an assessment of the and evolution of solid waste …€¦ · 5.2 the future: a zero waste vision...
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TOWARD ZERO WASTE:
AN ASSESSMENT OF THE CURRENT STATE AND EVOLUTION OF SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT AT A
LARGE MILITARY FACILITY
BY
York U. Friesen
Submitted in partial fulfilhent of the requirements for the degree of Master of Environmentai Studies
Dalhousie University Halifax, Nova Scotia
December 1998
@Copyright by York U. Friesen, 1998
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DEDICATION
Work on this thesis began six years ago and has since been left and revived nurnerous
times. For me the passage of time has been most notably marked by the birth of my three
children: Conor, Jesse, and Noah. It is to them and the nst of humanity's future to whom
I dedicated this thesis.
To waste, to destroy, our naturai resources, to skin and exhaust the land instead of using it so as to increase its usefùlness, will result in underminhg in the days of our children the very prosperity which we ought by right to hand down to them amplified and developed.
Theodore Roosevelt Message to Congress December 3, 1907
SOLID WASTE AT MARLANT: A CASE STUDY .............................. ...... .... 47
3 -1 Profile of MARLANT .................................................................................. -47
3.1.1 Founding and Growth ....................................................................... 46 . . 3 .1.2 Organizatlon ......... .. ..................................................................... -48
3.1.3 Scope of Operations ....................................................................... - 3 0
Environmental Management ................................................................... -52
3 .2.1 International Context .................... ......., .......................................... 52 3.2.2 Federal Context .............................................................................. 53
3 . 2.3 Departmentai Context ............................. .... ................................ -54 . . 3 . 2.4 Environmental Management at MARLANT ................................... -33
Waste Quantity and Composition .................................................................. 57
3.3.1 TheWayitWas ................................................................................ 57 3.3 -2 Ecoaomic Driven Diversion ............................................................ -59
........................................................................... 3.3 -3 Impetus for Change 60 .............................................. 3.3 -4 Waste Reduction Management Plan 62
3 -4 Toward an Integrated Waste Management Strategy ....................................... 65
.................................................................. 3 .4.1 Implementing Diversion 65 .......................................................... 3.4.2 A Waste Management Vision 68
3 .4.3 Implementing Change: Barriers and Limitations .............................. 71
3.5 Integrated Waste Management Plan ............................... .... ......................... 74
3.5.1 Post Vision: A Collection of Initiatives ........................................... 74 ................................................................. 3.5.2 A Process Driven Review 76
........................................ 3 S.3 The Integrated Waste and Hazxnat Office 78 3.5.4 Measuring Performance: The Green indicators ............................... 82
......................................... 4.0 ASSESSMENT OF MARLANT S W M PRACTICES -85
4.1 Evolution and Current Status of Program ...................................................... 86
................................................................................... 4.2 Organizationd Vision -89
......................................................................... ................... 4.3 View of Waste .... 91
..................................................................... 4.3.1 Three Views of Waste 9 1 ................................................... 4.3.2 The View of Waste at MARLANT 93
............................................ 4.4 Cornmitment and Support ........................ ... 94
4.4.1 NSDOE and 3M Corporation ................................................................ 94 4.4.2 MARLANT ......................................................................................... 96
................................................. 5.0 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 101
5.1 The Current State of MARLANT SWM Prograrn ................................... 101
................................................................. 5.2 The Future: A Zero Waste Vision 105
................................................. 5.3 Recornmendations for Achieving the Vision 108
Appendix A: List of Interviewees ............................................................................ 111
.................................................................................................................. References 112
vii
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1 . The Management of Municipal Solid Waste in Canada 1988 ............................ 4
Figure 2 - Per Capita Waste Generation in Selected Countrïes ............................................ 10
....................... ....... Figure 3 - Materials in the Canadian Solid Waste Stream 1992 .... 16
............................................................ Figure 4 -Surplus Materiai Management Hierarchy 22
.............................................................................. Figure 5 - DND Organizationai Structure 49
.......................................................................... Figure 6 - MARLANT Waste Composition 63
...................................................... Figure 7 - Formation Logistics Organizational Structure 78
......................................... Figure 8 - Review of MARLANT Waste Management Practices 88
LIST OF TABLES
Table 1 . Municipal Solid Waste Generation in Canada ....................................................... 5
Table 2 - Projected Nwnber of Landfills Remaining in Operation in the U.S ...................... 19
Table 3 - Waste Management Hierarchy ............................................................................. - 2 1
Table 4 - Benefits Received by Recycling ............................................................................. 26
................................................... Table 5 - Materials Banned From Landfills & Incinerators 40
Table 6 - 3P Program Results 1975- 1996 ............................................................................. 43
Table 7 - CFB Halifax Foilowing Integration ........................................................................ 1
............................................................................ Table 8 - Waste Composition By Function 64
......................................................... Table 9 - MARLANT Recycling and Waste Contracts 69
....................................................................................... Table 1 0 - Main Generating Points -72
................................................ Table 1 1 - Total Annual Base Waste Generation By Stream 83
Table 12 - MARLANT Per Capita Waste Generation .......................................................... -83
ABSTRACT
The generation of waste has been one of the most prevalent and least thought about by- producü of human activity in history. The burying or buming management approaches
of the past, however, are no longer acceptable: environmentally, economically, or
socially. in addition, predicted levels of population, production, and consumption growth
in next century will increase the quantity and complexity of waste matenals. In the face
of growing public demand and ever higher pollution control costs, solid waste managers
throughout North Arnex-ican are implementing new strategies and practices to manage
waste. Consequently, the way in which by-products are viewed is undergoing a
fundamental shifi toward diversion and reduction based solid waste management
programs. This shifi has resulted in the widespread implementation of comprehensive
and integrated waste management programs in many Canadian municipalities. Some
governrnents and corporations have gone beyond diversion to prevention by optimizing
the efficient use of materials.
Only a decade ago, Canadians were among the largest per capita waste generators in the world. Reacting to national and international concern about environmental and social
problems caused by the accumulation of waste, the federal government committed in
199 1 to reducing the amount of waste sent to landfill fiom its facilities by 50 percent by
the year 2000. Maritime Forces Atlantic, Canada's largest rnilitary facility, adopted the
target and began to improve its management of the over 8,300 tonnes of waste generated
annually. In 1997, a detailed review of the prograrn resulted in the creation of dedicated
unit and strong supporting mechanisms and recommended the implernentation of various
reduction based initiatives. Today MARLANT's prograrn comprises comprehensive
muIti-material recycling as well as composting and reuse initiatives. Green procurement,
and life cycle management opportunities are also being examined.
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS
3M 3P 4 R's BCEfFCE BENVEENV BENVO/FENVO C&D CCME CFB DEAC DGE DND EBS EC EMS FLOG Hazmat HEAP ICI IEP ISWM rwo MARCOM MARLANT MRF MSW
NDHQ NSDOE OCC POL RRF SDS S P r n T S W M WRMP
Minnesota, Mining and Manufacturing Polution Prevention Pays Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, and Recover Base/Formation Construction Engineering Officer BaselFormation Environment Office Base/Formation Environmental Officer Construction and Dernolition Debris Canadian Council of Miaisters of the Environment Canadian Forces Base Defence Environmental Advisory Committee Director General Environment Department of National Defence Environmental Basefine Study Enviromnent Canada Environmentai Management System Formation Logistics Hazardous Materials Halifax Environmental Action Plan Industrial Commercial and Institutional Incremental Environmental Program Integrated Solid Waste Management Integrated Waste and Hazardous Materials Office Maritime Command Maritime Forces Atlantic Municipal Recycling Facility Municipd Solid Waste National Defence Head Quarters Nova Scotia Department of the Environment Old Comgated Cardboard Petroleum, Oils and Lubricants Resource Recovery Fund Sustainable Development Strategy Selected Process Review and Improvement Solid Waste Management Waste Reduction Management Plan
First of al1 1 would thank the members of my thesis cornmittee: Professor Ray Côté, Dr.
Don Patton, Dr. Bob Ellison, and Carol Lee Giffin, whose encouragement, feedback, and
guidance made this thesis possible. In particdar, 1 wouid like to thank Ray Côté who
revived a latent effort more ofien than he is aware and always guided me to the
appropriate path . . . or document.
Th& are also extended to the many people at MARLANT, NDHQ, Environment
Canada, the Nova Scotia Department o f the Environment, and the Halifax Regional
Municipality who took the time out of their busy schedules to provide me much needed
information and more importantly, theïr thoughts and support. A particular thanks goes
to Mr. Rick Newman, who struggled with me through the practical prelude to this thesis
and whose dedication and cornmitment rarely wavered.
Thanks also to the students and staff at SRES who helped make the countless hours (and
coffees) spent in front of the computer more tolerable.
Most importantly, I would like to thank my wife Donna for her encouragement, support,
and 'gentle' prodding. With three children to manage, the many windows of work tirne
she provided to me are especially appreciated.
xii
1.0 INTRODUCTION
The world we have created today as a result of our thinking thus far has problems which cannot be solved by thinking the way we thought when we created them.
Albert Einstein
Humanity seems to assume that the world has an infinite assimilative capacity for the
rnountains of waste that it generates. The problern did not start with the current
generation or even with the industrial tevolution, rather waste has been a problern since
the appearance of humanity. Many solid waste management (SWM) experts refer to
waste as a necessary by-product of activi ty. Furthemore, the economic growth and
standard of living enjoyed by many nations today appears to justie the accumulation of
waste. Unfortunately, expected growth and development trends indicate that the volume
and composition of waste will make management more complex in the future. Solutions
to the problems created by waste must first address the way in which waste is viewed.
His Majesty's Dockyard was founded in 1758. Today, Maritime Forces Atlantic
(MARLANT), encompassing the Dockyard, Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Halifax, and
numerous other facilihes, has over 9,000 personnel and is Canada's largest military
facility. In support of the Atlantic Fleet, MARLANT's many residential, industrial,
commercial, and institutional activities generate thousands of tomes of waste annuall y.
Until recently, this accumulation was primarily routed to Iandfill and management was
concemed with its quick rernoval. In 1994, MARLANT initiated a recycling triai, and
since then the SWM program has evolved considerably. Today, a new integrated SWM
unit in the Logistics organization is dedicated to reducing, recycling, and reusing
W A N T ' s by-products. While reduced costs and volumes indicate that the program
has been successful, it is less clear if the program will result in a fwidamental and
systemic change in the existing view of waste as a useless by-product. This change will
be critical in achieving the departmental cornmimient to sustainability. The objective of
the federal environmental program is waste reduction through pollution prevention, but is
MARLANT s waste management mode1 capable of achieving this and providing an
example for others?
1.1 Topic Overview
Canadians produce over 30 million tonnes of garbage annually or more than a tonne of garbage for every man, woman and child.
Environment Canada ( 1 990)
The generation and management of waste has received little regulatory attention or
strategic planning. Environment Canada (EC) (1 992), the US. Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) (1989), as well as numerous solid waste management (SWM) experts
have noted that humanity has historicaily chosen to dispose of its waste rather then
manage it. Markum (1 994) offers the following observation about humanity's
predisposition to disposal:
Tfiroughout history hurnan societies have gone fonivard in the critically flawed belief that oceans and rivers would wash away filth, the winds cleanse the air and the soils bury the rest.
In the distant past, when waste was largely organic and its generation minimal, this
flawed belief had fewer consequences. Over the past century, however, humanity has
seen an exponential growth in population, production, and consumption resulting in
corresponding increases in both the volume and composition of waste generated (Keating
1993). Experience, particularly over the past several decades, has confkned that "the
sheer quantity and unrelenting flow of human and industrial waste have ovenvhelmed the
natural assimilative capacity of the earth and undemiined human development" (Markum
1994). With population and production levels expected to continue increasing into the
foreseeable future, this fact is even more alamiing. Frosch and Gallopoulos (1990) and
Markum (1 994) maintain that the earth could not survive global production and
consumption patterns as profligate as those in Europe and North America Clearly, the
current management approaches and rates of waste generation are not sustainable.
In addition to environmental protection, there are compelling societal and economic
reasons to alter management practices. Public health and safety risks arising nom poor
sanitary conditions have been understwd for over two centuries and recent cases have
suggested links between uncontrolled dumps, contaminated groundwater and cancer and
birth defects (Gourlay 1992). These have indelibly marked the public tmst in
govemment and industry with respect to the waste disposal strategies. This, together
with concerns about trafic, odour, noise, and vermin, has made the siting of new Iandfills
in North Amenca problematic.
The economic perspective is that waste is an extemality to the industria1 process. This is
being challenged. Industrial ecologists note that waste represents an inefficient use of
raw matenals and rising raw material and disposal costs may ultirnately impact a
business' competitiveness (EC 1997, Frosch and Gallopoulos 1990, van Weenan 1990).
~Municipalities and îheir taxpayers are also victims of increasing waste management costs,
particuIarly in the siting, building, and operation of high technology landfills. EC (1 997)
reported that Canadian municipalities collectively spend $3 billion annually on disposa1
costs, including collection, transportation, and landfill or incineration. This sum, which
does not include environrnental, social, or resource costs, appears to be rising.
The concept of sustainable development, wideiy adopted after the Report of the World
Commission on Environment and Development's 1987 report, Our Cornmon Future,
reflects the interdependence of environmental, economic, and societal issues.
Management of waste, and indeed al1 pollutants, must be examined in the context of long
tenn sustainability. Durning (1 992) notes that the current linear material flow fkom
extraction to disposal is witness to a resource depletion based economy and cannot be
sustained. In response, many countries, including Canada and the U.S. have adopted and
promoted the concept of a waste management hierarchy based on the 4 R's: reduce,
reuse, recycle, and recover. The objective of this hierarchy is to illustrate the relative
preference given to the various waste management options and to encourage diversion
and ultimately reduction based programs.
