They don’t have to go back to the drawing board exactly, but the County of Simcoe is learning from the first year of the textiles and electronics collection program, and came before county council this week to talk about what worked and what didn’t work.
County council received an update on Tuesday morning on the textile and electronic waste program, implemented through the county starting this year.
“What was budgeted and what was the cost?” asked Ramara Township Deputy Mayor John O’Donnell.
“It was an interesting program,” responded Rob McCullough, director of waste management with the County of Simcoe. “When we first proposed the budget for the program, it was a bit of a shot in the dark because we didn’t have any other comparable programs... we were basically piloting this program.”
“The net cost came in a little higher than anticipated... about 25% overrun,” continued McCullough. “The cost was due to two areas... one-time set up costs due to the education part of the program, and a lot of extra handling that we didn’t anticipate.”
McCullough said that this year, the textiles portion of the program cost $150,000, while the electronics recycling program cost about $100,000.
According to the staff report, the textile collection netted 107 tonnes of used clothing, linens, shoes and accessories (versus a total of 50 tonnes collected at all of the county waste facilities last year). The amount collected curbside was somewhat short of the 150 tonnes originally estimated.
Staff wrote that the reason participation was lower than anticipated was due to the need for residents to determine which week their collection would occur on and then have materials out for collection on Monday, rather than on their regular garbage day.
The electronics collection netted over 171 tonnes of electronics and small electrical equipment (versus a total of 499 tonnes collected at all of the county waste facilities last year). The amount collected at curbside was somewhat short of the 210 tonnes originally estimated.
Staff noted that there were reports of widespread scavenging in some urbanized areas prior to the electronics collection occurring.
“Still, it was a good first showing,” said McCullough. “We hope to improve that program as we go forward, and we’re going to be making some changes to try to make it easier for residents to put it out on their garbage day rather than on the Monday of the week.”
“The costs (going forward) will go down because we won’t have the one-time set up for promotion and education program. We also are hoping that we will see an increased tonnage when we change the (pick up) day,” said McCullough. “We learned a few things about it this year that we hope to apply to future years.”
Oro-Medonte Deputy Mayor Ralph Hough bestowed the importance of the programs, despite what he called a “disappointing” first year.
“I would urge the new council to continue with this program. Anything we can keep out of the landfill is a bonus, even though it costs. It’s going to cost more in the long run if we keep putting recyclable stuff into the landfills,” said Hough. “It’s a disappointing first time out, but better than nothing. An old adage is, ‘Better to have a go and fail than not at all,’ so thank you.”
Council council voted to receive the report for information.
The next county waste initiative for residents will be the annual battery collection, which takes place next week, the first full week in November. For more information on that, click here.
