Councillors to pursue rule forcing Ottawa festivals, events to have recycling plan

Some councillors sitting on the city’s environment and climate protection committee want to make it mandatory for festivals and other special events hosted in Ottawa to provide recycling bins on their sites in time for summer 2019.

Right now there’s no law or rule that requires event organizers to implement any kind of a recycling plan. Some big events have gone ahead and done so of their own volition –— but River Ward Coun. Riley Brockington insists he visits many sites with only garbage cans on offer.

READ MORE: City to launch ‘modified’ recycling pilot at Ottawa parks for summer 2018

Brockington, whose ward includes large parks like Mooney’s Bay and plays host to a number of special events, said he’s “not satisfied” with the status quo and wants to see city hall move toward enforcement for the next summer season.

“No one questions having to provide washrooms … Why should recycling be any different?” Brockington told reporters following the committee’s meeting Tuesday. “It just needs to be part of the overall fabric.”

Brockington brought up the issue at committee after receiving a response from city staff about how the city could “significantly increase the collection of recyclables” in Ottawa parks. The note also addressed how the city currently works with event organizers to ensure they offer recycling facilities on site.

The city of Ottawa does run a program that lends out recycling racks for community events  — leaving it up to organizers to drop off the recyclables at a city yard for processing — but it only applies to events with fewer than 300 attendants. Other than that, there are a few municipal and provincial initiatives that encourage “green” practices and “emphasize strong recycling and waste management plans.”

There were some questions at Tuesday’s meeting about whether city hall has the legal authority to force major events hosted in town to provide recycling facilities. Lawyers for the city told the committee they believe the municipality does have that power, but would have to double-check with bylaw.

READ MORE: 30 years strong, Hillside raises the bar for green festivals

Committee chair and Capital Ward Coun. David Chernushenko lives by Brewer Park in Old Ottawa South and said he’s often watched recyclables and bits of garbage blow past his front yard. He said in an ideal world, event organizers would implement more comprehensive recycling plans without “big government” telling them to do so — insisting the cost would be little-to-nothing for the events.

He cited the “original, grassroots” Ottawa Folk Fest and the professional sports events at Lansdowne Park as a few that set a good example.

Chernushenko confirmed he supports a move to make event organizers present a recycling plan in order to get their permit for summer 2019, saying it would be unfair to impose new rules on short notice for this summer’s festival season. He said his comments could serve as “advance warning” that the city plans to pursue more serious enforcement.

“So the idea that this came from out of the blue, 20 years or more after the first festivals started to do this kind of thing, wouldn’t hold water,” the downtown councillor said.

Chernushenko suggested a motion on the matter could be put forward at committee before council breaks for the summer.

“I think it’s time and it’s something I’d like to be a part of,” he said.

City taking different approach to parks recycling pilot in summer 2018

The environment committee Tuesday also discussed a pilot program for recycling collection in Ottawa’s parks that the city is executing this summer.

The pilot is intended to improve on a similar project launched last year. The 2017 experiment, which saw blue bin recycling carts placed in the parking lots of seven “high-usage” parks in Ottawa, wasn’t successful, according to the city. Materials were often contaminated with food waste and dog feces, and placing the recycling bins in the parking lot, separate from garbage bins, perhaps discouraged people from using them, the city added.

For the summer 2018 season, the city is expanding the experiment to about 50 municipal parks — though it hasn’t yet finalized which ones, despite it being mid-May. The plan is to place a recycling container beside every garbage can, accompanied by signs describing what materials can go in the recycling bin.

READ MORE: The biggest recycling mistakes Canadians continue to make

Marilyn Journeaux, the city’s director of solid waste services, told reporters the pilot is less about recycling collection in parks and more about figuring out how to get residents to put the right materials in the correct bins.

The director said the city’s recycling process is an automated system, which means materials have to be sorted properly in order to be recycled. Journeaux confirmed that just one plastic bag of dog waste — or one hot dog — chucked in a recycling container will reroute the entire contents of that bin to the landfill.

“If it becomes unrecyclable, what’s the point of purpose of providing that service?” She said. “We’re really looking at strategies to promote the proper use of those bins.”

An effective recycling system, Chernushenko argued, has to be “very well thought through” and include “very clear signage” and “very frequent” placement of containers in a large area, like a park.

“I’d like to get to that level where we have a very clear, easy-to-use system,” he said. “It’s easier to say than to do well.”

READ MORE: 5 things you didn’t know you could recycle

Brockington said he “appreciates” the city is pushing ahead with another pilot project this summer, calling it a move “in the right direction” — but still expressed frustration about the fact that Ottawa’s parks don’t have permanent recycling facilities in 2018.

“I don’t understand why garbage cans are more prevalent than recycling if the majority of what is being thrown out is recyclable, then recycling should be on equal footing to our garbage facilities,” he said.

Asked whether the city would ever consider fining people who don’t recycle properly — similar to penalizing pet owners who don’t pick up their dog’s poop — Journeaux said her team will be studying penalty-based waste collection programs that some municipalities in Ontario have implemented. She said the plan is to report back to city council in 2019 on strategies that Ottawa could consider.