EC ( 1 992c), however, noted that disposal remained Canada's, and indeed every nation's,
rnost prevalent SWM practice in the late 1980s. Figure 1 illustrates Canada's treamient
of municipal solid waste in 1988.
Figure 1 - The Management of Municipal Soiid Waste in Canada in 1988 -
(in milüons of tonnes)
[ Recycling 1 Residential
Commercial
Institutional
Light Industrial
(2 i million
tonnes)
0.8 Solid Incineration
Waste 1.3
16 Ash 0.2
Land fil1 13
1 A variety of disposa1 options including
(Source: Environment Canada 1992c: 25-5)
Construction private land fil1 & incineration and
In the face of this information, in 1989 the Canadian Council of Ministers of the
(9 million tomes)
Environment (CCME), established a goal of 50 percent reduction in waste by the year
2000, which the federai govenunent later adopted in Canada's Green Plan (EC 199 1).
Despite the widespread expansion of curbside recycling, introduction of composting, and
support of waste exchanges, Environment Canada's 1996 State of the Environment
Report shows that diversion gains were minimal (Table 1).
0 disposa1 to municipal system
Table 1 - Municipal Soüd Wiste Generation in Canada
/ Population (000s) I
26,895 1 28,436
Discarded (Landfillâk Incineration) Recovered (Recycled & Composted)
Waste Generated (000s tonnes)
L L I
(Source: Environment Canada 1996: 12-2 1)
17,968
I
l Waste Generation Per Capita (kg/year) l
With over 9,000 personnel, MARLANT is the Department of National Defence's (DM))
Iargest military faciIities and one of the federal govermnent's largest single
establishments. Responsible for the operation and maintenance of Canada's Atlantic fleet
including the coordination of maritime exercises, MARLANT comprises a large
supporting infkstnicture, including warehousing, ship repair and maintenance,
construction and engineering, communications, accommodations, and training. Together
these activities generate considerable quantities of waste in each of the traditional
municipaI solid waste sectors: residential, institutional, commercial, and industrial.
18,110
Waste management represents a significant expense for the Base and is the target of
departmental and fideral reduction commitments. In response to the 50 percent waste
reduction target set out in Canada's Green Plan, MARLANT began a recycling prograrn
in the early 1990s. Prompted largely by sharp increases in tipping fees and the
announceci provincial landfill bans, MARLANT expanded the recycling prograrn and
began composting. A detailed review of the entire program in 1997 resulted in the
establishment of a dedicated integrated waste and hazardous material management unit.
668
The review recomrnended that, aside &orn i n t e g r a ~ g the diversion initiatives, the new
unit provides training for procurement and contracting personnel, develops shelf life and
pallet management procedures, implernents use of reusable containers in packaging, and
creates a reuse facility. To accomplish this, the unit was placed in the same organization
as the supply and procurernent fwictions: Fornation Logistics. The creation and
637
placement of this deciicated unit presented sound opportunities to advance MARLANT to
a reduction based waste management program. In addition to achieving the waste
reduction cornmitments set by the federal government and department, the program could
ho ld valuab le lessons for other large industrial facilities, in particular Canadian military
Bases.
1.2 Thesis Objectives
In contrast to traditional view of waste as useless or unwanted material, this thesis
approaches production by-products tiorn an environmental and economic perspective.
That is, the thesis seeks to identifi opportunities to improve solid waste management
practices to achieve a reduction in both the waste sent to landfill and overall waste
management costs. In addressing the numerous pollution problerns facing this country,
EC (1995) has promoted and encouraged a hdamenta l shift in emphasis fiom managing
pollution to preventing it. The application of this approach to waste management must be
predicated on a radical change in the way in which waste is viewed. In so doing, industry
can preserve valuable raw materiais and avoid costly collection and tipping fees. From a
sustainable development perspective, this approach eliminates or reduces the social and
environmental burdens created by waste.
The objective of this thesis is to examine and evaluate current waste management
practices at IMARLANT as a best practice mode1 of the implementation of the federal
govemment's cornmitment of waste reduction and pollution prevention. Analyzing two
bnef case studies that provide examples of leading edge waste management practices
(B es t Practices) will support this. If the assessrnent proves successfùl, the approach
would be applied to other similar facilities, particularly other Canadian military Bases. A
secondary objective is to identiQ and recommend areas to improve the integrated waste
management program at MARLANT.
1.3 Methodology
In addition to a detailed literature review, infornial and semi-structured interviews were
conducted and data collected over a one year period between Fail 1997 and Fa11 1998.
The literature review stage includes background information on the past and present
waste management practices and trends in Canada, in Halifax, and at MARLANT.
Particular attention was focused on the future direction of industrial management of
residual material. Sources included academic textbooks, acadernic and professional
journals, and govemment publications and generall y focused on Canadian and Arnerican
literature.
The second stage of this research consisted of developing bnef case studies outlining
Best Practices in the fields of integrated waste management and industrial pollution
prevention. The Best Practices were developed through a review of relevant literature,
including govemment publications, and through several informal i n t e ~ e w s conducted in
Fa11 1998 to gather ùiformation on the historical and curent activities at MARLANT.
The third stage of the research involved the collection of specific data on DND's
en Wonmentai program and MARLANT's waste management practices. In particular,
information was reviewed on the organizational and functional structure of a military
Base, the establishment and growth of the environmental management program at DND,
the evolution of waste management at MARLANT, and the impact of federal direction.
This is achieved by reviewing departmentai documentation and through serni-structured
interviews. The documentation included interna1 reports, presentations, and files on
MARLANT's environmental management program in general and waste management
activities in particular between 1990 to 1998. The documentation was obtained fiom the
Formation Environment library made accessible by the Formation Environment Officer.
This information was supplemented through i n t e ~ e w s with key personnel who shaped
the current waste management program at MARLANT, most notably the Formation
Environment Officer, the integrated Waste and Hazardous Materials Officer, the waste
management inspecter, and the surplus material supenisor (a complete list of
interviewees is included at Appendix A).
1.4 Scope and Limitations of Tbesis
Solid waste management has been the focus of increasing attention by al1 levels of
govemment, environmentalists as well as the public in general. As a result, a plethora of
information and literature exists on the subject. In fact, each of the components of the 4
R's has spawned nurnerous research studies, academic publications, professional
joumals, as well as conferences. Rather than duplicate current information, this thesis
concentrates on an existing waste management program and evaluates its success in
moving beyond the current diversion based programs.
The management of solid waste has traditionally been the jurisdiction of municipal
governments, which have concentrateci on the establishment and operation of collection
and disposal systms. Perhaps this localized management explains the presence of the
varied terminology and definitions for waste. The literature lists many types of waste
including agricultural waste, radioactive waste, liquid waste, hazardous waste, industrial
waste, and residential waste. It is important to clari@ at the outset that this thesis is
concemed only with the generation and management of solid non-hazardous waste
resulting fkom, institutional, commercial and light industrial (ICI) as well as residential
activities. This category is defined as municipal solid waste (MSW).
The primary sources of waste are industrial production and human consumption and the
lines between these categories are ofien unclear. As a predominantly light industrial,
commercial, and institutional facility, MARLANT's efforts are focused on identifjmg
and managing waste streams fiom ICI activities. As a result, this thesis examines waste
fiom an generator's perspective and the recommendations are targeted to other large
military faciMies.
MSW data presented in this thesis is derived €rom available sources of information. Due
to a lack of comprehensive record keeping, many of the figures provided are only best
estimates by solid waste managers and experts. The author recognizes that the provided
data may not be accurate and, where possible, has cross-referenced the data with other
sources.
1.5 Thesis Outiine
This thesis is divided into three sections: a detailed overview of waste generation and its
management, a case study of MARLANT's waste management program, and an
evaluation of the program. Chapter Two explores the concept of waste, impact of three
pivotal revolutions (population, industrial and consumer) on the volume and composition
of waste, and changes in solid waste management practices fiom early societies to
present. The chapter then introduces the 3R's concept and a material management
hierarchy and concludes with two practical examples of the application of integrated solid
waste management and source prevention.
Chapter Three presents a case study on the solid waste management program at
MARLANT. The chapter begins with a historical review of the development of the Base
at Halifax and a description of the current organizational stmcture and operational size
and scope. The chapter then outlines the establishment and growth of the departmental
and Base environmental management programs, including the principal catalysts. The
chapter then narrows the focus to examine the chronological development of solid waste
management practices at MARLANT, including detailed exarnples of current initiatives.
Chapter Four assesses the success of the current MARLANT program using the concepts
and characteristics introduced in the materials management hierarchy and Best Practices
as a basis for cornparison. FinalIy, Chapter Five provides concIusions on MARLANT's
program and recornmendations for its improvement.
2.0 THE WORLD OF SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT (SWM)
Waste is a by-product of our present econorny - an economy that was built in large measure on the inexpensive and rapid exploitation of Canada's natural resource base, without accounting for environmental consequences including waste management costs and the value of the resources wasted.
Environment Canada 1993
Canada's remarkable postwar growth and development has placed it among the seven
Ieading economies of the world. The Canadian economy and standard of living is based
on the continual production, consumption, and disposai of goods. Within this context,
the accumulation of waste has k e n viewed as a minor side effect of our prosperous
economy. Vast space and low population have created humanity's physical and
psychological detachment frorn waste, and municipal SWM has reinforced it by
providing convenient collection and distant disposai. As a result, Canada's natural
environment, has been scarred by 10,000 active and closed dump sites and 15 incinerators
(Keating 1989). Moreover, according to EC (1 999, Canadians held the dubious honour
of being the world's most wasteful people and have a relatively poor track record in
cornparison with other OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and
Development) countries in waste reduction, reuse and recycling (Figure 2).
Figure 2 - Per Capita Waste Generation
China
S w eden
Japan
G erm any I I
(Source: Environment Canada 1 992)
10
Today, the continuai generation and burial of solid waste has created a legacy of
environmental, social and econornic problems in many places across Canada. In the State
of the Environment Report - 199 1, EC (1 992c: 25: 12) States that "Canadians have
identified waste management as one of the major environmental issues of the decade."
This is challenging regulaton and solid waste managers to develop programs that reduce
the burden on the environment and conserve raw materials. "With the arriva1 of the
nineties, Canada has entered a new era in waste management" (Sutherland-Yoest L 99 1).
2.1 The World of Waste
Let us not . . . flatter ourselves overmuch on account of our human conquest over nature. For such conquest takes its revenge on us.
Fredrick Engels
Waste has been tolerated throughout history as a necessary by-product of human activity
and SWM experts Rathje and Murphy (1 992) have facetiously hailed it as hurnanity's
most prodigious physical legacy. So prodigious and certain, in fact, that waste is
providing archaeologists with a reliable reference to the cultural profiles of ancient
societies (Frosch 1995, Rathje and Murphy 1992). While valuable to historians, solid
waste has not been seen as quite so usefül by its' generators, regulators, or managers.
Population gro wth, industrial production, and consumption have increased the amount
and complexity of waste considerably over the past two centuries. Today, its presence is
so pervasive and generation so habitua1 that the vast majority of people have
unconsciously accepted waste as part of their lifestyles. Little thought is given to its'
generation, fate, or ramifications. in the past, the accumulation of waste and resulting
sanitary conditions have been linked to the spread of disease, which have resulted in
considerable fatalities, including the infamous Black Death in 1347 (Markun 1994). In
general, waste collection and disposal has been taken for granted by society unless
problems arise. Today, public health and safety as well as environmental concerns have
prompted a mandate fiom citizens to address these waste problems.
2.1.1 What is Waste?
While waste is woven tightly into our lifestyles, recent atternpts to manage its disposal
andor treatment has brought attention to its very definition. In the absence of common
physical characteristics, many definitions focus on waste as products or materials that
have presurnably been used and then discarded. The assuxnption is that materiais and
products have a single purpose and once fûl filled are useless. The New Shorrer Oxford
English Dictionary (1 9 9 9 , for example, defines waste as "unusable material leftover
from a process of manufacture, the use of consumer goods, etc.; the useless by-products
of a process". The Office of Waste Management in Environment Canada provides a
similar definition: "any substance (solid or hazardous) for which the owner generator has
no tùrther use and which he/she discards" (Environment Canada 1993: 1). Cfearly, the
very subjectivity of this traditionai view of waste is problematic because it includes ail
materials that are discarded, including potential secondary matenals.
The implications of this narrow perspective were captured in a recent court case in
Ontario. Under the Environmental Protection Act in Ontario, a broad definition of waste
and a very strict definition of recyclable, was forcing Philip Services Corporation to
obtain a waste management certificate for its operation to recycle chop-line residue fiom
wire manufacturing (Cooper and Smitheran 1997). The court sided with Philip Services
Corporation noting that the definitions were too restrictive and discouraged material
recycling.
The source perspective of waste, however, is leading to some new approaches and
solutions to the problem. In tracing the flow of industrial materials nom extraction of
natural resources to disposai of wom out products and lei3 over materials, industrial
ecologists contend that waste is a direct result of an open and linear material flow system
(Frosch and Gallopoulos 1990). The focus of their work is thus to maximize the use of
materials by closing the loop. This view is supported by Environment Canada (1 997: 12-
20), which maintains that "waste represents a resource that has not fûlly been used and
that might have been reduced at source, reused, or recycled."
Gourlay (1992), howevg rejects the view of waste as part of a process, arguing that it
does not capture the essence of waste. Instead, concentrating on the underlying causes of
waste, he offers the following definition: "waste is what we do not want or what we fail
to use" (Gourlay 1992:21). in his book How Much 1s Enough, Durning also argues that
the undedying causes of waste, particularly consumerism, must be addressed in order to
reduce the ecologically destructive consequences. These perspectives seem to view waste
as an act rather then an item; a verb rather than a noun.
