Canadore students audit North Bay waste

The City of North Bay, with the assistance of Canadore College’s School of Environmental Studies, is taking a deep dive into the household waste that’s picked up at the curb to gain a better understanding of what is going to our landfill.

The waste audit of ramdomly selected garbage bags at the Merrick Landfill took place from June 20-24. In order to get a sample representative of every neighbourhood, a total of 80 bags were audited. The Canadore students sorted and categorized the materials from four bags from each truck arriving at the site.

The materials were divided into two main categories: waste that should be disposed of at the landfill and waste included in the area’s diversion program and therefore should not be disposed at the landfill.

Examples of materials that are a part of the current waste diversion program include leaf and yard waste, textiles, household hazardous waste, electronics and recyclable materials such as plastics, cans, glass and paper.

“Unfortunately, the first days of sorting showed a large amount of recyclable material including pop bottles, paper, cardboard and aluminum cans being thrown out. There were also textiles, leaf/yard waste and household hazardous waste found in the bags,” said Victoria Thomas, an environmental control officer, in a press release.

“The final results of the audit will give us a good understanding of the city’s current diversion rate. This will help determine what areas we need to focus on for future programs, education and outreach.”

The students will be providing a report to the City with their complete findings to help update the city’s waste diversion strategy.

Past audits indicated as much as 40 per cent of residential waste arriving at the landfill is recyclable material.