City gets Recycling Report look

Yorkton Council received and filed the University of Regina Final Report on the Carbon Footprint Derived from Recycling.

The Report is an evaluation on the carbon footprint derived from the recycling process in the city.

The Executive Summary of the Report explains, "the recyclable wastes considered for the calculation of carbon footprint are: plastics, milk cartons, paper and cardboard, glass (clear and coloured), aluminium and tin cans.

"Calculations for carbon footprints were based on the distance travelled and the average number of trips made per week, month or year."

Stephen Rosowsky, with the local committee said the Report did not identify anything which should necessitate local changes to recycling.

"We've got a great program," he said, adding the committee saw no need for change "because of the report."

The Report did calculate an estimated household carbon footprint.

"The annual carbon footprint produced by a household was calculated to be 120 Kg of CO2. This annual carbon footprint was based on the assumption of one trip per week to the nearest drop-off recycling depot, with an average of 52 trips made by each household on an annual basis," it stated.

In terms of waste materials, "According to a survey undertaken by Saskatchewan Environment in 2008, in 2007 in Yorkton, there was a total of 13,612.93 tonnes of solid waste generated," detailed the Report.

"For the recycling sector, there was a total of 1,320.88 tonnes."

Recycling is an important aspect of dealing with refuse, as there is a significant cost to a landfill option.

"The City of Yorkton requested Stantec to quote an estimate for a landfill. The proposed landfill is composed by four similar cells, which each of them would handle a volume of approximately 210,000 cubic metres (165,000 tonnes of waste) and as such each would be able to provide landfill disposal for up to 7.5 years at a rate of 22,000 tonnes of waste per year. The total cost of the landfill, leachate collection system, including a leachate/storm-water pond is $2,405,000 (Stantec, 2012)," noted the Report.

Rosowsky said the Report really sets a foundation for future studies.

"It's a benchmark of where we are now," he told Council.

That said, the actual date regarding carbon emissions from recycling is difficult to gauge in terms of impact.

"That's where we struggle because it's not commonly measured," he said, adding without other relevant data to compare the Report to, drawing conclusions is difficult. " Essentially this is the first of its kind."

Rosowsky said if other cities were to do similar studies comparisons could be drawn more easily, but he added the Yorkton data is "time sensitive," because so many factors can change over time.