An understanding of both source and cause perspectives are usefùl in the development of
an effective waste management prograrn. Proponents of the source perspective view
waste as the final stage of an open material flow systern and develop solutions that aim to
prevent its generation. Diversion initiatives (e.g. recycling, composting, reusing) are
examples of how the 'waste stream' c m be re-integrated back into the flow of matenals.
Proponents of the cause perspective, on the other hand, views waste fkom its root cause@)
and leans toward reduction based solutions. A comprehensive solution to waste problems
will require that both sources and causes be considered.
2.1.2 Industrial and Consumer Impacts on Waste
I f waste has indeed existed throughout the history of man, why has its generation and
disposa1 or treatment been a pressing concern only in the past several decades? The
answer is deeply rooted in the cumulative effects of three profound societal revolutions
that continue to challenge global environmental integrity. By dramatically altenng
population, production, and consumption patterns, the human, industrial, and consumer
revolutions have radkally and permanently changed the quantities, composition, and
complexity of the waste we produce (Markum 1994, Durning 1992).
Hunting and gathering, and later nomadic herding, societies were generally small in
number and scattered throughout a vast landscape, otherwise unoccupied by hurnans.
Progressing to settled agricultural and communities, humans changed to sedentaiy
lifestyles, to which Ponting (1 99 1) refers as the most fundamental change in human
history. Indeed, with permanent settlernents came surplus food production and the
concept of propeity, both of which spawned an exponential growth in population
(Markum 1994). The human revolution witnessed world population increase fiom an
estimated 8 million at the dawn of agriculture to 200 million by the birth of Christ. The 1
billion mark was reached by 1850,2 billion by 1960, and 4 billion by 1975. It is
forecasted that world population will double again to 8 billion by approximately 20 10
(Keating 1 993).
Along with the tremendous growth in people and cities came an exponential increase in
waste generation. Gordon R. Wiley, an archaeologist who studied settlement patterns in
Peru in the 1940s, once half joked that humanity was propelled to civilization by the need
for a "degree of organization sufficiently sophisticated and a class structure suitably
stratified to make possible the disposal of mounting piles of debris" (Rathje and Murphy
1992). Before the establishment of cities, waste was minimal, largely organic and
typically lefi where it fell to biodegrade or as animal fodder (Rathje and Murphy 1992).
With the development and growth of early cities, however, waste accumulated more
quickly in a much smaller area, challenging the old adage of 'solution by dilution'.
Markum (1 994) maintains how the resulting stench motivated residents to pile waste
outside of town and in so doing created dumps - the ancestor to the landfill. The dump
was so successful in separating waste from the population that it may have created, or at
least intensified, humanity's current out-of-sight out-of-mind mentality toward waste.
The industrial revolution is characterized by mass production and an almost
inconceivable rate of technological change. These factors influenced the quantity as well
as composition of waste generated and thus created new problems to the future
management of waste. The industrial revolution witnessed the growth in factories and
industries, marked the beginning of mass production of consumer goods and a pivota1
catalyst to urbanization (Rathje and Murphy 1992, Markurn 1994). New inventions made
possible through technological progress provided consumers with tin cans, plastic,
cardboard, and mass produced construction material to name a few. With it spewed forth
a new stream of waste, which was drarnatically different fiom its' histoncally organic
roots. Combined, the cumulative effects of the industrial and human revolutions saw a
marked increase in the volume of industriai waste.
To sustain the increase in industrial activity, mass production required mass consumption.
The consumer revolution is, from the perspective of waste, perhaps the most alarming of
the three pivota1 revolutions. The seed for the revolution was planted in Adam Smith's
The Wealth of Nations, which charnpioned fiee markets, minimal government control
and the pursuit of self-interest. Durning (1992) notes that the pathway to self-interest
created materid cravings, mass consumption, and a disposable lifestyle. The extent of the
consumer movernent in the U.S., as well as its implications on waste, are aptly captured
in the following statement made by the retail analyst Victor Lebow (1960):
Ow enonnously productive economy demands that we make consumption our way of life, that we convert the buying and use of goods into ntuals, that we seek our spiritual satisfaction, our ego satisfaction in consurnption. We need things consumed, bumed up, wom out, replaced and discarded at an ever increasing rate.
The bittersweet success of consumerism is ironically captured in the fact that there are
700 times more plastic flarningos in U.S. backyards than real ones in natural habitats
(Markum 1994). The consumer revolution has since invaded al1 industrialized nations
and is currently being aggressively pursued in Third World countries (Durning 1992).
Marhm ( 1 994: 82) notes the problems of this consumption in the following
powerful and visual description:
The modem consumer seems to satise a bulimic urge to gorge on goods, vomiting forth a constant stream of waste packaging, obsolescent durables, and rubbish before retuming once again with an empty feeling to binge at the trough of commercialism.
Packaging is used as a marketing tool for consumer goods and thus the increase in
consurnption has resulted in a proportional increase in the disposa1 of waste packaging.
According to Durning (1992) packaging is destined for the landfill and consumers are
simply the middlernan. In the U.S., packaging accounts for roughly one third of
municipal solid waste (Markum 1994) and the bulk of it is composed of plastic that is not
easiiy reused, recycled, or biodegradable.
As a result of the three revolutions, the quantity and complexity of waste have increased
significantly throughout the world. Consider that in 1989,200 billion bottles, cans and
plastic cartons were produced, 30 million disposable cameras were consumed in Japan,
183 million razors were discarded in the U.S., and 2.5 billion disposable diapers were
thrown away in Bntain (Durning 1992). Each of these items, dong with billions of
tonnes of other waste, currently rests in thousands of landfills around the world. The
quantity and composition of the waste being durnped in Canadian landfills is illustrated at
Figure 3.
Figure 3 - Materials in Solid Waste Stream 1992 (in Millions of Tonnes)
Paper Food Yard Plastic Other Metals Wood Glass Waste Waste
(Source: Envuonment Canada 1997: L 2-23)
Canadians must take their share of responsibility, as we are the leading per capita
producers of waste by 199 1 (Environment Canada 199 1). In Canada, our lifestyles led to
the discarded of some 30 million tonnes of waste annually (Environment Canada 1992),
of which Nova Scotia contributed roughly 623,000 tonnes (Nova Scotia Department of
the Environment 1995a) and the city of Halifax roughiy 220,000 tonnes (City of Halifax
1995).'
2.13 The Economic and Social Costs of Waste
Although waste has surrounded humanity for millennia, its presence was viewed as a
noxious and unsightly nuisance rather than a problem and thus little was done to control
its generation or manage its disposal. Even as recently as a cenniry ago most Western
cities lefi waste in the streets to rot or else piled it outside city lirnits to decay (Markurn
1994). Frednck Engels ( 1987) once describeci the condition of 1845 Manchester as
"masses of refuse, offal and sickening filth lie among standing pools in al1 directions".
B y the late 1 9" century, public health and safety concems became a consideration when
the direct relationship between disease carrying organisms and water pollution was
proven (Markurn 1994). To prevent the deadly brew of open sewage and rotting garbage,
which has been attributed to nurnerous epidemics in the past, waste was piled outside
urban centres. Rathje and Murphy (1992) estimate that the first sanitary landfills were
invented in Britain in the 1920s and were adopted slowly throughout North American and
Europe. Crooks (1993) maintains that these sanitary landfills were litde more then open
piles of garbage which were graded, flattened, and compressed.
In recent decades, the management of waste is high on municipal agendas throughout
Canada. Frequent, often passionate, discussions between policy makers,
environrnentalists, and the public centre on environmental, economic, and social
concems, al1 of which have made the siting of new modem landfills difficult.
From an environmental perspective, landfills were associated with toxic leachate and
emissions (Kharbanda and Stallworthy 1990). In Who's Poisoning America, Nader
estimates that 90 billion gallons of leachate enters the groundwater annually fiom the
' Waste quantities preswted in tbis thesis arc derived corn available literanire and are estimates only. Kharbanda & StalIworthy (1990) and Rathje & Murphy (1992) note that estirnates are not entirely reliable.
18,500 landfills in the U.S. Equally disturbing are the gaseous expissions of carbon
dioxide, methane, and even hydrogen sulfide and ammonia that can be produced through
the anaerobic decomposi tion of organic materids (Kharbanda and S tallworthy 1 990).
Seeping pollution fiom older landfills has also presented an economic burden to closing
down a landfill. In Nova Scotia, the Upper Sackville landfill near Halifax was recently
shut down, however, the taxpayers will continue to pay up to 6 1 million annually for the
next 1 5 years for leachate treatment (RFriesen pers. comm. November 1998).
In more recent second generation landfills, Ieachate and ernissions are rnonitored and
more effectively managed, but still research confirms that it is almost impossible to avoid
some seepage, particularly afier heavy rains (Gourlay 1992). Other public health
concerns include odours and the attraction of birds and disease carrying verrnin. Final1 y,
long term environmental consequences must be considered. Graedel and Allenby (1 995)
assert that industry focuses on fülfilling a need while excluding potential long term
consequences, which may result in future liability. As examples they note that solutions
to malaria and car engine hock in the form of DDT and Tetraethyl Lead resulted in
adverse affects on the global ecosystem.
In Canada, an estimated 10,000 active and closed dumps existed by 1993 and many of the
active ones were quickly reaching their capacity (Keating 1993). In the U.S., roughly
20,000 landfills, many little more than open durnps, were in use by the 1970s. Of these
roughly 14,000 were shut down for environmental reasons by the 1980s. Of the
remaining 6,000 landfills, a majority are expected to close down early in the new century
(Table 2). Community opposition and the high cost of developing a modem landfill,
however, have complicated siting new landfills. Well known public health disasters, such
as the infamous Love Canal that linked a former chemical waste site with cancer and
child malformation (Gourlay 1992), and in Canada the Sydney Tar Ponds, have attached
an orninous stigrna to disposal sites of any kind. Add to this the fear of diminishing
property values and the current Not In My Back Yard (NIMBY) attitude toward new
facili ties is understandable. In terms of cost, pollution controlling technology has made
second generation landfills an expensive undertaking. The Nova Scotia Department of
the Environment (NSDOE) (1997) recentiy published municipal solid waste landfill
guidelines which included requirements for leachate, landfill gas, surface water, and
groundwater monitoring and management systems. Rathje and Murphy (1 992) estimate
that an 85 acre modem landfill, which could serve a comrnunity of 500,000 for 20 years,
would cost roughly $33 million to construct and an additional $8 million to shut down.
This does not indude operathg costs.
Table 2- Projeeted Number of Landfills Remaining in Operation
1 Year 1 Landfills 1
2008 1234 (Source: U.S. Congress 1989: 273 )
In the ps t , much of the waste Stream was organic and the environment could absorb,
dilute or break down most garbage. Excavations into landfills, however, have exposed
the myth of biodegradability (Rathje and Murphy 1 992). Industrial processes now
commonly use heat, pressure, and a host of chemicals to produce substances never before
found in nature (Keating 1993). Many of these are indestructible under natural conditions
and others break down into harmfhl metabolites. Rathje and Murphy (1992) explain how
numerous documented excavations into landfills have retrieved many legible newspapers
and well presewed food waste, and assert that even d e r two decades of supposed decay,
up to one-half of vulnerable organics remain in recognizable condition. In one example,
a newspaper dated 8 January 1952 was unearthed and the headline "Hint Dropped by
Truman Suggests He May Not Be Candidate for President" was still legible in 1988.
Aerobic biodegradability requires oxygen, but wastes in landfills are covered quickly thus
prohibithg the oxygen fiom reaching some materials. Without oxygen, anaerobic
decomposition begins, the rate of which depends on the amount of moistwe, level of
acidity, temperature, arnount of compaction, and the size and type of waste. As a result
decomposition may be negligible in a dry landfill (EC 1996). Continued increases in
population, production and cohsurnption ensure that the volume and complexity of waste
will continue to rise. This raises the question of long term sustainability and directs
S WM discussions to reduction and diversion.
2.2 Evolution of Soiid Waste Management Practices
There are essentially four methods to deai with waste: bwning, dumping, reusing, and
minimizing and these have existed for thousands of years (Rathje and Murphy 1992).
While a vast majority of civilizations have used all four to varying degrees, garbage
archaeologists note that humanity's first inclination has been to dump unwanted matenals
(Rathje and Murphy 1992). SWM experts, including EC (1992) and the EPA (1989),
maintain that disposal continues to be the most popular practice. Loud public concerns
over the growing waste problem and the cost of building new hi& technology landfills
has prompted policy makers and municipal managers to consider other SWM practices.
In October 1989, the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment, comprising al1
provincial environment ministen and the federal minister, adopted 50 percent reduction
of wastes in Canada by 2000 as its goal. In turn, the federal govermnent, through
Canada's Green Plan, cornmitteci to meeting the reduction target by encouraging adoption
of the 4 R's. Similar to the four basic waste methods to deal with waste outlined above,
the core elements of the R's hierarchy are reduce, reuse, recycle and recovery (Table 3).
Prevention at source is positioned at the top of the hierarchy as it prevents the initial
generation of waste and thus precludes the need for any disposa1 or conwl action. Reuse
and recycling, representing the second tier of the hierarchy, view discarded items not as
waste but as secondary materiais with potential value. The objective of reuse and
recycling progrms is to convert by-products into usehil products, either in their original
f o m or as new products (EC 1993). In the final tier of the hierarchy are recovery
(incineration) and disposa1 (landfill). While some forms of incineration attempt to
recover heat, these practices typically view and treat discarded by-products as useless
waste or at least less econornically valuable.
