Region of York completes waste management strategy;
approves two additional waste disposal contracts

NEWMARKET – The Regional Municipality of York put the final piece of its long-term waste management strategy in place today when Council approved two additional waste disposal contracts.

Council approved a contract with Onyx Arbor Hills Landfill Inc. to send up to 90,000 tonnes of solid waste per year to the company's landfill in Michigan. A contract with Green Lane Landfill, a division of St. Thomas Sanitary Collection Service Limited, has also been approved to send up to 50,000 tonnes of solid waste per year to the company's landfill based in Southwold Township, near St. Thomas, Ontario.

In June 2001, Regional Council approved a contract with Republic Services of Canada Inc. and Wilson Logistics Inc. to send a minimum 50,000 tonnes of solid waste per year to a landfill in Michigan.

"With three separate waste disposal contracts, York Region has completed its waste management strategy well in advance of the end-of-year closure of the Keele Valley Landfill," said Regional Chair Bill Fisch. "We have also secured an Ontario landfill to accept a portion of our waste, which has been an important component of our overall waste strategy."

Last month, Council authorized staff to conclude negotiations of agreements for waste transfer and processing facilities within York Region, including a new integrated material recovery facility (MRF) in East Gwillimbury and a transfer station along Highway 7.

"Diversion is an essential element to the Region's waste management strategy," said Markham Regional Councillor Gord Landon, Chair of the Solid Waste Management Committee. "Our environmental pledge is to divert at least 50 per cent of our waste away from landfill."

To view a Backgrounder detailing the Region's waste management strategy, a Fact Sheet on York's diversion strategy, or for more information on the Regional Municipality of York, the services we offer and links to our nine area municipalities, please visit  our Web site at www.region.york.on.ca

Fact Sheet

Integrated material recovery facility, transfer station and composting comprise York Region diversion strategy

• A new three-stream collection system for York Region will include two transfer stations, one located in East Gwillimbury and another along the Highway 7 corridor.

• Miller Waste Systems will design and construct a material recovery facility (MRF), transfer station, weigh scales, education centre and public drop off at the Bales Drive location in the Town of East Gwillimbury.

• The MRF will be 62,000 square feet in size, have 90,000 tonnes-per-year capacity and be designed to receive commingled blue box material that is collected using bags, carts or blue boxes.

• The system will give the Region the maximum flexibility for handling future changes, and the latest design in processing equipment will be used to sort the material into marketable grades of paper, steel, aluminium, glass and various grades of plastic.

• A 32,000 square foot transfer station will be designed to receive up to 150 tonnes per day of garbage and 100 tonnes per day of source separated organic waste from the northern municipalities in the Region. The design includes compactors to load garbage into highway trailers and also allows for loading of open-top trailers for organics. Odour control systems and proper operational procedures will be designed into the facility to ensure the facility is operated with no off-site adverse impacts.

• Other facilities included will be weigh scales, a public education centre, public waste drop off area, as well as associated roads, potable water, sanitary and stormwater servicing. Extensive landscaping and architectural design will be used to create an attractive site that will showcase the Region's leadership in waste management.

• It is anticipated the construction of the Bales Drive facilities will begin in late 2002, once all site approvals are received from the Town of East Gwillimbury. It will take approximately 18 months to construct and commission the facility.

• The $38.8 million dollar facility includes $2.7 million in land purchase, $29.3 million in construction and site development costs, $1.5 million for municipal water service, $300,000 for contract administration, inspection and commissioning fees, and a $5 million, or 15 per cent, contingency fund.

• It is expected the transfer station could open in mid 2003 and the MRF will be operational early in 2004.

• The facility will create more than 100 full time employment opportunities.

• The Southern transfer station will receive and transfer household organic waste as well as garbage destined for final disposal from the southern area municipalities in the Region.

• Household organic waste processing will be conducted at Canada Composting Inc. in the Town of Newmarket, subject to a written report from the Ministry of the Environment confirming that all odour emissions from the Canada Composting facility meet Ministry requirements by April 30, 2002. The Region also maintains the option to cancel the contract with Canada Composting if odour problems arise at any time during the contract.

 Backgrounder

 Region of York develops waste management strategy

With the Ontario Government's guarantee to close the Keele Valley Landfill by the end of 2002, the Region of York has developed a long-term waste management strategy for residential waste.

The strategy consists of locating new waste disposal facilities outside of York Region, and a commitment to divert at least 50 per cent of the Region's current 190,000 tonnes of annual waste away from landfill.

In March 2002, Regional Council approved a contract with Onyx Arbor Hills Landfill Inc. to send up to 90,000 tonnes of solid waste per year to the company's landfill in Michigan. In addition, Council also approved a contract with Green Lane Landfill, a division of St. Thomas Sanitary Collection Service Limited, to send up to 50,000 tonnes of solid waste per year to the company's landfill in Southwold Township, Ontario.

In June 2001, Regional Council approved a contract with Republic Services of Canada Inc. and Wilson Logistics Inc. to send a minimum 50,000 tonnes of solid waste per year to a Michigan landfill.

In April 2001, York Regional Council approved a new three-stream collection system for household waste materials following a two-year study of alternatives. Under the three-stream system, waste materials will be separated and collected differently:

• Organic waste, including food scraps and other biodegradable materials, will go into one container and ultimately end up as compost
• Recyclable materials, such as paper, glass and metal, will be collected together and be retrieved for reuse
• All remaining non-recyclable materials will be bagged as garbage for disposal

In February 2002, Council authorized staff to conclude negotiations of agreements for waste transfer and processing facilities within the Region, including a new integrated material recovery facility (MRF) in East Gwillimbury, and a transfer station along the Highway 7 corridor. York Region will become the first major Canadian municipality to operate a state-of-the-art, single-stream integrated MRF of this magnitude.

Contact: Patrick Casey, Senior Media Relations Specialist, York Region

• (905) 830-4444, ext. 1235
• Email: patrick.casey@region.york.on.ca