Clear bags keeping 24% more trash out of Halifax landfills

Halifax's manager of solid waste says residents across the municipalityhave embraced the clear bag program that was introduced more than a yearago.

The municipalitysays 24 per cent less garbage has made its way into landfills since the ban on the use of all but one black bag for curbside trash.

"Just to put that in perspective garbage-wise, that's 14,000 tonnesof material that's no longer landfilled," saidMatt Keliher.

Recycling facility needs expansion

Keliher said the municipality's recycling facilities have seen 13per cent more plastic, paperand glass since the switch to clearbags.

"Because of thatwe actually need to put an expansion onto our facility in order to handle all of that material that comes in," saidKeliher."Just keep on sending it to us."

Keliher saidplanning is underway for an expansion of the recycling facilityin Bayers Lake for spring or summer of 2017.

Food waste still a problem

But it's not all good news.

The amount of food waste collectedhas remained more or less unchanged.

And unlike elsewhere in the province, recycling and processing of Styrofoam and textiles is still out of reach for the municipality.

"With the developmentof an expansion at the recycling plant, once that's done, staff will undertake some measures to see the business case viability to adding Styrofoam and textiles to the collection system in HRM," saidKeliher.

In 2007, the Nova ScotiaEnviromentDepartment set a goal of 300 kilograms of trashper person, per year.

Last year, the CBC reported Nova Scotians were producing 380 kilogramsper person, a number the municipalitysays is still accurate.

Halifax embracing clear bags

"It's a lofty target. We're working as best as we can to make sure that materials get where they're supposed to go and not to a landfill," said Keliher.

When the program began, the municipalitysays there was an obvious spike in the number of bags rejected by collection crews.

Today, that number has fallen back to pre-clear bag levels.

The municipalitysays it also sees a spike in recycling during and after the holidays.

• Garbage going to landfill down 31.4%, says Halifax report
• Styrofoam recycling switch made in Colchester, but not on Halifax radar