Table 3 - Waste Management Hierarchy
Waste Prevention - Don't Make it 1 Waste Minimization - Minimize its volume and toxicity
-- 1 Waste Reuse - See if someone else can use it I Waste Recycle - Reclairn as much as possible
Waste Treatment - Treat remainder to make safe
Waste Disposal - Dispose as residue
(Laughlin and Varangu 1988: 12)
Using the concept of the 3R's as well as the framework for the federal government's
environmental protection hierarchy (prevention, control, clean-up) (EC 1995), the
material management (MM) hierarchy was developed. The MM hierarchy at Figure 4
illustrates the paradigrn shifts that occur between the three tiers. At the top tier, by-
products of production are viewed and managed as raw materials to the same or another
production process. Since the by-products are captured at the source, no surplus or
residual material is produced in this stage. The second tier views production and
consumption discards as secondary materials and retums them to the systern. In this
stage by-products are captured at the point of consurnption or disposal rather than at the
source. The bottom tier manages the residuals by-products that can't be reused in the
production process. The pyrarnid has been reversed to reflect the relative treatment of
materials, so that residuals are not deemed waste until source prevention and matenal
recapture initiatives have failed.
Faced with potential pollution problems, stricter regulations, and expensive modem
landfillso municipal solid waste managers throughout Canada are committed to shi fting
fiom disposa1 to diversion based initiatives.
Figure 4 - Material Management Hierarcby
Process
Production
Ma terial
Residual Disposal
SURPLUS MA TERLALS
2.2.1 Residual Disposa1
The residual disposa1 stage is characterized by a view of waste as a useless by-product of
human activity. The options within this stage, ranging fiom open dumping to modem
landfills and incineration, result in a 1inea.r (open) flow of materials e o m resource
extraction to disposa1 (Frosch 1995). Landfills remain the most popular and prevalent
disposa1 option (Kharbanda and Stallworthy 1990). ï h e U.S Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) (1989) and Sutherland (199 1 ) M e r maintain that, despite some
initiatives to divert materials, the total tons generated and pounds per person have
steadily increased. Gourlay (1 992) and Shikaze (1 99 1) estimate that roughly 90 percent
of domestic waste in borh industriaiized and third world countries is landfilied.
Environment Canada ( 1 997) places the Canadian figure at 78 percent.
Although disposal is not a long term solution to SWM problems, the improvernent in
disposa1 methods over the past several decades must be seen as positive. Convenience
seemed to be the lone siting criterion to the establishment of thousands of mail disposal
sites which have blotted the Canadian and American landscape over the past cenniry.
Prompted by grave heaith, safety, and environmental concems associateci with these
dumps, older, smaller, and less controlled dumps are being replaced by larger modem
landfills (EPA 1989). In Nova Scotia, the province's most modern landfill in recently
opened on the outskiris of Halifax at Otter Lake. Equipped with leachate collection and
gas control technology, the modem landfill is an evolutionary step ahead of previous
disposa1 sites. Ham (1991) predicts that with the addition of pollution minimizing
irnprovements, landfills will continue to have a place in fùture SWM strategy.
Incineration, another disposal option, has corne in and out of use since the tum of the
century, most recently as waste-to-fuel recovery facilities in the 1980s (Rathje and
Murphy 1992). Although, facilities have been installed in a limited number of
municipalities throughout North America (70 in the US. and 15 in Canada), wide-spread
acceptance has eluded incineration. Noting potential air and land pollution as well as
noise and odour problerns, Gourlay (1 992) claims that incinerators have a highly dubious
future and recommends avoiding them. In addition, from a waste minirnization
perspective, incinerators are accused of creating a disincentive for municipalities to
reduce and divert material (Kharbanda and Stallworthy 1990, EC 1997). Modem
incineraton require hi& volumes of waste to be efficient and economicd.
New S WM programs based on diversion will reduce dependence on landfills and
incinerators. Some municipalities, in fact, are aiready restricting the materials they
accept. The list includes the most prevaient items in a landfill (paper, cardboard,
constxuction and dernolition debris, and some plastics), each of which enjoys an
established recycling market. Paper, for example, is estimated to represent 35-40 percent
of content by weight, while food, glass, and metals are al1 near 10 percent (U.S. Congress
1989, Rathje and Murphy 1992, EC 1992~). While an effective recapture program could
theoretically eliminate these streams, U.S. and Canadian policy makers are quick to note
that landfills will be needed as a part of any municipal SWM strategy as portions of the
Stream can not, at least in the foreseeable friture, be handled any other way.
2.2.2 Material Recapture
While disposa1 stubbornly remains the standard, new SWM programs are slowly shifting
the ernphasis to diversion. Movernent ïnto the second stage of the MM hierarchy,
represents a ~aradigrn shifi in the way discarded materials are perceiveci and managed.
Putting into practice the old adage 'one man's garbage is another man's gold', the
material recapture tier views discarded materials as potentially usehl secondary materials
and focuses on re-injecting them back into the economy. Faced with expensive new
Iandfills and encouraged by strong public support, municipal decision-makers are
increasingly implernenting and supporthg diversion based initiatives, such as
cornposting, recycling, and reuse. While these initiatives are integral components of a
comprehensive SWM program, it shodd be noted that they represent post generation
management and thus do not address production inefficiencies or unsustainable
consumption patterns.
Co mposting
Composting is one of the few ways to divert discarded food and yard material away fiom
Iandfill for further processing. With food and yard waste representing over one-quarter of
the waste Stream (EC 1996, U.S. Congress 1989), the potential for composting is
significant. Composting programs, however, are still in their infancy in Canada and a
majority of food and yard waste is currently routed to landfill. Prompted by public
support and potential diversion, as well as the biodegradation problems discussed earlier,
municipalities began implementing composting programs over the past decade. EC
( 1996) noted that while almost non-existent in 1988, composting programs diverted
4 13,000 tonnes fiom landfill in 1992. The Composting Council of Canada (CCC)
indicated that the figure had increased to roughly 2 million tonnes by 1996 (unknown
1997). Various solid waste experts, including Flindall and Haight (1991), the CCC, and
Sutherland (1 99 l), are encouraged by the progress and further state that composting or
organic waste management m u t be prominent in Canada to achieve waste diversion
targets.
R ecycling
Recycling is the second of the material recapture initiatives and the most prevalent SWM
practice after landfill. Environment Canada (1 996) describes recycling as a process
through which pst-use (discarded) materiais are collected and remanufactured into new
products. Old newspapers, for example, are collected, deinked, repulped, and mixed with
virgin fibre to produce recycleû paper. According to EC (1 997), Canada recycling efforts
have improved considerably since the late 1980s. In 1992,2.7 million tonnes of
secondary materials, representing 14.9 percent of municipal so!id waste, were diverted
from landfill, up from 1 million tonnes in t 988.
Although recycling is perceived as a relatively modern practice, the result of decades of
environmental lobbying, it has been employed throughout humanity's history (Rathje and
Murphy 1 992). In the pre-industrial era, materials were less readil y available and
recycling was a matter of cornmon sense, but during the industrial revclution
scavengin~recycling became a commodity business. By the tum of the 20h century,
scavengers collected and resoId the valuabIe by-products (e.g. scrap rags, metd, and
newsprint) of the industrial process (Rathje and Murphy 1992). Gourlay (1 992) notes
that there still exists scavenging and recycling regimes in many third world countries,
most notably the 'pepenadores' of Mexico City and 'Zebaleen' of Cairo. The 'Zebaleen'
people are so adept at their task, in fact, that they manage to recycle some 80 percent of
what they pick up, down to the filaments in light buibs (Rathje and Murphy 1992).
Thanks in part to Lady Bird Johnson's anti-littering campaign, recycling (separation) at
the householder levet re-emerged in the U.S. in the early 1970s in the fonn of charity
operated drop-off centres for scrap materiai (US. Congress 1989). In Canada, modern
day recycling got its start in the 1970s with municipally operated or supported recycling
depots (EC l992a). These depots still operate in some smaller communities, however
moa urban centres are implementing curbside recycling prognuns. Robins and Maclaren
( 1 99 1) describes how the Province of Ontario led the Canadian rec ycling drive with its
approval of the Blue Box program in 1985. By 1990, the program had reached over 2
million homes throughout Ontario and the Ontario Ministry of the Environment estimates
that 1.25 million tonnes of matenal was diverted from landfill between 1988 and 199 1
through the Blue Box and other 3R programs (Ontario Ministry of the Environment
1990). By 1992, roughly 75 percent of municipalities had programs and 70 percent o f
Canadian households had access to curbside programs or recycling depots (EC 1997).
Gourlay (1992) notes that more than half of the municipal solid waste Stream is made up
of paper, glass, metal, and plastic, al1 of which are recyclable. Yet, despite growing
access to recycling programs or facilities and the recyclability of many products, a major
reduction in the landfilling of waste was not achieved by the early 1990 (EC 1992a).
While it has not yet Mfilled it's potential, the EPA (1989) and EC (1992~) both support
and encourage the expansion of recycling as an integral component of municipal SWM
p 1 anning .
In addition to the diversion, recycling results in the conservation of natural resources and
decreased energy usage (Gourlay 1992). Kharbanda and Stallworthy (1990) estimate that
the recycling of aluminurn, for example, results in 90 - 97 percent energy savings over
the production of virgin aluminum (Table 4).
Recycling, however, is not a panacea for solid waste management and in fact has several
drawbacks. First, by reprocessing or re-manufachiring secondary material (e.g. paper and
Table 4 - Benefits Received by Recycling Reduction Received % Glass
4-3 2 20 -
50 a
Energy Usage Air Pollution Water Pollution Water Usage (Source: Kharbanda and Stallworthy 1990: 138)
Paper 23-74
74 35 58
Aiuminum 90-97
Steel 47-74
95 85 97 1 76 - 40
aluminurn), a new waste Stream is generated, which Rathje and Murphy ( 1 992) maintain
can ofien be hazardous. Secondly, the success of recycling is dependent on market
viabiliv. Municipal collection and separation prograrns may facilitate recycling, but, as
the EPA (1 989) correctly points out, recycling occun o d y when the material is actually
used. Reiterating the laws of supply and demand, Rathje and Murphy (1 992) provide
numerous examples of how large scale collection has negatively impacted demand by
increasing supply. In a paper on the fbture of recycling, McGinnis (1 99 1) describes how
the price per tonne of newsprint àropped tiom $65 to $ IO in 2 years and in the U.S. the
price reached minus $20. Short term market volatility is a ternporary reaction to the
increased supply and markets generally stabilize when al1 costs are accounted for and the
whole paper production systern is optimized.
Spurred by the signifiant energy savings associated, scrap aluminum has enjoyed a
steady demand and has been called the gold in the Blue Box (Menzies 1 998). Some
experts note that without aluminum the financial viability of curbside recycling is highly
questionable. Recent speculation that Coke and Pepsi might switch fiom aluminurn to
plastic cans could deal a M e r setback to expensive municipal recycling prograrns
(Menzies 1998). Rathje and Murphy (1 992) observed, "desirable things happen to
garbage when someone stands to eam money making desirable things happen." The
opposite may also be m e .
While planners should be aware of its vulnerability to market volatility and potential
environmental drawbacks, recycling is still an integral component of municipal S W
plans. The National Waste Reduction Handbook, in fact, suggests that the 50 percent
reduction target is achievable through a comprehensive recycling and composting
Rase
The final practice in the material recapture stage of the MM hierarchy is reuse.
Environment Canada (1 996:8) defines reuse as "the direct reapplication or repeated use of
a product for the same or different purposes in its original form." Like recycling, reuse
captures products or materiais after they have been discarded and re-injects them back
into the material flow and thus some experts, notably the EPA (1989), did not distinguish
between reuse and recycling. From an environmentai perspective, however, the
differences between the two are worth noting. Laughlin and Varangu (unpubl.),
champions of the Canadian Waste Materials Exchange, asserts that recycling only
reclaims the useful portion(s) of the material, while direct reuse uses al1 and thus avoids
the energy and raw materials required for reprocessing as well as the additional by-
products generated. For this reason, EC (1992) argues that recycling and reuse are
different practices and recommends reuse over recycling. This is particularly important
as many secondary materials, such as paper, glass, and wood, can be managed in either
way. As a cornparison, consider the MM choices for office papa and glas bottles, either
of which could be reusedkefilled or pulped/crushed and remanufactured. Both of these
examples also demonstrate that reuse can only be practiced to a point f ier which the
items must be recycled.
While generally outside the direct purview of municipal solid waste managers, reuse
opportunities are being actively pursued at both nationavregional and local levels.
Nationaliy, the most coordinated initiative is matenal exchanges. Waste matenal
exchanges (WME) facilitate reuse of industrial by-products by matching potential users
of secondary materials with generators (Laughlin and Varangu unpubl.). While WMEs
have existed in Europe and the U.S. since the early 1970s, a national M E was not
established in Canada until 1978 (CCME 1988). By 1989, the Canadian Waste Materials
Exchange facilitated the transfer of 342,000 tonnes of potential waste and by the mid
1990s regional WMEs were established in al1 but four provinces. The establishment,
growth, and continued operation of the WMEs in Canada has been encouraged and
supported by Environment Canada (CCME 1988). In fact, Canada's Green Plan, had as a
goal the expansion of the Canadian Waste Exchange Program to provide improved
market opportunities for the reuse of secondary materials. This is being pursued through
both direct financial support and spomorship of the annual WME confaence. A recent
initiative wimessed an interactive web page entitled ' Recyclers Exchange' going online
in April 1 995 (Riggle 1995).
While WMEs typically target larger manufacturers and industries (Laughlin 198O), reuse
in the light industrial and commercial secton is also very active at the community level.
At Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, for example, the Environmental Health
and Safety Officer established a chernical exchange project in 1990, which diverts surplus
chernicals kom disposal by fkding other users (Louch 1993). (Louch W. Dalhousie's
Laboratory Surplus Chernical Exchange in Hazardous Materials Management, April
1993). Three years later the exchange was servicing nearby universities, secondary
school systems, a hospital, and several federal and provincial research institutions and
was able to redistribute 70 percent of the available surplus. Avoided purchasing costs
and others are estimated at S300,OOO (W. Louch pers c o r n . September 1993).
With a provincial landfill ban on wood waste and high tipping fees (% i 00 per tonne),
Halifax has seen the creation a d o r expansion of a relatively new commercial sector.
Secondary building supply stores with names like Renovators Resowce, EnviroStore, and
Happy Harrys resell surplus and salvaged construction material throughout the
metropolitan Halifax area. Numerous similar facilities (Building Block-Boston, Loading
Dock- Baltimore, and Urban Ore-Berkeley) have sprouted up throughout the U.S. Knapp
( 1992) calls Urban Ore a "working prototype for an industry that can and should be
interposed between dernolition and hauling and the recycling industry." The Urban Ore's
Integrated Waste Management Plan subrnitted to the state in 199 1 estimated that Urban
Ore reused (67 percent) and recycled (33 percent) roughly 5,000 tonnes of material
annually.
The establishment of the Used Building Materia1 Association (UBMA) in Canada and the
U.S. strengthem the fùture for reuse programs. Spmed by the rising cost of landfills and
new materials, the UBMA was formed in September 1996 to remove barriers to reuse and
increase availability of reusabIe materials (Unknown 1996).
2.2.3 Source Prevention
The widespread growth and acceptance of recycling programs in recent years has created
a strong foundation from which to address the growing waste problern. Aside fiom the
encouraging diversion results, recycling bas begun to focus municipal and public
attention on the extent of the financial and environmental burdens created by waste.
Federal and provincial environmental agencies realize, however, that recycling still
demonstrates an end-of-pipe mentality emphasizing control over prevention and in tum
have adopted the concept of source prevention @PA 1989, EC 1993, Manitoba
Environment 1 990, Nova Scotia Department of Environment 1 995, Canadian hstitute for
Environmental Law and Policy 1992). While specific terrninology and definitions Vary,
the underlying premise of prevention is to eliminate the generation of waste in the fint
place in order to avoid its management/treatment in the end. B y shifiing focus to the
industrial processes that generate waste, source prevention represents an evolutionary step
for S WM as well as a paradigm shifi for solid waste managers. The extent of the
paradigm shift is captured by the EPA (1 989), which notes that prevention is not actually
a SWM tool as it precedes and precludes SWM.
Frosch and Gallopoulos (1990) observed that at curient U.S. production and consumption
rates, I O billion people would generate 400 billion tonnes of solid waste annually -
enough to bury greater Los Angeles 1 00 metres deep. Moreover, industrial activity is the
source of not only solid wastes, but air and water pollution as well. The dire prediction
and the underlying assumption on growth rates present a comrnon problem to
environrnentalists and industry alike. From an environmental perspective, the shift from
clean-up and control to prevention focuses attention on finding a cornmon strategy to the
interrelated and cumulative problem of al1 pollution (solid, liquid, gaseous). In Pol lution
Prevention -A Federal Strategy For Action, EC maintains that prevention is the most
effective way to eliminate waste and achieve the fundamental goals of sustainable
development: a clean healthy environment and a strong healthy economy.
From an industrial perspective, waste is a necessary by-product or side effect of
production. Generally, this waste represents an externality to industrial activity, the costs
of which are largely social responsibilities (Graedel and Allenby 1995, Frosch 1995).
This idea was captured in Hardin's seminal essay The Tragedy of the Commons, which
noted that the impacts of polluting cornmon properties (e.g. air and water) are shared
equally by ail (Hardin cited by McConnick 1992). Recent research in pollution
prevention and industrial ecology, however, may suggest that waste represents an
additional cost to industry in terms of disposal andior ftture liability costs. Waste
material, it has been argued, also constitutes an inefficient use of energy and resources
(Van Weenen 1990, Frosch 1995, EC 1996). A Company, for exarnple, that buys al1 its
raw materials and discards ail its waste materiais is arguably inefficient and, in addition,
will incur non-productive treatment and disposal costs. Since competitiveness ofien
depends on efficiency, industry has a vested interest in preventing waste and pollution by
fully utilizing as much of its raw materials as possible. Thus source prevention and
industrial efficiency should be mutually dependent.
One of the sîrategies to prevent pollution problems is found in industrial ecology. Using
natural biological ecosysterns as a model, industrial ecology takes an integrated view of
a11 industriai activities and emphasizes the continuous flow of materiais and energy in a
complex web of interactions (Erkman 1997, Frosch 1995). In other words, the industrial
system is viewed as increasingly self contained. While, this field of thinking is still
relatively yc-ung and faces the traditional barriers of evolutionary change (costs, attitude,
information, regulatory, etc.), some prominent examples do exist (Frosch 1995). One of
the best known of these is 3M's Pollution Prevention Pays program, that was
implemented in the mid 1970s and has saved hundreds of millions of dollars and
prevented the disposa1 of hundreds of thousands of tomes of waste (Munroe et al 1990).
in another example, Cascade, a Canadian papa recycler, has developed a closed circuit
process in which they recycle, clean, and reuse al1 discarded material (Unknown 1996).
A final example involves the 'Big Three' American automakers that recover much of
their metal residue fiom production and send it back to the foundries for remanufacture
(Frosch and Gailopouios 1990).
To facilitate the implementation of industrial ecology, the concept of eco-industrial parks
was developed. Eco-industrial parks are essentially a community of businesses
collaborating in managing environmenta1 and resources issues including energy, water
and material usage (Lowe 1997). Kalundborg in Denmark is a living example where a
power plant, f d l i z e r producer, gyproc manufacturer, fish f m , cernent maker, oil
producer and several others work together in a symbiotic relationship. Materials that are
considered residuai to its generator are routed to other business which use them as raw
materials in a closed loop systern.
lntegrated Chain Management (ICM) is another practical tool recently being adopted to
work toward sustainability. Striving to manage substances in an environmentally,
socially and economically responsible manner, ICM considers substances through the
whole product life chah (de Groene and Hermans 1998). By viewing products f'kom
cradle to grave the ICM concept transcends any one company and creates a multi-
company, and perhaps industry, substance team. This whole chain approach requires
cooperation to achieve environmental improvements. This concept is one of the main
elements of the National Environmental Policy in the Netherlands.
Other source prevention tools in the early stages of acceptance and irnplementation
include product stewardship, life cycle management, and extended producer
responsibility. While the focus varies, al1 these methods share a common goal and
perspective of by-products. The goal is to prevent the creation of useless by-products in
order to avoid disposdtreatrnent and fùtwe liability costs and to stay ahead of
regulations, the cornpetition, and public expectations. These approaches also view
residual material as indicators of product or process inefficiencies and as resources to be
managed.
Practicai application of source prevention programs is still in its uifancy, however, recent
implementation of pollution prevention programs by several large multinationals suggests
its popularity is growing. If these companies, many leaders in their respective industries,
represent the trend setters then the evolution toward a more sustainable approach is
indeed underway.
2.3 Federal Covernment Role - Leader or Foiîower
While pnmarily indirect, EC's leadership in and contribution to SWM has nonetheless
been significant over the past two and a half decades. in tenns of education and
knowledge transfw, EC has actively participated in countless solid waste management
seminars, conferences, and workshops at both national and international (OECD, -NATO)
levels. In addition, EC has provided expert advice to provinces, municipalities, and
industries in developing and implementing SWM programs. In terms of research, EC
staff has conducted numerous studies and surveys on issues such as waste exchanges,
disposa1 sites, and various recycling innovations and technologies. These were aimed at
developing a better understanding of waste management practices and reduction
opportunities. In terms of direct support, EC has assisted various municipal initiatives
and provided fùnding for the creation and continued existence of the Canadian Waste
Materials Exchange as well as regional waste exchanges fiom British Columbia to New
Brunswick. EC also created the Environmental Choice Program in 1988 to identiQ and
label environrnentally sensitive products and services. ' Finally, in ternis of direct action,
EC was instrumental in the development of the Papersave Program, which captured and
recycled some 9,000 tons of used office papa 60m 26 federal buildings in Ottawa by
1990 (Shikaze 199 1 ) .
Federal efforts in waste management officially began in 197 1 with the pnmary objective
of minimizing waste through resource recovery and recycling. Yet some 20 years later,
Canadians were the leading generaton of waste in the industrialized world (Keating
1989) and nearly 80 percent of municipal solid waste was still destined for the landfill
(Environment Canada 1997). In response to two key publications in the late 1980s,
however, EC enhanced its presence and role in the national waste management field. The
Bruntland Commision Report entitled Our Cornmon Future and Keating's subsequent
analysis entitied Toward a Cornmon Future: Imolications for Canada, quickly cpawned a
serious of policies which focused Canadian waste management efforts.
Following a 1989 report fiom the National Task Force on Environment and the Economy,
the CCME, adopted as its goal the reduction of waste by 50 percent by the year 2000
(CCME 1989). This is significant as participation includes the federal and al1 provincial
goveniments. Canada's Green Plan, published in 199 1 as the national environmentai
action plan to achieve sustainable development, provided a National Waste Reduction
Plan (NWRP) to achieve this goal. Through the plan, the federal government made
commitments to:
reduce waste fiom federal facilities by 50 percent by 2000;
expand the National Waste Exchange Program;
establish an Ofice of Waste Management to coordinate NWRP initiatives;
support technologicai innovation and community action aimed at waste
reduction through the creation of the Environmental Partners Fund; and
establish standards and regulations to reduce waste packaging. (Environment
Canada 1991).
Perhaps most irnportantly, the Green Plan committed the federal govemment to the
CCME reduction target of 50 percent, which directed the federal and provincid
governments toward a common goal.
A 1993 review of Canada's Green Plan reported that these commitments had resulted in
the following concrete actions:
the Office of Waste Management was established in 199 1 :
a waste exchange database was created to link regional exchanges;
waste packaging declined by 14 percent between 1 988 and 1990;
' Information presented in this paragraph was derived €rom EC's annual reports betwecn 197 1 and 1989.
the Environmental Choice Program
and services;
was expanded to include more products
a $50 million Environmental Partners Fund was created; and
EC developed and distributed nurnerous bulletins and fact sheets on the waste
reduction (Environment Canada 1 993).
In total, EC spent 52 million for waste management activities in 1 99 1 /9î and forecasted a
similar expenditure for l992/93 (Environment Canada 1993).
A victim of political winds, the waste reduction target, and perhaps cornmitment, is now
less certain in federal departments. The federal administration changed in 1993 and the
new Liberal Government never endorsed Canada's Green Plan. However, changes to the
Auditor General's Act in 1995 directed al1 federal departments to develop and table in
parliament a Sustainable Development Strategy (SDS). Individual departments would
now determine their own waste reduction targets. The National Defence SDS, for
example, comrnitted to reducing waste by 10 percent of 1997 amounts by the year 2000
(National Defence 1997). These strategies, however, only impact federal activities, as
provinces are responsible for waste management and are still cornmitted to the original 50
percent reduction target. However the federal government is the major purchaser of
goods in Canada and its practices could have considerable influence.
2.4 Examples of Best Practices
The environmental, social, and economic impacts of waste generation appear to have
prompted some action fiom federal regdators, municipal managers, and industrial
generators in recent years. The Federal Government made a cornmitment to pollution
prevention in Pollution Prevention - A Federal Strategy for Action and outlined an action
plan for its promotion and implementation. In response to this and the rising costs of
waste management, municipal managers and industrial generators are increasingly
implernenting programs based on diversion or reduction. While many of these programs
are still in their infancy, early results suggest that there is considerable potential to reduce
the generation of residual material and/or divert it nom landfill.
irttegrated Solid Waste Management
As illustrated in the MM pyrarnid (Figure 4), diversion options are those found in the
matenal recapture tier: composting, recycling, and reuse. Since no single practice is
applicable to al1 types of residuai material, a comprehensive SWM program should
employ al1 components to varying degrexs. The texm integrated solid waste management
(ISWM) has been coined to describe a coordinated approach to managing waste that
incorporates sorne or d l of the various component types (Willms 199 1)- EC (1 996)
provides a similar definition, cd ing ISWM a planning process that looks at the entire
concept of waste rather than individual components. While ISWM employs the whole
s p e c t m of the 4 R's, diversion initiatives are often the primary focus. This is
particularly true in municipal programs where the ability to implement or control source
reduction is Iimited.
Many Canadian provinces and municipalities have been implementing ISWM programs
in recent years. One such province, Nova Scotia, used a cautious process of research and
open consultation to develop an arnbitious and comprehensive program. Plagued by
leaking landfills and smoking dumps only a decade ago, Nova Scotia has seen a 30
percent reduction in waste in the past three years and, according to at least one article, is
rapidly becoming a global secondary resource management leader (Bauld and Hickrnan
1998).
Pollution Prevention
At the top of the MM hierarchy are source prevention practices, which strive to eliminate
waste before it is created. As significant users of resources and generaton of waste,
industry is clearly paramount to the development and implementation of source
prevention programs. In addition, they have a vested interest in pollution prevention as it
allows a Company to stay ahead of regdatory requirements, community expectations, and
the cornpetition (Schmidheiny 1992) and lower the cost of disposal, waste treatment, raw
material, and future liability. Nonetheless, indusûy at large has been slow to implement
comprehensive source prevention prograrns. A few visionary companies, however, have
been pioneering the way and reaping the rewards. The List includes large multinational
companies such as Xerox, IBM, General Motors, Dow Chernical, and 3M (Shen 1995).
