Recycling is paying off in a big way for the Essex-Windsor Solid Waste Authority.
Revenue from the sale of recyclable material in 2021 was approximately $4,967,436, up from $2,180,781 in 2020.
The revenue represents a basket-of-goods revenue of approximately $237/tonne compared to a basket-of-goods revenue of $114/tonne in 2020.
The increase is in part due to a very strong market conditions for the majority of recyclable materials marketed by the EWSWA, with cardboard having a major impact on the increase.
Cathy Copot-Nepszy, Manager of Waste Diversion, says 65 per cent of the revenue generating materials were fibres including cardboard, newspapers, and hardback materials like cereal boxes.
"A lot of that was attributed to behaviour change with online shopping opening up and the increased demand for fibre materials to help produce packing that supplied people with the packages they ordered online," she says.
The EWSWA collected $1,311,714 in revenue from cardboard alone in 2021, compared to $646,101 in 2020.
The Essex-Windsor Solid Waste Authority reports revenue from the sale of recyclable material in 2021 was approximately $4,967,436, up from $2,180,781 in 2020. (Image courtesy of the EWSWA)
Copot-Nepszy says there wasn't enough material for the market, so we saw a tremendous increase, especially in our fibre markets.
"Our prices were extremely high, if not double. As well, we did see it with plastics and metals, so it was an exceptional year," she says.
Aluminium cans and foil generated $747,075 in revenue in 2021, up over the $441,106 in 2020.
Copot-Nepsz hopes more people will recycle their cardboard materials because this revenue helps offset the costs of running recycling programs.
"What we're hearing from our buyers is that it will continue on," she says, "We're not sure how long until packing refinements are made but there definitely is a demand and we don't see that going away."
In 2021, the seven County of Essex municipalities and the City of Windsor delivered 112,053 tonnes of residential waste to the Regional Landfill.
During the same time period, 56,242 tonnes of residential waste were diverted from the landfill via the blue and red box recycling program, municipal hazardous or special waste program, composting, and other waste diversion programs.
These waste diversion initiatives resulted in a 2021 residential diversion rate of 32.9 per cent. The 2020 diversion rate was 32.4 per cent.