Municipal Performance Measurement Program (MPMP) of the Province of Ontario
Ontario Municipal Benchmarking Initiative
Solid Waste Management Expert Panel Update
There are three years of data for the MPMP program, however there have been definitional
changes over the life of this program in Ontario so I could not be certain if the year over year data
is on the same basis.
CSR: Corporations Supporting Recycling
http://www.csr.org
Introduction to "GAP" — A Protocol to Measure Municipal Solid
Waste Flow
“GAP” refers to generally accepted principles (GAP) for measuring municipal
waste flow. It is the term used to identify the process that allows municipalities to
identify what should and should not be included and excluded in records of waste
generation and diversion in any municipality or jurisdiction, and to report waste
flow and diversion in a consistent manner across Canada.
Until the GAP process came along, it was virtually impossible to compare “apples
to apples” when it came to municipal waste flow and diversion The types of
materials municipalities included in waste diversion measurements varied
significantly across Canada and the U.S. Some municipalities included waste
from commercial establishments. Others did not. This lack of consistency in the
measurement method hampered attempts to compare or aggregate municipal,
provincial and even federal waste generation and diversion figures.
CSR: Corporations Supporting Recycling struck a Canada-wide team in early
2000 to examine municipal waste flow and diversion and figure out how to apply
standardized principles and practices to measuring waste flow. The GAP
protocol was developed over a series of GAP Team meetings and was finalized
for wide application and adoption in early 2001.
WASTE DIVERSION
The redirection of generated wastes away from disposal through reuse, recycling or
recovery.
It does not include source reduction.
WASTE MINIMIZATION
Measures or techniques, including plans and directives, that reduce the amount of
wastes for disposal, to the greatest degree practical. (Getting as close to zero waste as
practical.) Methods to achieve minimization include source reduction, reuse,
environmentally-sound recycling and recovery.)
WASTE REDUCTION
The decreasing to some extent of the waste stream requiring disposal through source
reduction, reuse, recycling or recovery.
It is often confused with the more limited “source reduction” or “waste reduction at
source” (see definition below) and “reduction from curbside” which deals with policies
and approaches only from the curbside on, not further upstream.
SOURCE REDUCTION (also waste reduction at source)
The conservation of materials and energy by preventing the formation of wastes such
that no treatment, reuse or disposal is required of excess or discarded materials.
Source reduction is a subset of waste reduction.
GAP DEFINITIONS
Residential GAP – Manual on Generally Accepted
Principles (GAP) for Calculating Municipal Solid
Waste System Flow
Development of a Methodology for Measurement of
Residential Waste Diversion in Canada
November 2003
MSW – Municipal Solid Waste
Generation = Diversion + Disposal
Diversion = Recycling + Composting (or Digestion) + Reuse + On-Property
Management
Diversion Rate = Diversion/Generation x 100 (%)
Residential Waste Generation
Residential waste generation refers to all waste generated from dwellings (at the
home or place of residence), where residential activities (food preparation,
gardening, etc) are the source of the waste. It is calculated in Residential GAP as
disposal plus diversion.
1. Residential Component of Deposit-Return and Stewardship Programs
Residential waste handled in stewardship programs, such as beer bottle or beverage
can deposit programs.
2. Residential Reuse
Tonnage recorded through municipally sponsored reuse activities
Reuse refers to situations where a used product or material that has been
discarded by its owner (e.g. an old sofa or used clothing from a household) is
reused for the same purpose, with minimal, if any processing. Reuse can occur
through:
The provision of municipal recycling depots and reuse or
exchange centres;
Existing private sector non-profit social service group networks
(e.g., Salvation Army, Goodwill, etc);
For-profit groups such as second hand stores that handle a
variety of goods10; and
Neighbourhood swap days and garage sales11.
Residential GAP acknowledges reuse as an activity that reduces the amount of
residential waste which requires management, but only includes municipally
sponsored reuse activities (see section 5.7)
3. Residential On-Property Management
Actions after a material has entered the household but before it reaches the curb and
requires management off site. Includes municipally-sponsored backyard composting
programs; Municipal Grasscycling policies which divert grass from the waste stream;
and estimated number of garburators in the municipality.
On-property management refers to actions taken to reduce the amount of waste
produced by a household that would otherwise be managed off the property, either
through curbside pick-up or drop-off to a waste management facility (depot,
transfer station, landfill, etc.).
Backyard composting;
Grasscycling;
Evapotranspiration between the household and the curb. This is
only applicable where municipalities use aerated carts for
source separated organics collection, and it refers to the weight
reduction which occurs between the house and the curb as a
result of evaporation of some of the moisture from the organics.
