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"A Family Tradition for 125 Years" PORT PERRY STAR - Tuesday, October 8, 1991 - 17 Students down in the dumps By Gillian Barfoot A group of Port Perry High School students spent some time down in the dumps last Thursday. Nineteen Grade 11 and 12 Environmental Science stu- dents and members of the En- vironmental Club visited the Brock West Landfill Site, the Durham Recycling Centre and the Scugog Transfer Station and learned first-hand what happens to their waste. Teachers Don Hughes and Larry Doble, who is currently taking a year off to conduct an environmental science project, accompanied the students, along with Scugog waste reduc- tion week co-ordinator Janet Banting and Ward 2 councillor Marilyn Pearce. At the Brock West Landfill Site in Pickering, site engineer Lou Ciardullo explained to the students how the decomposi- tion of the garbage creates a mixture of methane and carbon dioxide gases, which result in an unpleasant odor. From 1985 until this year, the gases were merely inciner- ated but as of July, a power plant has been burning the gas- es to create steam, generating up to $10 million a year from selling electricity to Ontario Hydro. The plant, which vacuums up 10,000 cubic feet of gas per minute from pipe built into the landfill site, generates enough energy to supply Ajax with electricity, explained Mr. Ciar- dullo. The students had the chance to examine the landfill site up close when they were driven to the top of the 100-foot high mountain of earth-covered gar- bage. As they watched, a steady stream of trucks emp- tied their loads, bulldozers flat- tened the waste, and excava- tors dumped and spread out earth on top. A typical truck holds 10 tons DID YOU KNOW? We Offer Quality Printing of eo Letterheads e e Business Cards e Wedding & Anniversary e Invitations e eBusiness Forms e PORT PERRY STAR OFFICE CENTRE 188 Mary St. - Port Perry of garbage, said Mr. Ciardullo, explaining that 300 to 400 trucks dump their waste at the landfill site each day. There used to be 700 trucks per day, he said. There is now 15.9 million tons of waste in the site, about 60 per cent of which comes from Durham Region and 40 per cent comes from Metro To- ronto, he said. The total site covers 300 acres, including about 160 acres of landfill. The entire site will be capped by four feet of clay, top- soil and sod when it is full within two years, Mr. Ciardul- lo told the students, adding the site will not accept liquid or hazardous waste, or recyclable material. The next stop for the stu- dents was the Durham Recy- cling Centre in Oshawa. Recycling operations super- visor Sue Campbell told the students the materials are all hand-sorted to remove contam- inants such as plastic bags and junk mail, which can't be re- cyled yet. As well, newspapers _-- be separated from cardboard and plastic pop bottles from the cans before they are baled and transported to the appropriate company for recycling, she ex- plained. More materials, such as fine papers and other plastics, could be collected for recycling if there was room to store it in great enough quantities to make it worthwhile for a com- pany to recycle it, she said. The students then travelled to the Scugog Transfer Station on Regional Road 8, and in- spected the different materials accepted for recycling, includ- ing scrap metal, drywall, wood, tires, propane tanks, car bat- teries and motor oil. The scrap metal, for which they receive $16 per ton, is the only material they make mon- ey on, explained the transfer station's clerk, Dan Lindsay. They get paid $20 per ton for the corrugated cardboard, but the cost of processing is much higher, added Mhairi-Paul McGirr, the waste reduction facilitator for Durham Region. It costs $300 a ton to take the tires away, she said, ex- plaining that some of them can be retreaded but most are made into rubber "crumbs" to be manufactured into other products. They receive about 75 cents r car battery, and pay about 50 per ton to get rid of the drywall, she said. Scugog Township 1991 Municipal Election ALL-CANDIDATES' PUBLIC MEETING Port Perry High School WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 23rd - 7:30 PM Everyone Welcome - Your opportunity to meet and question your local candidates. Most of the propane cylin- ders are 'cut in half and used for scra metal and the used Botop oil is recycled in Peterbo- he Mr. Lindsay added. ut 65 tons of recyclable material is taken from the transfer station each month, he told the students. "But just think, it's not being buried." The students had mixed re- actions to the tour. "To think I got up at quarter- to-seven for this," one student was overheard saying. "All we did today was look at garbage," 1s explained. "Garbage is bor- But Grade 11 student Mela- nie Johnston disagreed. "Eve- rybody should recycle," she said. "We don't need more gar- bage." SCRAP | The Grade 11 and 12 Environmental Science students at Port erry High School are a lit- tie "tired" of garbage after last Thursday's tour of the Brock West Landfill Site (below), the Durham Recycling Centre and the Scugog Transfer Station (above). This first-hand view of the region's waste made some students resolve to work harder at practising the "3 Rs". A "a Wig This All-Candidates' Meeting is Hosted by TAXPAYERS' COALITION SCUGOG (formerly Citizens Against Unjustified Taxes) presents GOURMET DINNER & Avcrion featuring special guest (A3 Immaculate Conception Church Hall Thursday, October 17th, 1991 Cash Bar - 6:30 pm Dinner - 7:30 pm $60.00 per person Tickets available at the Library 985-7686 Proceeds to the Library Book Fund Rh LIBRARY EE EE | GOO EN LE RE Ew