3M company is widely recognized as the k t company to adopt and implernent a
company-wide pollution prevention program. The Pollution Prevention Pays (3P)
prograrn was established in 1975 to make the production processes more efficient by
eliminating or reducing clean-up costs and conserving raw matends (Ling 1995). Over
the past two decades, the program has resulted in considerable decreases in d l ernissions
to the environment, even though in the face of increasing production levels. 3M's effort
and success has been recognized through numerous environmental awards including ones
ffom President Clinton's Council on Sustainable Development, the National Wildlife
Federation's Corporate Conservation Council and the World Environmental Centre.
2.4.1 Integrated Solid Waste Management - The Case of Nova Scotia
To begin this process, we must no longer think of the bags we fil1 each week and pIace at the curb, as garbage. Our garbage must be considered a resource to be managed.
Nova Scotia Department of the Environment 1994
M i l e Nova Scotia was a signatory to the 1989 CCME waste reduction target, initial
efforts by the province to achieve the national target were minimal. In Spring 1993, the
Minister of NSDOE, prornpted by several SWM issues, including landfill siting
difficulties and incinerators controversies, committed to the development of an ISWM
strategy. In preparation, NSDOE conducted a year of research and informal consultation,
and, in Spring 1994 contracted 5 regional studies. Recognizing that the importance of
cooperative participation among policy makers (province), generators (industry and
public), and managers (municipalities), NSDOE compiled the results of its research into a
discussion paper entitled Chan-ging Attitudes in a Changing Environment. This formed
the basis for an open and inclusive public consultation. While public input wiis clearly
valued, the discussion papa presented several issues to which the NSDOE was firmly
comrnitted. These cornmitments, including regionalization of SWM; a 50 percent
reduction target by 2000; application of the 4 R's; and landfill design standards, provided
the foundation for the development of a provincial-wide approach to SWMS3
In Januaxy 1995, the province passed the Nova Scotia Environrnent Act, thereby
integrating several existing environmental regulations. In addition to officially adopting
the 50 percent reduction target, the Act created the financial and regulatory environment
for the development and implementation of an ISWM strategy. More specifically, the
Act granted the Minister the authority to develop supporting regulations and guidelines.
Armed with the public consultation report and the support of the Environrnent Act,
DOE developed and Solid Waste - Resource Management: A Strategy for
Nova Scotia in October 1995. Announcing a fundamental shift in the province's waste
S W M philosophy, the Solid Waste-Resource Management Strategy centered on the key
themes of environmental protection and economic development. In essence, the Strategy
linked environmental and the economic objectives by stating that "it is now recognized
that solid waste is a resource that can result in the creation ofjobs through cost effective
and environmentally responsible management" (NSDOE 1995a). By linking these
together at the provincial level, the long t em viability and impact of the approach was
greatly enhanced.
Employing the new philosophy, the Strategy proposed an integrated waste-resource
model, made up of five key components: source reduction, material reuse, recycling,
composting, and business development. By this t h e , many experts and municipal
decision-makers throughout Canada had already embraced a 4 R's or integrated approach
to SWM, so the model and its components were not entirely unique. What was unique
was the establishment in the S trategy of three fundamental pillars to support the model 's
adoption and successful implementation: regional plans, financial resources, and
regulatory support.
' NSDOE detemined the 1989 baseline figure for waste generation to be 623,000 tonnes annually.
As municipalities were essentially responsible for waste management, the first of the
pillars focused on the development of regional plans with maximum local participation.
This was achieved by involving the municipaiities in the development of the Srategy and
establishment of the seven waste management planning regions in the province. Further
participation was e n d through the Solid Waste - Resource Management Regulations
(February 1996), which required each region to prepare and submit a plan to achieve the
50 percent reduction target.
The capital costs for the collection and processing in fkstnicture required to support
diversion initiatives, particularly recycling and composting, imposed a banier to the
adoption of an ISWRM program. The second supporting pillar addresses this hurdle
through the establishment of the Resource Recovery Fund (RRF). The RRF is denved
fiom the provincial deposit refùnd system, the tire recycling programs, and the sale of
recyclable materials. In tum, the RRF administrators (RRF Board) are charged with
funding municipal or regional diversion programs, developing industry stewardship
programs, and promoting education and awareness of the 3 R's and composting.
The final pi llar created the regulatory environment to facili tate regional diversion
initiatives. The NSDOE Strategy and Regulations introduced a provincial wide ban on
the disposa1 of designated materials (Table 9, mandated that al1 beverage containers
subject to a deposit and refwid, and implernented strict guidelines for the design and
operation of landfill, composting, and construction and dernolition debns facilities.
Together these three pillars (regional plans, financiai resources, and regulatory support)
have created the necessary econornic, environmental, and societal fiamework to support
the adoption and implementation of the strategy. As a result, the seven regionai plans
have been completed and al1 municipalities are in the process of irnplementing diversion
programs (Bauld and Hickman 1998). While the Strategy is still relatively Young, the
province already achieved a 26.3 percent reduction in waste generation by 1997 (NSDOE
1997) and roughly 3 1 percent by 1998 (B.Fnesen pers. comm. November 1998). The
progress was highlighted by the success ofthe:
depositkefûnd system - 142 million beverage containers retumed in 1997
representing a 78 percent retum rate;
used tire management program - 570,000 tires diverted fiom landfill;
curbside recycling - 77 percent of population have access to curbside recycling;
and
landfill operation guidelines - only 19 municipal sites remah.
Table 5 - Materials Banned From Landfffls & Incinerators
Encouraging industry stewards hip in reducing or managing residual materials, has also
met with some success, notably the founding of a numerous beverage container depots
throughout the province, a used tire processing plant in Cornwallis, and a used plastics
DATE
1 April 1996
1 April 1997
MATEFUAL
Beverage Containers Newsprint
Comgated Cardboard Used Tires
Lead Acid Batteries Leaf and Yard Waste
Waste Paint Ethylene Glycol
Compostable Organic Material
1 April 1998 1 SteeVTirdGlass Food Containers
LowMigh Density Polyethylene Plastic
(Source: Nova Scotia Department of the Environment 1995: 18)
processing plant in Amherst (NSDOE 1998). The Environment Act, however, targeted
certain materials for voluntary industry stewardship programs, inciuding dairy containers,
office paper, retail packaging, old magazines, and fast food packaging. Despite ongoing
discussions with some of the related industry associations, the RRF Board has not yet
succeeded in establishing industry stewardship programs for these materials.
Clearly, the Nova Scotia waste-resource mode1 has resulted in notable progress in
environmental (waste reduction) and economic (job creation) objectives, but what factors
contnbuted to this success. In the early development, NSDOE underwent carefùl
planning and extensive consultation to identiQ the conditions under which a SWM
program would succeed. This macro approach identified supporting infiastructure
requirements and existing barriers, rather than specific practices. As a result, NSDOE
developed the three pillars discussed above. To review, the first pillar ensured strong
participation through the development of separate waste management regions and the
requirement for separate diversion pians. The second pillar addressed potential financial
concerns by establishg the RRF to operate and encourage industry stewardship
programs and fund municipal diversion initiatives. The final pillar ensured a minimum
standard and a level playing field throughout the province by introducing matenal bans
and strict facility guidelines.
Participants in the provincial waste-resource team now have a common objective and
specific roles and responsibilities. The province continues to develop opportunities to
increase diversion through industry stewardship and support municipal diversion
initiatives. The municipalities implement and manage regional programs. Citizens,
according to a recent RRFB public opinion poll, overwhelmingly understand, support,
and participate in the various regional ISWRM prograrns (NSDOE 1998). Nova Scotia
now enjoys a comprehensive, coordinated, and integrated SWM program.
2.4.2 Source Prevention and Material Reus* The Case of 3M
A well-established and successful multinational, 3 M counts itself among the Fortune 500
group of companies. Founded in 1902 as a mining company, 3M has grown into a large
divenified corporation operating in over 60 countries, employing over 75,000 people, and
generating revenues of over $15 billion (3M 1998a). In terrns of material usage and
residual generation, the company buys thousands of different materials, operates
hundreds of plants in hundreds of locations, and produces millions of products. As a
result the cornpany sent some 340 million lbs of residual material to landfill in 1990.
The foundation for the environmental success and recognition enjoyed by 3M today was
developed by two key events in 1975. First, the 3M Board of Directors acknowledged
the importance of environmentai issues by adopting a corporate policy. This
demonstrated top management cornmitment without which fündamentai change would be
impossible. The 3M Environmental Policy expands on one of the company's four core
values - respecting the social and physical environment - by committing the company to:
Solve its own environmental problems;
Prevent pollution at the source wherever and whenever possible;
Develop products that have a minimum effect on the environment;
Conserve natural resources through reclamation and appropriate methods;
Meet and sustain govemment regulations; and
Assist govemment agencies in environmental activities wherever possible (3M
1998b).
In addition to setting goals, this Environmental Policy created a favorable corporate
culture for the development of environmental prograrns and initiatives.
Irnmediately following the adoption of the Environrnentd Policy in February 1975,3M
introduced its 3 P program as a practical tool to achieve its commitments. The program's
goal was to shift the focus from using traditional end-of-pipe pollution control equipment
to preventing pollution at its source (Schmidheiny 1992). According to the company, a
strategic shift to pollution prevention was adopted because it was environmentally
effective, technically sound, and more econornical than conventional controls (3M
1998b). Since its inception two decades ago, 3P has undergone several evolutions
resulting in a fiuther weaving of pollution prevention into the corporate fabric.
Over the past 20 years, the 3P prograrn has significantly reduced air emissions, water
discharges, and solid waste generation and in the process saved 3M hundreds of millions
of dollars (Table 6). In the area of solid waste, 3M decreased the amount of solid waste
sent to Iandfill by 32 percent between 1990 and 1996. Of this reduction 85 percent was
the result of pollution prevention efforts.' The success of both the overall program and
individual initiatives has been widely recognized through a number of notable awards,
including the 1996 Presidentiai Award for Sustainable Development.
Table 6 - 3P Program Results 1975-1996"
[ Air Pollutants 1 246,000 1 Tonnes 1 ! 1
Sludge/Solid Waste 1 494,000 1 Tonnes 1 1 Wastewater 1 3.7 1 Billion of Gallons I
Tonnes Water Pollutants 3 1,000
1 I
Savings 1 $810 1 Millions
Approved 3 P Projects
I I
*The figures above represent results only from the first year of each
465 1
project. I (3M 1998b: http://www.mmm.çom/profi1e/envt13PPhtml)
With this success behind it, 3M has established a new set of environmental targets to Iead
the Company into the next century. Today the 3P Plus program emphasizes a holistic
pollution prevention approach by uniting many individual activities into a comprehensive
total environmental quality management systern. While the ultimate goal is zero
emissions, the 3P Plus program targets a 90 percent reduction in al1 ernissions to the
environment by the year 2000.
' The 3M Environmental Progress Report shows a decrease from 340 million lbs in 1990 to 230 in 1996.
The past and continuing success of the 3M pollution prevention efforts c m be attributed
to three critical and interrelateci factors: corporate view of waste, corporate culture, and
corporate environmental policies supported by management.
With the introduction of the 3P program in 1975,3M announced to its employees that
waste should no longer be viewed as a necessary by-product of operations. Instead, the
generation of waste should be seen as an indication of uiefficiency, which consequently
decreases profitability. In fact, top management felt that "environmental issues were
likely to have an increasing effect on 3M's cornpetitive position in the marketplace"
(Schmidheiny 1992: 19). Implernentation of this program was prompted by the belief that
costly conventional controls only constrained the problem temporarily and did not
eliminate the problem or the potential for tùture liability (3M 1998b). The program
promoted waste reduction through product reformulation, process modification,
equiprnent redesign, a d o r recychg and reuse of waste products. The recent
development of a scouring pad made of recycled PET is an example of how the concept
affected activities. In the development of Never Rustm and Never Scratchm, employees
focused research and development on using recycled products rather than virgin material
(Fussler 1996). By supporting and introducing this concept to employees, 3M also laid
the groundwork for the introduction of sustainable development and eco-efficiency to the
company in the 1990s.
As an innovation based company, 3M recognized that the success of its pollution
prevention efforts rested largely with employees. Schmidheiny (1 992) maintains that the
3P program has been successfid because it encourages employees closest to the products
and processes to identiQ pollution prevention opportunities. Aithough voluntary,
employee participation has been encouraged through the establishment of a formai
recognition program. To be recognized and rewarded, the project must reduce a
pollutant, benefit the environment through more efficient resource use, Save money, and
dernonstrate technical innovation. The number of recognized 3 P proj ects (almost 5000)
over the past two decades, indicates the scope of participation in the program and
unders tanding of the pollution prevention concept. By demonstrating top management
cornmitment and encouragïng ernployee creativity, 3M is developing a corporate culture
that incorporates environmental concem. In 3M's tape plant in Perth, Ontario, one
employee's initiative resulted in an interna1 recycling program that reduced waste by 96
percent and saved 5650,000 annually (unknown 1996b). This earned 3M an pollution
prevention award fiom the Ontario government.
Since the introduction of the corporate environmental policy in 1975, top management at
31M have encouraged and supportai the application of pollution prevention initiatives.
