The Cyle of Recycle

I personally love learning the ins and outs of recycling. Ninety per cent of the material we collect in our recycling system is sold to market , including  many local companies . Here are some of our local buyers of household recyclables:

• Allied Paper Savers purchase our mixed paper and newspaper.
• Newspaper is made into insulation sold by Can-Cell Industries.
• Alta Steel buys our tin cans. The metal is melted down and used to make grader blades and rebar.
• Greys Recycling Industries Inc. is currently stockpiling our glass to be made into such things as interlocking sidewalk blocks. The company will also  soon  recycl e  clothing collected from Recycling Depots into paper.  
• EMCO Building Products purchases our mixed paper and forwards it on to another company that turns it into asphalt shingles.

Material is also sent to markets outside of Edmonton. Newsprint, for example, is turned into new newsprint at mills in the Pacific Northwest and most plastic goes to Merlin Plastics in Burnaby BC for processing.  Edmonton.ca/waste has a good breakdown of what happens to our recyclables, including material taken to Eco Stations and the EWMC. If you keep your eyes peeled you can see recycled products everywhere. For example I noticed these barriers at a campground last weekend.

We can all consider waste when we make decisions at the store. Try to purchase items with minimal packaging that can be reused or recycled and consider companies that use recyclables in their products. That helps to close the recycling loop. 

If you’re interested in becoming an expert on how a specific material is recycled and writing a blog sharing your knowledge please sign up for Article Writer - Waste on www.myvolunteerpage.com and we will send you an assignment.

Say good-bye to bad smells; WMS makes things right at the centre

This article was published in the Edmonton Examiner on May 16. It does a great job outlining actions taken to address odours from the EWMC.

Authour: Ed Gibbons, City Councillor, Ward 4 

Last summer I heard from a number of my constituents concerned about the smell coming from the Edmonton Waste Management Centre (EWMC). In response to these concerns, Waste Management Services has taken some immediate action while continuing to develop a long-term strategy to reduce and control odour emissions at the EWMC. Some of these initiatives include: 

• The Edmonton Composting Facility is fully enclosed and has a biofilter system to remove odours before they're released to the air. Door and window seals have been replaced and major improvements have been made to the aeration floors and biofilter system. 
• An odour misting system is in operation in key areas of the Integrated Processing and Transfer Facility and the Edmonton Composting Facility. This misting system sprays an organic compound that neutralizes the odours. 
• Several operations, including compost turning, are restricted when the potential for odours is high. 

Last fall, Waste Management Services also hired an odour expert to conduct a preliminary assessment of odour emissions and their control at the EWMC. The next step is a complete inventory of all odour sources, including the waste processing facilities and the bio-solids lagoons. The city's goal is to reduce the odours as much as possible. 

A community liaison committee has been created to share information with the community on the odour management activities.

As always you can contact me at (780) 496-8138 or ed.gibbons@edmonton.ca