North Bay, ON – March 21, 2023 – There’s been less residential waste going to the City of North Bay’s Merrick Landfill since a weekly curbside garbage collection limit of two bags per household was implemented a little more than a year ago.
At the end of 2022 – a year after implementing the two-bag limit – the City saw a year-over-year reduction of 10.8 per cent in tonnage of residential waste going to the Merrick Landfill.
At the same time, Blue Box recycling and leaf and yard waste composting were both up compared to 2021.
Recycling increased by a little more than 150 metric tonnes to 3,242.92 metric tonnes, while leaf and yard waste composting climbed to 1,015 metric tonnes, compared to 943 metric tonnes in 2021.
“When leaf and yard waste is placed at the curb, it’s treated like garbage and brought to the landfill for disposal,” said Coun. Lana Mitchell, Chair of Infrastructure and Operations. “Taking it to the Organic Drop-off Depot to be turned into compost not only benefits the environment, it helps extend the life of the landfill.”
The City finished 2022 with an overall waste diversion rate of 24 per cent, up four per cent compared to 2021 and an increase over both 2020’s 18 per cent and 2019’s 19 per cent.
“While the numbers tell us that we’re headed in the right direction, we know there is still a lot of work to be done,” said Mitchell. “The results of our latest waste audit have shown that 60 per cent of the waste that is sent to the Merrick Landfill through curbside pickup could be diverted. We will be continuing to take steps to increase recycling and usage of our other waste diversion programs.”
For more information about waste diversion, please visit: https://www.northbay.ca/services-payments/garbage-recycling/
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