GIGO

Condos opting out of city trash collection

With a cost savings of 65-75%, more may hire private hauler

By SUE-ANN LEVY

It seems the city's highly exorbitant Waste Reduction Levy has only reduced one thing since coming into being a year ago July.

Instead of stepping up recycling, the garbage tax grab has persuaded some apartment buildings to reduce their reliance on city collection services -- namely to contract out to the private sector.

Brad Butt, executive director of the Greater Toronto Apartment Association, says as many as 300 buildings have decided to opt out of city services so far. More are expected now that his association has done a competitive tender to find a private hauler -- BFI Canada.

Gloria Salomon, a property manager with Gonte apartments, said the private hauler will pick up garbage at two of their buildings starting tomorrow. She said BFI offered "very aggressive rates" that will see collection at one building go down from the $10-$14 per suite per month the city was charging to $3.50 per suite per month.

That's anywhere from 65% to 75% less.

But, as per usual, city officials were playing down the impact of the garbage tax grab.

Public works chairman Glenn De Baeremaeker insists only 137 buildings or 3% of the city's 5,000 condos and apartments have left the city's collection services.

De Baeremaeker said some of those buildings will "regret" they left once they realize the contracts are not as "attractive" as they thought. He suggested the private sector won't be picking up the organics, recycling, yard waste and hazardous household waste "for free" as the city does.

Butt said the contract with the private sector "includes everything" and actually works on the same principle as the city -- the costs go down as an apartment increases its recycling efforts.

True the diversion rate for condo and apartments is expected to increase from 15% last year to 19% this year.

That said, the implications of this contracting out campaign are far more lasting than the city will admit.

The city will not just lose much-needed cash to fund their expensive waste diversion programs. Butt said once apartments opt out of city collection they do not have to join the green bin program.

"Most of our members have said, 'no,'" he said. "It is very messy and there are lots of logistical problems."

What did the city's garbage gurus expect?

First they imposed a garbage tax grab on condos and apartments long before they were ready to roll out the green bin program that would help these buildings reduce their costs. The complete roll-out was recently delayed until 2011 due to budget constraints.

Yet De Baeremaeker continued to insist they factor out the wet waste in the levy charged to condos and apartments.

"We do garbage audits all the time," he said.

I think if he were to talk to most condo and apartment managers, they would say they have no idea what they're being charged, the city's bills are so convoluted.

The city's garbage officials have also refused to consider apartment-friendly kitchen catchers whose lids stay closed and keep the pests out.

Waste Diversion Ontario's Rod Muir proposed his new competitively-priced Sure Close bin to garbage officials in April of 2008 and they "passed on it" -- choosing to purchase 625,000 of the old model whose lids don't stay closed.

Meanwhile Muir says he won the bid to supply 240,000 of the bins to the city of Ottawa and sold another 40,000 to the city of San Francisco in the last two months.

He feels if the city wants to get to its 70% diversion rate, it has to give Torontonians the "best tools possible.

"It (our bin) wasn't even given consideration," Muir said. "The doors of this building (City Hall) are as closed to those not in the inside as ever."

That's for sure. Even if it means wasting money on waste.

SUE-ANN.LEVY@SUNMEDIA.CA