The weight of waste managed by the municipality is reduced as
a result.
Use of garburators; garburators are considered diversion if all
biosolids treated at the pollution control centre are beneficially
used (e.g. landspreading). If biosolids are landfilled the waste
managed in garburators is counted as disposal, and if the
biosolids are incinerated, the waste managed in garburators is
considered recovery or disposal, depending on location.
Open burning;
Burning of waste within the home (e.g. papers in the fireplace).
4. Residential Recyclables Diverted
Recycling is defined as the process whereby a material (e.g., glass, metal, plastic,
paper) is diverted from the waste stream and remanufactured into a new product,
or used as a raw material substitute.
Amount of recyclables collected and processed, less processing residue disposed.
Curbside Recyclables Collection of single family and multi-family residential.
Residential Bulky and Special Waste Collection: curbside collections of particular
materials
Residential Drop-Off at Depots, Transfer and Disposal Sites: “Best estimate” of the
residential component of drop-off activities involving residential waste.
Dry Curbside Collection (For municipalities who collect waste in two source separated
streams).
Residential Recyclables Processing: All material recovered for recycling through
curbside and drop-off sites which is processed before going to market.
Additional Processing to Increase Residential Waste Diversion at Landfill or Transfer
Station: Material which is processed at the landfill or transfer station to increase
diversion (e.g. grinding of wood waste or brush, etc.).
Residential Waste Incineration and EFW: Amounts of fly ash and bottom ash produced,
and recyclables recovered from the EFW or incineration plant.
Residential Mixed Waste Processing: Recyclables and deposit containers recovered,
and residue sent to disposal.
5. Residential Organics Diverted
Amount collected and processed, minus processing facility residues sent to disposal.
Curbside Residential Source Separated Organics Collection: Leaf and yard waste
collections and household food waste collected
Residential Organics Processing: Material collected at curbside plus Organic component
of Residential Drop-Off at Depots, Transfer and Disposal Sites.
Wet Curbside Collection: Applicable only to municipalities who collect waste in two
source separated streams (wet and dry).
6. Hazardous Solid Waste (HSW) Treatment, Reuse and
Recycling
Hazardous Solid Waste includes materials such as paint, pesticides, used oil, etc.
HSW collected as part of other collection programs, including the percentage reused,
recycled and disposed.
7. Residential Energy from Waste (EFW) Mass Reduction
Residential Waste Incineration and EFW: Amounts of fly ash and bottom ash produced,
and recyclables recovered from the EFW or incineration plant.
EFW involves the destruction of waste and the capture of energy in a number of different
processes. Through recovery, waste is effectively destroyed and no longer exists in its
original form for handling within the waste stream.
Examples of recovery include:
Incineration or gasification of residual waste with recovery of
energy14;
Burning used oils or solvents in boilers (displaces the need
to buy additional fuel);
Burning tires in industrial processes (e.g. cement kilns),
which displaces the need to purchase additional fossil fuel.
Incineration achieves destruction of the material incinerated and precludes future
use of this material. In general, energy recovery at incinerators is an added
benefit/by-product. Most jurisdictions in Canada consider incineration to be
disposal.
Very few Canadian municipalities dispose of municipal solid waste at incinerators,
with residuals going to landfill. Those municipalities who do incinerate include:
Burnaby, BC; Peel, On; Quebec City, Charlottetown, PEI and Wainwright, Alberta
and some small units in other locations. All of the larger and newer incinerators
include energy recovery. However there are a few remaining, smaller incinerators
across Canada who do not recover energy from incineration.
8. Hazardous Waste Disposal
Disposal of Hazardous Solid Waste and fly ash from EFW or incineration plants.
9. Landfill of Residential Waste
Includes summary of Residential Bulky and Special Waste Collection; Residential Drop-Off
at Depots, Transfer and Disposal Sites; Curbside Residential Garbage Collection plus
processing residues.
Unprocessed garbage and residuals from processing operations (MRF residues,
incinerator ash, compost residues, mixed waste processing and composting
residuals, etc) are generally disposed at landfills in Canada. Landfill requires ongoing
monitoring and perpetual care, and the potential for landfill gas recovery or
landfill mining now or in the future.
The amount of waste sent to landfill should be reported in Residential GAP,
regardless of the location of the landfill used. In this way, municipalities account
for residential waste generated within their boundaries which is exported outside of
their boundaries for disposal.
10. Other Disposal
Reported open burning activities