Wet/dry pilot leads to full-scale project

An organics cocollection pilot in the town of Bracebridge, Ontario has resulted in plans to begin a full-scale composting program for the District of Muskoka, where Bracebridge is located. The pilot, which ran from July, 1995 to April, 1996, involved 1,200 households divided into three groups of 400. Each group used a different type of container for the organic portion of the waste stream - 32 gallon Otto aerated wheeled carts, cellophane lined kraft bags, and degradable brown plastic bags (see "Pilot Evaluates Wet/Dry Collection, BioCycle, November, 1995). Residents in the cart group received biweekly collection of refuse and organics, with recyclables collected on alternating weeks. Residents using bags for organics received weekly collection of wet/dry materials. "Participation rates for the cart program were 52 to 54 percent, versus 34 percent for the kraft bags and 21 percent for the plastic bags," says George South of Muskoka Container-ized Services, Ltd. (MCS), which carried out the pilot.

As a result of the pilot, MCS is launching a full-scale, cart-based program, starting with 3,400 households and all of the institutional commercial/industrial sector in the District of Muskoka. There will be mandatory biweekly collection; residents can purchase or lease the carts. MCS recently completed construction of a 30,000 square foot composting building. Residential and ICI organics will be cocomposted with biosolids in windrows, says South. Eventually, the program will service the entire district, processing 10,000 tons/year of organics.