National
Waste Reduction Handbook
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:Jaegirn.ti. :p-mot& backyard. compostin& in .&cent -years’ : the: munici$&ty~ ‘of Ne&&tle: i/Region..of lhiih&ii, ~Ontariof:re?ntIy stud&d the ~&t&al-3vas& : dive,rs$on- ‘&entid,: i cosPeffe&ivene&’ .&nd homeowner acceptance. of batiky&d Com&&ii .$.na pilot cornposting programi jThe ,Neti$as$e prop&n was supported by a number of s@onsoi%’ including the Ontario Ministry of /the. Environment, the Regional Municipalitjr -of -Bur%m,l and Garbage iof: Ontario D;m;lished (6002)). f acit+n’s adv?aay -group. : Between September jand: Be+nber .1989,. Sixty :households .ti Newcastle we&provided-*th one.of three d~fferentbrands of home c.om$osting un$s for the &&arch p&j&; R&&e&& &&:&in&J’i&.the : --II& of :&he..&omp.osting-units ,and :p;;dvidedi .+ith-indructionsformonitdri;lgthe~~t’spe~ormance. Qverthe next fourinonths, the hou~hoidscomposted organicg including. .food : :a# : yard ;yaste .in .their r&&ti+&~nits. .. :.I ., :I..j’.: .j:..j:.. ‘1 j,. The results of the. Newbastie prog&i.-were impr+siv& : .On aver&,- the sixty ~@omposting.iznits:. diverted 28 kilograms of organic &&te per household. per month &&the mnnic+al was&stream &iUng in a 22 percent reduction 02 all riitidential~waste for .$articipatinghouseholds. Even though the study was -conducted during a- period. of: heavy ‘yard Waste generation, over two-thirds of the.wastediverted was food i&e,--sugge&ing::signifi&int .jiear-round potential for backyard composting in Neoircafiitie. : Ananalysisoftheprogrames$imatedtheamoitixed cost of backyard composting tobe .$18;75 per tonne, substantially lower than the cost Of collection-alone (estimated at between $4016 :per :bnne) for other majorsolidwaste managementa1term&ives,in&&ng centralized recycling, municipal cornposting, incineration. and landfilline.: Actual back-end costs. -. of those alternatives would z&s& theircost per tonne
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