and wine bottles, and they crush and recycle cardboard because it takes up too much space, says Mellor. Small businesses should not be included in the city’s push to recycle more, but a big attitude change is needed for all businesses.
“We need to stop with the little creamers and stop with the little packaging.”