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8- The Oakville Beaver, Friday March 30, 2007 www.oakvillebeaver.com GreenCart talk had some seeing red By Melanie Hennessey SPECIAL TO THE BEAVER More than half the residents now piloting Halton Region's GreenCart think the initiative should be expanded Haltonwide. That was one of the findings of a recently-conducted phone survey on the program that sees residents' kitchen scraps, or organic waste, picked up at the curb in a separate GreenCart for composting -- something the Region says will help increase the life of its landfill. Complete survey results were presented to the Region's Planning and Public Works Committee last week. It showed 88 per cent of those living in the pilot areas have used the GreenCart at least once and 82 per cent said they are very or somewhat satisfied with the program. While 89 per cent of the residents deemed the GreenCart to be a positive initiative, only 65 per cent said it should go region wide. Twenty per cent said it should run in the urban areas only, six per cent said both urban and hamlet area and nine per cent said they don't know. Waste Management Director Rob Rivers detailed information gathered about the program over the past year and a half, such as 324.5 tonnes of organics were diverted from the landfill between October 2005 and September 2006. Living Healthy A series of FREE public education seminars by Ovarian Cancer; What You Should Know Listen to the Whispers p Wednesday, y, April p 4, , 2007 6:30 pm 7:00 pm Displays "Listen to the Whispers": The National Ovarian Cancer Association Oakville-Trafalgar g Memorial Hospital p Auditorium 327 Reynolds Street (Reduced parking for those attending seminar) FOR MORE INFORMATION AND TO RESERVE YOUR SEAT TODAY CALL 905-338-4379 Presentation By: In Partnership With: Despite that, Rivers said the voluntary GreenCart pilot didn't achieve the target waste diversion rates for a region-wide program. "The Halton demonstration results are typical of a source-separated organics demonstration program though," he noted. Halton's goal is a 60 per cent waste diversion rate by 2010. Currently it's about 43 per cent. He said other municipalities have achieved diversion targets by implementing a GreenCart-type program with garbage bag limits and bi-weekly garbage collection. He also outlined other options that can be used to deal with organic waste, including garborators (in-sink garbage disposals), backyard composting and an energy-from-waste facility. Burlington Councillor John Taylor said he did his own research and found out from City of Edmonton staff it's using a system known as mixed solid waste, where garbage bags are placed in a large bioreactor and decomposed, resulting in what's known as class B compost -- a quality that doesn't meet Ontario standards. But, he said a method of turning mixed solid waste into class A compost is under a proposed trial in Edmonton as well. "I believe it's something we need to investigate," he said. The committee then heard from a couple of local residents who wanted to share their thoughts on the issue, like Enver Domingo from Oakvillegreen. He said the group strongly supports the GreenCart program and would like to see it introduced in more urban areas in Halton. "The program must be mandatory and accompanied by more frequent recyclable pick ups and a bi-weekly pick up with bag limits on garbage," he said. "We are prepared to work with the Region to attain waste reduction exceeding the 60 per cent goal." Protect Our Water and Environmental Resources (POWER) also attended and brought along waste diversion campaigner Rod Muir to talk to the committee members. He said a GreenCart program is the "next logical step" for the Region to take. He also criticized Edmonton's mixed solid waste program and told councillors it's "not the answer." Muir's remarks on Edmonton raised the ire of Taylor, who questioned his information source. Muir told Taylor he was informed by someone he knows in the waste management business. "So you managed to make a lot of comments about something you know nothing about," rebuked Taylor. "That's not true. I stand by my remarks," Muir said. "Well, I'm not going to get into a debate with the delegate because I don't think he knows what he's talking about," Taylor alleged. Oakville Councillor Tom Adams jumped in, asking Taylor if his remarks were appropriate. "I didn't think his (Muir's) remarks were very appropriate either. I was offended by his comments, and if you were offended by mine, I apologize," Taylor said. Taylor said it appeared Oakville Councillor Allan Elgar accepted Muir's information. "I thanked him for his information," Elgar said angrily before Chair Gary Carr stepped in. In the end, the committee agreed staff contact Edmonton and confirm if its mixed solid waste facility can or will be able to produce Class A compost. If so, the committee endorsed then having staff organize a tour of the Edmonton facility and Halifax's similar plant for the committee's chair, vice chair and some staff. But regional council voted down that motion Wednesday. Oakville Mayor Rob Burton -- who was opposed -- said he'd like to be shown the need for council to go and do staff's work before he could support such a trip. Taylor told his colleagues he finds it's very regretful they think councillors can't go and do independent research. "I don't need staff to do all my thinking for me," he said, noting he plans to now use his councillor research budget to go to Edmonton on his own. 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