Waste Management

Municipal solid waste management

Cambium Environmental has been providing municipal solid waste management services to municipalities in central and eastern Ontario since 1989. Our professionals recognize and understand the unique needs of Ontario municipalities and take pride in offering cost-effective waste management and diversion solutions that are acceptable to municipalities, regulatory agencies and private enterprises. The Cambium Environmental team; including waste management specialists, engineers, hydrogeologists, and technologists; achieve these goals while routinely meeting time and budgetary constraints and maintaining rigorous quality standards. Our key areas of expertise are:

  • Waste management strategic planning (EPA and EAA).
  • Waste management system optimization.
  • Waste diversion system strategies and implementation.
  • Landfill site design, operations and development planning.
  • Waste transfer station and diversion depot design.
  • Water and landfill gas monitoring and assessment.
  • Hazardous waste management.
  • Financial assurance assessments.
  • Agency, stakeholder and public consultation programs.

The environmental screening process (Ontario Regulation 101/07)

In March 2007, the Ministry of the Environment announced the enactment of Ontario Regulation 101/07 (Waste Management Projects) under the Environmental Assessment Act (EAA) and amendments to the Environmental Protection Act (EPA) for waste recycling, mining, alternative fuels, and new/emerging technologies. The regulatory changes were created for the purpose of reducing the time and resources required under select circumstances for the approval of continued operations of small rural landfills through capacity expansions or landfill mining. The new regulation establishes three classes of waste management projects. Those projects, both public and private, with the highest impact are designated for the full EAA process. A new environmental screening process applies to projects with predictable effects that can be “readily mitigated.” Projects classified as having minimal impacts, such as landfill expansions to less than 40,000 cubic metres, do not require approval under the Environmental Assessment Act (EAA) and are not designated as subject to the requirements of the EAA. Cambium Environmental is currently working with municipalities to realize the advantages offered by the new regulation.

Waste audits and reduction work plans

Ontario’s 3R Regulations (Reduction, Reuse & Recycling) have been in place since 1994. They require businesses within the industrial, commercial and institutional (IC&I) sectors (including schools, office buildings, hospitals, and multi-unit residential buildings) as well as municipalities, to develop programs to reduce the amount of non-hazardous waste going to disposal and to establish waste reduction work plans.

Who Should Have a Waste Audit?

  • Retailers with 100,000 square metres or more of floor space.
  • Office buildings of 100,000 square metres or more of floor space.
  • Restaurants with revenue > $3 million in a calendar year.
  • Hotels and motels with > 75 units.
  • Hospitals (class A, B, or F).
  • Educational institutions with > 350 students.
  • Manufacturing operations with > 16,000 total annual man-hours worked.
  • Construction and demolition projects > 2,000 square metres.

The purpose of a waste audit is to determine the amount, nature and composition of waste, and the manner by which it is produced by an organization or specific site. A waste audit will also determine a facility’s compliance with, and/or actions necessary to ensure compliance with, Ontario’s 3R Regulations and include the following components:

  • Establish baseline or benchmark data.
  • Characterize and quantify the waste streams.
  • Verify waste pathways.
  • Identify waste diversion opportunities.
  • Identify source reduction opportunities.
  • Assess effectiveness of current systems to improve efficiency of waste management.
  • Obtain detailed data on waste generation allowing more accurate product costing.

By conducting a waste audit and implementing a waste reduction work plan, your organization can maintain compliance with Ontario Government mandated regulations which may result in greater waste reduction and the potential for significant operational cost savings.

Municipal waste recycling strategy preparation

Waste Diversion Ontario (WDO), under the Continuous Improvement Fund (CIF), is offering tools and funding that will assist municipalities to manage recyclable materials through the development of a Municipal Waste Recycling Strategy (MWRS). A MWRS is an essential tool in the achievement of best practices in the management of recycled materials.

A MWRS is used to plan effective and efficient recycling programs. Essentially, this involves the following:

  • Documenting decisions, through concept and design, to recycle blue box waste.
  • Forecasting waste and recyclable material generation.
  • Planning how to optimize recycling of identified materials.
  • Implementing and monitoring the recycling plan.
  • Reviewing the MWRS and making continuous improvements.

Municipalities who prepare a MWRS can increase (or maintain) the portion of their annual WDO funding, which is linked to this measure. Municipalities who do not prepare a MWRS will likely have their WDO funding reduced.  However, funding is available through the CIF for the development of a MWRS.

Cambium Environmental assists municipalities both in securing the funding available through CIF and in the development of a MWRS, which maximizes the WDO funding for which municipalities are eligible.