Vancouver's Waste Situarion
2008-2015
Since 2008
480, 000. That's how many tonnes waste was sent to the landfill and incinerator by Vancouver residents in 2008. However five years later the annual amount of garbage left to rot decreased by 18% or a remarkable 80, 000 tonnes decrease from 2008. This dip is partly due to the green bin system introduced in 2010. 395, 000. That's about how many tonnes of garbage are in the landfill or one there way to the incinerator right now. 310, 000. That's how many tonnes of garbage could be going to the landfill or incinerator in a future that's far closer than it seems.
The Green Bin
In the past few years, Vancouver “created” the green bin program that will collect compostable leftover foods. Starting in 2010, the city allows residents to put uncooked food scraps into the green bin. Resident’s waste in their green bin is collected by weekly with the yard trimmings. One year later Vancouver started to collect the city’s garbage and food scraps more frequently, so residents could have more space to put garbage and food scraps in the garbage cans and green bins. Between 2014 and 2015, Vancouver is “forced” to have a by-law organic waste diversion plan. The disposal by every family is controlled by the city’s facility for disposal.
Extended Producer Responsibility
An program Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) , for recycling packaging and printed paper from residential properties was and are launched by the Province in 2014. This increased the types of materials that can be recycled. EPR programs shift the load of dealing with materials from taxpayers, producers, and more residential uses. The producer becomes responsible for managing the environmental change of their products across its entire life cycle, from the selection of materials and design to its end-of-life. EPR is a key to help close the circle between product production and disposal.