Waste Watch
IWMC operates and maintains the Waste Watch program, a 3-stream source separation based waste management system implemented across the entire province.
Implementation of the program began in Prince County, eventually being expanded by the late 1990s and early 2000s to the entire province once adequate waste handling facilities were constructed.
IWMC provides every property owner and tenant in the province with 2 standardized carts (there are 3 sizes available) - 1 black cart for non-recyclable and non-compostable material, and 1 green cart for compostable material. Each rugged wheeled plastic cart has an identification number assigned to each property or tenant with GPS-enabled tracking chips embedded into the plastic to enable tracking should a cart go missing. Waste disposal fees are collected through province-wide property tax assessments and provide IWMC with revenue to operate its collection and disposal programs.
In addition to the green compost and black waste bins, all recyclables must be source separated by property owners and placed in clear plastic recycling bags.
IWMC has contracted Superior Sanitation, a Charlottetown-based waste hauling company, to provide all waste collection services with a fleet of waste collection vehicles.
IWMC has contracted ADI Engineering, a Fredericton, New Brunswick-based engineering and consulting firm, to operate its central composting plant.
Waste collected in black bins which is safe for incineration is incinerated at the Tri-Gen energy-from-waste plant in Charlottetown and ashes are buried in a modern landfill outside Charlottetown.
Construction and demolition debris is collected and hauled by approved contractors who dispose of the material in approved pits, pending removal of recyclable material. IWMC's Waste Watch program does not currently have the ability to handle e-waste.
Since the introduction of Waste Watch, Prince Edward Island has become a leader among Canadian provinces in the source separation of waste and diversion of waste from landfills, largely explained by the province's small geography which is comparable to many large counties and municipalities.
Compost from biodegradable waste collection is sold to garden supply distribution chains and recyclables are sold to recycling firms in central Canada and the northeastern United States.
The Waste Watch program is mandatory and property owners or tenants who refuse to separate waste do not have it collected (or in some extreme cases are fined).
The complete Waste Watch program has been in operation since July 1, 2002 and the recycling program has been in use since July 1, 2000. The Waste Watch program has diverted 64-66% of the Island's waste to either compost or recycling.
Read more about this topic: Island Waste Management Corporation
Famous quotes containing the words waste and/or watch:
“It may be romantic to search for the salves of society’s ills in slow-moving rustic surroundings, or among innocent, unspoiled provincials, if such exist, but it is a waste of time.”
—Jane Jacobs (b. 1916)
“In winter we lead a more inward life. Our hearts are warm and cheery, like cottages under drifts, whose windows and doors are half concealed, but from whose chimneys the smoke cheerfully ascends.... We enjoy now, not an Oriental, but a Boreal leisure, around warm stoves and fireplaces, and watch the shadow of motes in the sunbeams.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)