The strong support and resulting shift in corporate culture have generated significant
reductions in pollution over the past twenty years. Park (1 997) suggests that industry is
now moving into the third phase of environmental management where companies are no
Ionger satisfied with incremental improvements. Instead, he suggests, cornpanies are
begiming to make systernic changes which incorporate environmental consideration into
the manufacturing process. Demonsbating this evolution to sustainability, 3M is in the
process of developing and implementing a company-wide Environmental Management
System (EMS). The primary goals of the company's EMS are continual improvement
and cornpliance, realization of the 3P Plus targets, and implementation of full life cycle
management for products. The EMS requires that each business unit establish an
environmental policy and integrate environmen tal goals into the business planning
process. Led by strong comrnitment fiom top management, 3M's environmental
performance is, and always has been, recognized as one of the best in industry (Park
1997). In terms of benchmarking, the success factors are relevant to any organization.
2.5 Summary
Changes to the traditional disposal based approach to solid waste management has only
been implemented in the past two decades. Toady, Canadian municipalities are
increasingly implementing integrated solid waste management programs that emphasize
recylcing, composting, and even reducing. Other, more proactive and progressive,
organizations are beginning to focus on the underlying causes of waste: resource
inefficiencies. This refers to the way in which materid usage is optimized throughout the
organization and shifls indusûy's focus to improving material productivity. The case of
NSDOE and 3M Corporation are wo such organizations. The factors contributing to the
success of these prograrns are vision Eiom top management, view of waste, organizational
cornmitment and support, and program implementation. These facton comprise the long
term planning and management cornmitment which ukimately facilitate the success 0f.a
program. The next two chapters will review the S WM program at MARLANT and
assess it against these factors to determine if fundamental changes have been made.
CHAPTER 3
3.0 SOLID WASTE AT MARLANT: A CASE STUDY
3.1 Profile of MARLANT
Originally established as a secure berthing facility for naval vessels over two centuries
ago, MARLANT has grown into a large, complex, and dynamic organization. Past
military conflicts and existing defence commitrnents have prompted an exponential
expansion of its original operations and supporting activities. Unlike any other public or
private organization, the scope and diversity of these operations and activities span al1
sectors of the traditional economy (residential, industrial, commercial, and institutionai).
The state of solid waste management within MARLANT is largely a product of this
historical development and operational scope. That is, the organizational and operational
developments since the establishment of the Dockyard two centuries ago have shaped the
type of activities conducted, and in tum the type of waste generated and the scope of
waste management services required.
3.1.1 Founding and Growth
The military facilities at the Dockyard as well as the original settlement at Halifax were
established 011 2 1 June 1749, when Colonel Edward Cornwallis, dispatched by the British
authorities to counter the French presence at Louisbowg, sailed into Chebucto Harbour
(Watson 1959). The harbour's depth and natural protective characteristics made the site
welI suited to defence purposes and the British began building the necessary berthing and
support infrastructure. By 1 759, three years after the outbreak of the Seven Years War, a
British order-in-council formally established the Royal Dockyard at Halifax and by the
end of the War, the British Naval Board, provided funding for its permanency and
continued development (Watson 1959).
While the Seven Years War laid the foundation for the Dockyard, it was the ensuing wars
that dictated its development. In separate histoncal accounts, Watson (1959), Piers
( 1 947), and Gurney Smith ( 1 985) al1 noted that, over the two centuries following its
founding, the Dockyard grew and declined in direct correlation with military conflicts.
During the Seven Y ears War, Napoleanic Wars, American Revolution, and American
Civil War, for example, activity in the Dockyard flourished resulting in signifiant
increases in both staff and infrastructure. Watson (1 959) notes, however, that in
peacetime, Dockyard operations waned, staff was drastically reduced, and infiastructure
was letl unattended. In The King's Yard, Gumey Smith ( 1985: 10) confirms that the
Dockyard's sole objective during peacetime was to show the flag, patrol the fishing
grounds, and keep a watchfül eye on the United States.
With the promulgation of the Naval Service Bill on 4 May 19 10, Canada assumed official
control and administration of the Royal Dockyard. Under the new administration, the
historical pattern of growth and decline continued tluoughout the first and second World
Wars. Finally, following the conclusion of World Wars II, long tenn stability and
continuity was secured for the Dockyard. Due in large part to its newly assigned NATO
defence commitments, the federal govemment provided the required financial and
politicai support to maintain adequate staff and facilities at the Dockyard during
peacetime (Watson 1959). To this day, MARLANT remains Canada's largest military
Base employing over 9,400 civilian and mili tary persomel (MARLANT 1 997a). From a
provincial perspective, MARLANT represents the largest single component of the Nova
Scotian economy, injecting some S500M (salaries and pensions) annually into the
economy (Capt(N) 1.D.Mack unpublished 1997).
3.1.2 Organization
The Dockyard's strategic location on the Atlantic Ocean made it a secure port for Allied
navies during World Wars 1 and II. The increased operational activity resulted in the
establishment of numerous smaller supporting military facilities. Largely independent,
these units were responsible for their own suppon. Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Halifax
was oficially founded on 1 A p d 1966 to provide effective and centralized support io the
numerous military facilities in Nova Scotia (CFB Halifax 1970). In 1968, following the
unification of the Canadian Forces, the majority of miliiary facilities within the city and
province were officially amalgamated under CFB Halifax.
The 1968 unification also saw the creation of three operational commands: Maritime
Command (MARCOM), Air Command, and Land Forces Comrnand. CFB Halifax was
one of two Bases reporting to MARCOM. In 1992, another re-organization saw the
creation of three units under MARCOM: Maritime Forces Pacific (west), MARLANT
(east), and Naval Reserve (country-wide). CFB Halifax now reports through
MARLANT to MARCOM (Figure 5).
Figure 5 - DND Organizational Structure
DND Organizational Structure
1 1 1- Air Command 1 Land Forces Command 1 M r s k . CaiMnd )
_ _. . - . - - 1
M W foicr Maritime Forces Pacific 1 L 1
Personnel SuppoR unit J ~ l h l ( i ~ ~ o n UI I Operationai units I Exmutive Services I
In the mid 1990s, debt induced fiscal pressures prompted the federal government to
fùrther examine its activities and operations. A review of MARCOM activities
confirmed that MARLANT and CFB Halifax were, in many cases, providing similar
support to the sarne client: the Atlantic Fleet. In 1996, to reduce duplication and
bureaucracy, CFB Halifax merged with MARLANT into one organization and retained
the title MARLANT (MARLANT 1997a). CFB Halifax became a branch under
MARLANT and, consistent with its previous role, was charged with the provision of
Materiel Support for al1 MARLANT Integral and Lodger units.' The concurrent
amalgarnation of CFB Sheanvater in 1996 extended MARLANT's provision of service to
al1 Integral and Lodger units formerly supported by CFB Shearwater. The support role is
reflected in the following Base Commander mission statement:
To provide appropriate construction engineering, information technology, strategic communications, general safety, environmental management, logistics, harbour support and emergency response services to MARLANT and assigned lodger units . . .
CFB Halifax unpublished 1997a
Within the provision of environmental, logistics, and construction engineering services
lies the responsibility for waste management. Before 1996, the three separate sections had
varying responsibilities for waste and material management activities. Fonnation
Construction Engineering (FCE) managed waste disposal, Formation Logistics (FLOG)
managed surplus and scrap disposal, and Fonnation Environment (FENV) managed
recycling efforts.
3.1.3 Scope of Operations
From its founding in 1749, the operational mandate of the Dockyard has been to support
naval operations. In the beginning, under British administration and control the support
requirements comprised little more than a secure berthing facility fiom which to conduct
repairs and replenish supplies. Following the establishment of a permanent Canadian
Naval Service, Canada officially asswned responsibility for not only the naval operations
but al1 activities necessary to maintain the operational readiness of the Atlantic Fleet.
' Integral units are those which report to and are supponed by the same cornmand structure. Lodger units are those units which report to one command stnicture but are supported by another. These units are deemed lodger to the supporting organization.
Both the development of the young Canadian navy and the considerable military activity
around the Dockyard dunng the first half of the 20" cenniry, resulted in the establishment
and/or growth of support activities. While essential services, such as ship repair and
maintenance, remaineci inside the Dockyard, space limitations forced other supporting
infrastructure to be built in various locations around Halifax and the province. These
services, including training, communications, engineering, and accommodations,
contributed directly to the operations and operational readiness of the fleet. Canada's
international defence cornmitment, including the coordination of al1 North Atlantic Treaty
Organization (NATO) maritime operations from the 4Oh parallei to the North Pole and
east to the mid-Atlantic, ensured the long term requirement for these services (CFB
HaIifax unpublished 1997a). As indicated earlier, CFB Halifax wascharged with
providing support to these varied and scattered units (Table 7). Ir should be noted that
departmental downsizing has resulted in the closure of some of these facilities, including
Albro Lake, Camp Debert, Shelboume, and some armowies, .
Table 7 - CFB Halifax followine Intc Location Albro Lake Bedford Rifle Range Camp Debert HMC Dockyard Dockyard Annex Mill Cove & Newport Corners Armouries (Windsor, Halifax, New Glasgow, Tmro, Pictou) Royal Artiliery Park Shannon Park S helbourne Stadacona Willow Park Windsor Park
L
(Source: CFB Halifax 1970)
:ration Purpose Accommodaiions Training Training Fleet Operations Fleet Operations Communications Training
Accommodations Accommodations S urvei 1 lance Administration Engineering School
With the increase in facilities and equipment, the requirement for those services that
support the infrastructure as a whole, including supply, construction, engineering, and
transportation, also grew. In the provision of both direct and indirect services,
MARLANT operates and/or administers 600 buildings, 700 vehicles, and 43 sites on
1 100 hectares of land (Capt (N) I.D.Mack unpublished 1997). This comprises numerous
warehouses, industrial production facilities, living quarters, trade and professional
schools, restaurants (galleys and messes), a hospital, a firefighting and police station, and
sporting facilities.
Each of the activities and facilities typically generates waste streams consistent with its
fùnction. For exampie, paper is generated mainly by administrative fimctions, cardboard
by warehouses and ships, food waste by kitchens and accommodations, and C&D debris
by industrial and maintenance shops (CFB Halifax 1994). To avoid an administrational
and operational nightmare, waste disposa1 services are provided by a central organization
(Base Commander) rather than by individual units. Waste disposal costs are considered
an overhead to MARLANT and are reflected in its budget.
3.2 Environmental Management
Prior to 1990, environmental management at CFB Halifax was almost non-existent.
While the Base Energy and Environmental Management Cornmittee had been created in
1989, its pnmary focus was the reduction of energy consumption. Between 1990 and
1995, departmental policies woulci shift the committee's attention to include other
environmental issues. In a typically reactive nature, issues perceived to present higher
environmental risk (e.g. hazardous materials management, contaminated sites) or those
specifically targeted by regdations consumed a majority of the committee's attention. As
such, aside fiom some office paper recycling, it was not until the mid 1990s that the Base
begin to examine waste management practices in earnest.
3.2.1 International Context
The early environmental movement focused on animal protection and the preservation of
nature, and was primarily championed by special interest groups. But the 1972
Stockholm Conference and subsequent creation of the United Nations Environment
Programme placed environmental issues firmly on public and govemment agendas. By
the time the Bruntland Commission published Our Cornmon Future in 1987, more than
1 40 countnes, including Canada, had created environmental agencies (McCormick 1 989).
Then. in 1992, Agenda 2 1 outlined a comprehensive action plan for governrnents,
agencies, and independent groups alike. This was adopted by United Nations Cornmittee
on Environment and Development (UNCED) during the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro.
Among the Agenda 2 1 proposals was a solid waste section that required counûies to:
establish targets for waste reduction;
implement national programs for waste reuse and recycling; and
establish waste treatment and disposa1 criteria.
3.2.2 Federal Context
Stnving to deliver on international cornrnitments, Canada was arnong those countries that
turned its statements of concem into policies for action. The government promulgated the
following key policies and pieces of environmental iegislation:
The Federal Environmental Assessment and Review Process (1 984), replaced in
1990 by the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act (CEAA), requires that
kderal authorities conduct environmental assessments (EA) prior to commencing
a project which triggers the Act;
The Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA) ( 1988) regulates every stage
of a toxic chernical's life, fiom inception to disposal, by ernphasizing anticipation
and prevention over remediation and treatment. CEPA also regulates the ocean
disposa1 of wastes;
The Fisheries Act, while somewhat older, has a clause which prohibits the entry
of deleterious substances into water inhabited by fish; and
Changes to the Auditor Generals Act in 1996 requires that al1 federal departments
table a Sustainable Development Strategy (SDS) in parliament and report
annually on progress.
To support and supplement the regulatory stick, the Govemment produced Canada's
Green Plan for a Healthy Economy. In an atternpt to get the federal environmental house
in order, the plan targeted and provided guidance to Government departments and
agencies. Arnong the initiatives and targets outlined in the plan was a federal
commitment to reduce its generation of waste by 50 percent by the year 2000
(Environment Canada 199 1 ). Without an endorsement by the incoming Liberal
Govemment in 1993, the plan's influence and effectiveness were diluted. Departmental
SDSs, as required by the modified Auditor Generals Act, would provide new initiatives
and targets.
3.2.3 Departmental Context
In the defense of borders and protection of national interests, DND employs over 90,000
military and civilian employees, manages 10,000 individual facilities, operates 30,000
vehicles, and administers 20,000 km2 of land (Department of National Defence 1997).
Routine military operations, whether at sea, in the air, or on land, result in the movement
of heavy military equipment through large tracts of the naturai environment. Prior to the
early 1 9901s, the consideration of environmental impacts was largely overlooked in the
planning and exercising o f operations.
By the Iate 1980s, DND created an environmental structure to facilitate the development
and implementation of a departmental environment program. Responsibility for
environmental issues was added to the portfolio of the Assistant Deputy Minister - In fiastructure and Environment ( ADM-I&E), who then created an environmental division
(Director General Environment-DGE) to develop and maintain the p r o p i n . In a
department where rank in the hierarchy is paramount, the addition of environmental
responsibili ties to ADM-I&E signaleci throughout the department a commi tment to
action.
