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PAGE 16, WHliTBY FREE PRESS, WEDNESDAY, NOVMMER 22, 1989 200 muncpalites in.Rcclneek NealyC00municipalities and more than 80 newspapers throughout Ontario will b. participating in Recyling Week 9,NV. 20 te 26, says the Recying Council of Ontario (RCO). Recycling Week is designated annually by Ontario'Minister of Environment, Jim Bradley ta, promnote waste management solutions. The theme for this year's Recycling Week is 'Changing Attitudes: Reducee Reuse*Recycle." "Our objective is taÃ" convinoe people of their individual responsibility té reduce waste through the 31t%" said RCO executive 'director John Hanson. Ptecydling Week is an annual project of the. RCO, a non-profit environmental advocacy group which, dedicates itself ta educating the. public, as well as business and industrial sectors about waste minniization. "This is the. flfth year weOve sponsored Recycling Week and we are overwhelined by the positive response across the province. Last year lightly more than 100 communities organized "themed" events and activities to raise awareness among residents of the things that can b. don. ta reduce waste.'This year we have more than :200 coimmunities" *plannin activities," sid Hanson. An aàddition'tat, Aisl-year's- p ocal thrust is aàposterfessay comnpetition.for outh Which ýis being sosre navoluntary basis by more than:80 comunit: and daily newspapers, throughout th'. pr lic. - adtion ta "ChagingAttitudes"T-shirtû winners i each category will have their submissios entered in a provinoe-wide competition which will b. judged by the RCO. The two top provincial winners (one ini each category ),agda chaperon each w-,behote1 b the RCO to lunch'i Toronto with Jim Bradley, Minister of the. Envirornment, a -tour, ýof -the Ontario Legisature:and à«a" social evening. - "Anyone can participate in' Recycling Week, " says Hansori. "By avoidng the purchase of overpacked products; reusing goods such as glass containers, shopping bags and gift wrap; and recyding through your local depot' or curbside program individuals will b. contributing to a healthier enàvironmient." Alo. prvding finanicial pônsoshp for.,R&éycling *Week '89 are the Ontarlo Ministry, of th., environment and Miracle Food Yat'Air .trayel -fr postr/esaywinners , is' supplied byr <Caiadian Partner.' More information about waste minimization can b. obtained frcwn the Recycling Council of Ontario, P.O. Box 310, Station P, Toronto, Ontario, M58 2S8 or by telephoning in. Toronto -area 960-0938, Ontario-wide toll free 1-800-2ý63-2849. WHAT US RECYCLED Weight in pounds per household per year Newspapers - 230 Glass 44 Steel 23 Total weight of TOTAL . 300 recycled matériats collected from *- households. Average at end of '88 . .. . ..... »~' ~HO RECYCLES~~ Percentage cf ail GLASS 1 househads servsd bin Ontario Dec. Dec. Dec. Oct. Feb ... 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 CLASS 1 households are considered to be those that have househotd recycling boxes for curbside collection of at least newspapers. soft drink and other containers. Acustar issues chattçe Acustar in Ajax in challenging ail companies to join in the region's recycling efforts. Gar y Herrama, regional chair- man for Durbam Region, was at the plant recently to present the company with a plague to recog- nize the Ajax Trim Division for helping to reduce the volume beingdum ped in the landfill site. Te company used the presen- tation to extend a challenge to other industries to join in recyl- fig efforts. Nick Arts, production control manager at the Ajax plant, says, "We're also putting out the mes- sage that -it makes damn good business sense to recycle." The Ajax plant of Acustar Canada Inc., a division of Chrys- 1er Motors Company, began its recycling program in the spring of 1988. "We were looking at a better way of getting rid of our p allets (loading ski ds and cardboard containers)," says Arts. Recyling the pallets led to the plant's decision to form an in- house recycling committee to im- plement a total waste disposai reduction program. h h "We recognized righ n h beginning that it wouid take the efforts of the entire plant," says Arts. The ensuing joint efforts by hourly, union and management personnel'have produced results far exceéding expectations. According to Arts, the plant bas reduced the quantiy of waste going to landfill sites by 60 per* cent. Before the recycling programi waýs initiated, the plant was spending aprroximately $900,000 per year to rid of waste. As a result of the efforts, the plant saves close to $500,000 in tipping charges, transportation costs to g et the waste to dump sites and by selling recyclable m aterials. The plant bas addressed al aspects of the recyling program, from placing containers through the facility for paper products and pop cans, to bundi ing cor- rugated cardboard. "And we're not finished yet," says Arts, indicating that the plant is currently looking to seIl 'material off-cuts to other indus- tries. He also says the plant is inves- .tigating an alternative method of disposing of waste cafeteria food. Altbougb the tbought of selling the food, whicb he refers tp as "'eslop," seems a little -extreme, Arts says, "We're going to tàke. it (the recycling efforts) as far.,.as we can." According to Arts,. he receivesi telephone calîs, daily from qt-,et companies interestedi in learn~ing more about Acustar's metbods of recycling and looking for direc-' tion to initiate their own:*pro-' grams. "We want to send outa. chal- lenge, or a message, to ail the other com p anies that may be dragging teir feet a bit to do their part to protect our environ- ment and our landfill sites," Arts concludes. Improvrng the health A look at any Ontario street on blue box collection days shows it, and confirmation comes from a survey conducted b y0Otario Multi-Material Recycing Incor- porated (OMMRI), that people are ready and willing to improve the healtb of the environment through recycling and other waste reduction measures. Responses by Ontario citizens to the survey indicate that 97 per cent of the households that have blue boxes use them regularly to recycle glass botties and jarsd aluminum and steel food and beverage cans, plastic botties and jugs. Further, two tbirds of the survey respondents said they would be wilhing to do more to hel inproe the environment b y comostngand taking bazard- ous' wastes to special disposai depots. "The tremendously higb res- ponse to recycling, in b lue box communities tbrougbout Ontario is fantastic", said OMMRI chair- man Harold Corrigan. "It in- dicates just how entbusiastic the citizens of Ontario are in taking positive steps to reduce waste. Now the two major chal- lenges," he said, "'are to encourage people to put aIl the waste that is recyclable in the x ad pigese henumjbpr, box service. There's no doubt more waste could be diverted from landfill sites if people were abso- lutely diligent about recycling". Corrigan said that as this is Recycling Week in Ontario (Nov. 20 to 26), there is an opportunity to «remind those with recycling services available to them -- an d there are more than 1.9 million households now -- of what can be recycled rather than tbrown away. We sbould aIl be working to maximize our recycling efforts," he said. OMMRI w'as ceated in 1986 by Ontario's soft drink industry, its container and container material- suppliers to promote, support and fund municipal recycling programs. It does this in partner- ship with the Ontario Ministry of the Environment and the impIe- menting municipality. The OMMRI survey, conducted by telephone last June, consisted of a province-wide quantification study of 500 blue box users. It examined attitudes, opinions and practices related to curbside multi-material-recycling.' 18JIK 0FALI.- TbrE ARuAGE VJVVE gEcycLEV îrJO GOUR~jtI -CUi5%WE !'