News

Background Information

27 November 2020

  • Food waste represents about 60% of green bin materials and about 2/3 of this is avoidable food waste. ‘Avoidable’ means the food could have been eaten. Consider what steps could be taken in your household to reduce avoidable food waste.

  • Approximately 50% of London homes have pet waste. Pet waste is approximately 50% dog waste (feces) and 50% cat litter and waste (feces). Including pet waste in the Green Bin will increase processing costs and make the Green Bin materials more difficult to process. It will also increase diversion through the Green Bin by between 10% and 20%.

  • Approximately 10% of homes in London have diapers/incontinence products.

  • Including pet waste and diapers/incontinence products could increase processing costs by between 20% and 40%. Diversion through the Green Bin could increase by between 15% and 25%. It is important to note that the diaper/incontinence products are not really composted or digested; therefore they still end up in the landfill. Depending on the type of pre-processing system used, many dog waste bags may not open and expose the contents for further processing.

  • As noted, both products make the Green Bin materials more difficult to process. However, including these materials in the Green Bin will:
    1. make it easier for the public to accept bi-weekly garbage collection;
    2. provide minor landfill cost savings; and
    3. further reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

  • At least four processors in the Province (one composting facility and three anaerobic digesters) have available capacity to accept organics from London. All four can accept pet waste and diapers/incontinence products. Generally, composting facilities are better suited than anaerobic digesters to manage pet waste. Generally, anaerobic digesters are better suited than composting facilities to manage diapers/incontinence products.

  • It is expected that new organic management facilities in the future are more likely to be anaerobic digesters and not composting facilities.

  • London will also need to decide if a portion of yard waste will be accepted in the Green Bin.