In partnership with waste partners Drummond North Elmsley and Montague, Mississippi Mills and Carleton Place are completing a Municipal Waste Recycling Strategy. A Waste Characterization Audit was carried out in March of this year to establish a baseline benchmark Each municipality collected random samples of household waste and blue box materials. Mississippi Mills collected 50 Urban and 50 Rural Samples over a two (2) week period while Carleton Place gathered 50 samples over a two week period. The samples were then audited for content to review the effectiveness of the recycling program and identify room for improvement.
Carleton Place generated on average 14.4 kg of waste per household per week while Mississippi Mills generated 10 kg per household per week. The average number of waste bags per week was 1.6 in Carleton Place and 1.4 in Mississippi Mills. In those waste bags, auditors discovered that 16% of the material in Carleton Place and 14% in Mississippi Mills was actually recyclable.
Residents recycled in blue boxes an average of 4.7kg of waste per household per week in Carleton Place and 6.3 kg. of waste in Mississippi Mills. Only 4% of material placed in recycling boxes in Carleton Place was not recyclable.Mississippi Mills scored even lower at 2%
The final tally resulted in a 20% diversion rate for Carleton Place and a 37% diversion rate for Mississippi Mills. The diversion rate means that 20% of waste was diverted from land fill site to recycling. Mississippi Mills technologist Cory Smith stated that this was an excellent result and showed that residents of the municipality understood the program and were using it well. Waste Management services want the best services possible for the municipalities and this audit is a first step in a much larger vision. Mr. Smith said that our results compare favourably with those of other municipalities in Eastern Ontario. Ontario has set an ambitious 60% diversion rate.