Zero Waste by Robin Murray, Greenpeace Environmental Trust 2002

Inset 4
Halifax, Nova Scotia
In the late 1980s, the Halifax region in Nova Scotia
(population 350,000) faced intense civic opposition to an
expansion of its landfill site in Sackville. The joint councils
proposed a 500 tonne per day incinerator as an alternative,
but this, too, was strongly opposed. The local action groups
raised money and hired their own consultants from Seattle
who laid out a cheaper, alternative plan for a recycling led
strategy. Subsequently, the councils turned down the
incinerator proposal because of its costs and its threat to
the development of intensive recycling and agreed in
principle with the Seattle plan.
They also decided to involve the action groups in designing
the scheme. Decisions were made by consensus. The key
conclusion from the process was that no organic waste, or
toxic waste or recyclables should go to landfill. Anything
going to landfill had to first be treated to remove all toxics,
organics and recyclables, and to stabilise the remainder
through composting.
The system that emerged followed these re c o m m e n d a t i o n s .
It was a three stream system with all households being
s e rved by kerbside collection of dry recyclables, 72% of them
having kerbside collection of organics (using special aerated
wheeled bins), access to a strong home composting
p rogramme plus collection of residuals.
95 Enviro depots were set up to receive beverage containers
(all of which other than milk containers have a deposit on
them) , and there were tyre pick ups from auto stores (the
tyres being recycled in a new plant that freezes and
produces a high quality crumb rubber). There are drop off
sites for hazardous waste, places for the recycling of 2nd
hand building materials, a MRF handling 18,000 tonnes a
year and two centralised composting sites.
For residual waste there is a screening plant, which pulls out
bulky items, recyclables, and toxics, and then stabilises the
residual using a trough system with 14 bays. The landfill has
been renamed a ’residual disposal facility’ and is notable for
its lack of odour and birds.
A key development role has been played by the Resource
Recovery Fund which acts as promoter of recycling and
processing, organises logistics, finances new projects and
passes back savings to municipalities.
The result is that Halifax from a diversion level of 3% in
1997, reached 60%within three years. Its drink container
system recovered 80% of the deposit containers and 96-98%
returns of reusable beer bottles. The main improvements
sought locally have been to have smaller, local compost
facilities, particularly in the rural areas where the
composting could be done by farmers. With a programme
to increase capture rates and extend the facilities for the
recycling of bulky goods, the civic groups estimate that
recycling rates should increase to 88% within ten years.
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