Toronto Life: Preville on Politics: Suck my waste, Toronto

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Preville on Politics
Posted on December 18, 2007 by Philip Preville

Suck my waste, Toronto

Trash collection is one of those basic city services that seems impervious to new technology: you put your trash out at the curb and a truck hauls it away. But what if, like water, sewage and gas, you could collect it all underground? Vacuum-waste collectionwhich gets a brief mention in the toilet-bowl cover story of Toronto Lifes January issueis being touted as the future of waste management, and it is part of WaterfronTorontos vision for its new residential communities in the West Don Lands and East Bayfront areas. Unfortunately, that vision clashes with city halls own idea of a bold, trashy future. The biggest name in vacuum waste collection is EnVac, a Scandinavian firm that does business around the world. The system involves adding three pipelines to the underground networkone for waste, one for organics and one for recycled materials, all of which shuttle waste to a nearby transfer station. The collection system can be connected directly to multi-residential units, while for single-family areas you might locate the intakes at the end of the street. Its benefits are obvious: no trash on the curb, no fossil-fuel-burning trucks, no raccoon problems, no injuries to city waste collectors. Its not particularly feasible for areas of the city that are already built-up, but its ideal for new large-scale developments, which is one of the reasons why WaterfronTorontowhich will be building vast residential communities from scratchis pretty much sold on the idea. We would like to see vacuum waste on the waterfront as part of the green development agenda, says Marisa Piattelli, the organizations spokesperson. It is a component of leading-edge sustainable development. Piattelli also says vacuum waste will be a differentiator for the city: a model of urban living that will set Toronto above the rest, and compel other cities to come here to see how its done. The city, however, has its reservations. Geoff Rathbone, Torontos Director of Solid Waste Management, is open to the idea but sees a number of potential logistical problems. For one, theres the matter of oversize itemsthat smelly old mattress wont fit into a vacuum tube. For another, theres cost. The current system of truck haulage costs about $20 per unit per year for residential high-rises, and $80 per year for detached or semi-detached homes. Its not entirely clear yet whether vacuum waste is cost-competitive. Rathbones staff is currently working with city planning and WaterfronToronto on a report that will be made public in late January. But the bigger issue is a philosophical one. Earlier this year, city council approved a plan to take trash collection off the property-tax rolls and bill separately for the service. Its all part of the strategy to increase diversion rates: by charging residents for trash but not for organics or recycling, it will encourage people to recycle more. This user-pay arrangement also involves distributing new bins embedded with computer chips, so that the city can keep track of how much waste each home generates. Its an ambitious plan, one that the city is heavily invested init goes into effect in the latter half of 2008. Rathbone notes that vacuum waste can accommodate the user-pay principle: the system can be equipped with magnetic-strip readers, so that residents must swipe their trash card every time they drop their waste down the intake. Admittedly, between the lack of curbside pickup and the swipe cards, vacuum waste starts to look like a hassle. But what it really does is compel people to become more intimate with their own waste, which is the best way to get them to reduce and divert. Anyone who believes that Toronto should be the greenest city in North America, but who thinks it can achieve that title without radical changes in civic routines, is dreaming. Categories: General, City Hall Permalink
COMMENTS Neither the author nor Toronto Life necessarily agree with the comments posted below. Editors will not correct spelling or grammar. Toronto Life reserves the right to edit or delete comments entirely. Read our full policy

Philip Preville
Veteran freelance writer Philip Preville lived much of his life in Montreal and Edmonton before he was lured, like so many Torontonians before him, by the promise of more work and a better living. A National Magazine Award winner and former Canadian Journalism Fellow at the University of Torontos Massey College, Preville writes Toronto Lifes politics column. He lives with his wife and one-year-old son in Riverdale, just close enough to the Don Valley Parkway that he can hear it when he steps outside his housebut just far enough away that it doesnt keep him awake at night. On his office wall hangs a 193839 press pass belonging to his grandfather, Elias Gannon, who wrote for the Montreal Star.

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Shawn Micallef

December 18, 2007 at 5:08 p.m.

Sweden and their burning garbage too: http://spacing.ca/wire/?p=1147 We've got a short article on Vacuum waste diversion in Malmo in the current issue of Spacing. A couple years ago one of our editors went to Sweden and came back raving about this stuff, complete with pamphlets.

Bob

D ecember 18, 2007 at 9:49 p.m.

Yes, but is a raving Spacing editor - even one with pamphlets - really a good public policy endorsement?

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Toronto Life: Preville on Politics: Suck my waste, Toronto

http://www.torontolife.com/blog/preville-politics/2007/dec/18/su...

Shawn Micallef

December 19, 2007 at 12:24 a.m.

I don't know Bob, I wasn't making a public policy endorsement.

Planet Friendly Statistics Canada City of Toronto Rounder

Alisa Roberts

December 19, 2007 at 2:15 p.m.

Let's start with ensuring that the cost of taking the TTC stops going up, before we start talking about vacuum waste collection. Also, has anyone ever heard of 'dumping'? These computer chips embedded in bins are ridiculous- I have noted that Torontonians are really dedicated to recycling, and do it very well as a point of principle. What this will do is encourage less scrupulous citizens to dump waste on other people's properties for pickup and have them absorb the cost.

Philip Preville

December 19, 2007 at 3:19 p.m.

I was wondering when someone would raise the issue of 'dumping.' Consider the scenario: the city will be issuing three standard-sized bins for trash, with a different price for each. If I have a small bin that's overflowing and my neighbour has spare space in her bin, I will be sorely tempted to dump my overflow into her bin in the wee hours rather than upsize my own. I might even offer to pay her for the use of her excess trash space, thus creating a black market (under the new system, a half-full waste bin is like an extra parking space or a basement apartment -- you can rent it out). I suspect this is why municipal waste collection has been treated for so long as a universal social program: because any user-pay scheme will incite bad behaviour with household waste, which is not good for the social fabric. And for what it's worth: if you have swipe-card-activated vacuum waste collection, dumping is never a problem.

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