DGE was charged with developing national programs, providing advice to Bases, and
drafting departmental policy reflecting federal regulations. DND environmental policies
include:
CFAO 26-50 (Environmental Protection and Management);
CFAO 36-55 (Hazardous Materials Management); and
P5/92 (Canadian Forces And National Defence Policy On The Environment)
It was P5/92 which comrnitted the department to meeting or exceeding federal
regulations, compatibility with provincial, and international standards and integrating
environmental concerns at al1 levels of decision making (Department of National Defence
1992). In doing so, P5/92 officially adopted the 50 percent waste reduction target fiom
Canada's Green Plan. In the mid 1990s, DGE distributed The Comrnanders Guide on
Environmental Protection, which provides senior officers with a practical guide to
environmental regulations and policies and defines responsibilities. The guide
cornmunicates the 50 percent waste reduction policy and outlines how to apply 3R
concept (reduce, reuse, and recycle) in the workplace (Department of National Defence
1992). The target was superseded in 1997 by the DND SDS target of 10 percent
reduction of 1 997 levels by the year 2000.
3.2.4 Environmental Management at MARLANT
The operational activities of the Atlantic Fleet, consisting of 3 submarines, 18 warships,
and 2 supply vessels, interact daily with the east Coast marine environment. Directly or
indirectly supporting operations are MARLANTs shore based units whose infiastructure
includes central heating plants, vehicle maintenance garages, supply warehouses, ship
repairlmaintenance equipment, and construction engineering equipment. Both ship and
shore based units have the potential to negatively affect the environment and,
consequently, may trigger the Fisheries Act, CEAA, or CEPA and result in charges
against ancilor embarrassrnent to the department.
MARLANT, at the tirne still CFF3 Halifax, began its environmental program in 1990 by
completing the Environmental Baseline Study (EBS) of its activities. The EBS was
prompted by a federal cabinet decision to identim and mitigate existing sources of
pollution on federal establishments and to screen new projects for potential adverse
environmental effects (CFB Halifax 1990). The CFB Halifax EBS assessed 37 sites for
cornpliance with federal regulations and recommended mitigating actions to address each
non-compIiance aspect. The resulting 269 recornrnendations provided the foundation for
the CFB Halifax Environmental Action Plan (HEAP), which was completed in 199 1. The
stated objective of the HEAP is to outline detailed plans on how to solve the problems,
list the standards to be achieved and assign responsibilities by UnitIBranch (CFB Halifax
1991).
To implement the action plan, both the EBS and HEAP recommended creation of two full
time dedicated environmental positions at the Base. The Senior Environmental Engineer
position was placed in the FCE organization to ensure environmentai considerations were
integrated in the planning and implementation of major projects at the Base. The Base
Environmental Officer position became a specialist advisor to the Base Commander and
was charged with coordinating and administering the CFB Halifax Environmental
Protection Plan. By establishing permanent positions, environmental management would
become a pnmary responsibility of an environmental specialist rather than a secondary
duty of a transient rnilitary officer.
Increases in the scope and responsibilities of the environmental program made it
necessary to establish a dedicated unit: Base Environrnent (renamed Formation
Environrnent (FENV) in 1995). FENV's current responsibilities include: environmental
audits on units, development, implementation, and maintenance of an ISO 14000
consistent Environmental Management System (EMS), environmental training,
development and coordination of a hazardous materials management program, and
coordination of MARLANT initiatives in support of the DND SDS. While not directly
responsible for waste management, FENV would play an integral role in developing a
recycling program at the Base and, later, work with other units to improve the waste
management program.
3.3 Waste Quantity and Composition
3.3.1 The Way it Was
Prior to 1994. the bulk of the CFB Halifax non-hazardous solid waste Stream flowed fiom
generator to landfill. From intemal garbage containers to external bins to the municipal
landfill, little thought was given as to how any materials could be diverted. Waste
management, or more accurately garbage disposal, was largely viewed as a collection and
disposa1 issue, the logistics of which was the basis of the service contracts with the local
hauling companies. A review of old contracts revealed that hauling contracts and
payment thereof was based entirely on the nurnber and size of bins required, as well as
the location and fiequency of pick-ups. The more equipment and service required the
higher the charge. Garbage collection and disposal costs represented overhead costs to
the Base. That is, the costs were borne by the organization as a whole rather then by
individual units generating the wastes.
To optimize collection schedules and presumably service, CFB Halifax organized
contracts by geographic location and by 1993 had five separate disposal contacts within
metropoli tan Halifax (R.Newman pers comm. 1 998). Responsible for waste disposal.
BCE administered the contracts through a contracts inspector, whose role it was to write
the contract specifications, monitor the compliance, and authorize the invoices for
payment. Since a single inspector administered varied and multiple contracts,
qualifications and training for this job centered on the contracting process rather than the
subject matter. By focusing on administenng contracts, rather than managing waste, CFB
Halifax demonstrated its view of waste as a valueless by-product, rather than a part of
operations.
Further demonstrating the 'throw away' mentality toward waste, the Base did track or
maintain accurate weight records. While contractors were requested to supply weight
data in 1993, difficulties and inconsistencies with on-board scale resulted in unreliable
information. Criticisms, however, must be viewed in the context of the times. Until very
recently in the Base's, and in fact the city's, 250 year history, management and decision
makers were not concemed with the fate of waste. The department's environmental
organization provided little or no direction or support for the management of waste,
instead focusing on the higher risks associated with hazardous materials management and
contarninated site remediation. However, in a May 1996 report to the Minister of
National Defence, the Defence Environmental Advisory Cornmittee (DEAC) strongly
recommended that the department shift its environmentai emphasis fiom reaction (clean-
up) to anticipation (prevention) (DEAC 1996).
Various waste studies undertaken in the early to mid 1990s confirmed that disposal
oriented waste practices at military facilities were the n o m not the exception. Studies at
CFBs Ottawa, Petawawa, Borden, and Kingston revealed very limited, if any, diversion
programs. Moreover, none of these Bases tracked or recordeci waste records and some
still operated dumps on Base property. Another study conducted at federal facilities by
Environment Canada found that this disposa1 based approach to waste was typical of
governrnent deparûnents throughout the Atlantic Region. Very few federal facilities in
the Atlantic had waste management strategies in place in 1993 and diversion initiatives
focused almost exclusively on paper recycling. (Environment Canada 1994) In Solid
Waste Management at Federal Facilities in the Atlantic Region: A :993 Survey,
Environment Canada ( 1994) observed that there was a generai lack of awareness (>50
percent) about the aims and objectives of the CCME 50 percent reduction targets.
Aside fiom the lack of departmental or federal direction, limited opportunities for
diversion existed in the municipalities of Halifax, Dartmouth, or Bedford. Before 1990,
the ci ties had no recycling program, no recycling infiastructure, and no commercial
tipping fees. Solid waste management was not yet a high priority. Traditional attitudes,
departmental direction and support, and municipal infiastructure would need to change in
order to aff'ect a change in waste management practices at the Base.
The introduction of tipping fees by the municipalities in January 1990 forced the Base to
estirnate waste quantities. Contract demands not waste management initiatives, however,
prompted this action. In the absence of any waste records, quantities were estimated
based on bin size, number, and collection fkquency. Between 1990 and 1994 no attempt
was made to detemine the actual weights.
3.3.2 Economic Driven Diversion
Prior to 1990, CFB Halifax did have several notable exceptions to the disposal based
approach to waste management, however, these were largely dnven by economic factors.
The three well established diversion programs comprised surplus goods, scrap material,
and kitchen fats. In accordance with federal directives on the disposal of crown assets.
goods deemed surplus to Base requirements but still in working condition, were divened
fiom the waste Stream. These items, including old fùniiture, office equipment, building
fixtures, and tools, were ei ther reused by another department or, more ofien, sold in
public auctions through the former Supply and Services Canada (DJefferies pers. comm.
1998). Materials that were deemed scrap but had a well established market dernand and
value, such as metals, were also separated and sold in public auctions. Finally, kitchen
fats and grease fiom the five galleys/messes on the Base were separated and stored in
extemal bins. Through a contract with a Tmro based Company, the fats are collected,
refined, and sold as amendments for animal food. The quantity or weight of material
diverted through these programs was not tracked.
Market and economic considerations not environmental ones inspired the three initiatives
described above. Environmental policies, namely the adoption of 50 percent waste
reduction target outlined in Canada's Green Plan, did prompt the Base to Iaunch some
recycling initiatives in the early 1990s. By 1994, the Base established informa1 and
mostly localized programs to recycle redeemable pop cans, cardboard and office paper
(CFB Halifax 1994). Of these, paper recycling was the only officia1 base-wide prograrn.
yet even this enjoyed limited participation in texms of buildings and sites serviced.
Through these recycling initiatives, CFB Halifax diverted less than 200 tomes o f material
in 1993, thus accounting for only a small fraction of the total waste generateù (CFB
Halifax 1994). Clearly these initiatives alone did not constitute a comprehensive
recycling program nor would they allow the Base to achieve the 50 percent reduction
targets outlined in the Green Plan.
Contributing to the limited scope of the diversion initiatives was the lack of a single
process owner or at least a coordinating organization. The Base Supply office (later
renamed Formation Logistics (FLOG)), in addition to purchasing, warehousing, and
packaging, managed the collection and resale of surplus goods and scrap materials.
BENV had responsibility for the paper recycling prograrn. BCE administered the waste
contracts and, through the Roads and Grounds unit, removed and disposed of C&D debris
fiom the dockyard. The Base Foods Offke handled the collection and removal of fats.
And finally, various units organized their own collection and redemption of pop cans.
The use of multiple processes as well as process owners confused personnel with respect
to collection and precluded an integrated approach to managing waste.
3.3.3 Impetus for Change
In 1989, on a per capita basis, Canada produced more waste in the domestic, commercial and light industrial sectors than any other country in the world, that is 1.7 kg per person per day. In addition, Our efforts to reduce, reuse and recover resources that we are discarding also fell short o f al1 other countries in the world.
Hart unpublished 1990.
In Toward A Comrnon Future: A Report on Sustainable Development and its
implications for Canada, Keating noted that Canadians were generating 30 million tonnes
of non hazardous waste annually, only 10 percent of which was being recycled, and
operati ng over 1 0,000 land fills/dumps. Moreover, waste generation was increasing and
the number of landfills decreasing. The requirement for action was received loud and
clear. In response to both the Bruntland and Keating Reports, Canada developed a
federal environmental action plan entitled Canada's Green Plan. With clean air, water,
and land as somewhat vague and perhaps unattainable goals, the action plan outlines
specific objectives and targets to implement and achieve. Among the targets is a
commitment by the federal government to reduce solid waste fiom its own operations by
50 percent by the year 2000 (Environment Canada 199 1). CFB Halifax adopted this
target in its' Green Base goals and established interim milestones of 20 percent by 1994
and 40 percent by 1996, To support Base initiatives, DGE committed to funding a waste
management study at several selected Bases, including CFB Halifax, and, based on
survey results, develop a generic waste reduction plan for al1 bases.
In addition to the departmental initiatives, the municipal waste management environment
in which CFB Halifax operated was changing. In 1990, the city of Halifax received a
study which recomrnended that waste reduction and recycling be given highest prioxity,
and that commercial tipping fees be introduced to promote diversion (City of Halifax
1990). This and the planned closure of the Highway 10 1 landfill prompted the
municipality to introduce a $27.50 per tonne tipping fee in January 1990, initiate a
residential blue bag program, and open a regional multi-material recycling facility. These
factors presented both a threat and an opportunity to the Base's curent waste
management practices. Tipping fees alone, which had increased to $41 per tonne by
August 1992, were costing the Base 5238K by 1993 and left the Base financially
wlnerable to future increases, which were widely expected. Using the actual tipping
costs in the 1993 waste collection contracts and the existing tipping fee, weights were
estimated. From this it was determined that every $1 increase in tipping fees would cost
the Base an additional $6,000. The introduction of recycling infrastructure facilities,
ho wever, presented an opportuni ty to achieve reduction targets and reduce ti pping fees
through diversion.
A 1 993 survey of federal waste management practices found that federal facilities
required access to waste facilities, site assessments, information to m d i Q practices, and
resource cornmitment to achieve the 50 percent targeted reduction (Environment Canada.
1994). DND Headquarters (NDHQ) provided fünding and the development of municipal
recycling facilities provided the Base with a start. The 1994 CFB Halifax Waste
Reduction Management Plan would provide the cment information and action plan.
3.3.4 Waste Reduction Management Plan
Several Bases, including CFB Halifax, began their waste reduction program in earnest
with the completion of a waste management study. The CFB Halifax Waste Reduction
Management Plan study was conducted at CFB Halifax between the Fa11 1993 and Spnng
1994. The objective of the study was twofold: characterize the current waste stream in
terms of quantities and composition, and outline an action plan to achieve the reduction
targets. In the absence of any waste records, weights and compositions were estimated
from avaiiable sources of information. Weights were estimated using the number, size,
and collection frequency of bins. Waste composition was derived fiom other relevant
waste studies (e.g. Ontario Ministry of Environment Waste Composition Study 199 1 ) as
well as site inspections and interviews. Through this the consultant estimated that the 1 1
main sites of CFB Halifax generated roughly 1 1,200 tonnes of waste annually.' Of this
arnount paper and cardboard (30.7 percent), organics (19.7 percent), and
construction/demolition debris (C&D debris) ( 16 percent) comprised the largest single
stream by weight (Figure 6). Finally, as seen in Table 8, ships and industrial facilities
were the largest single generators by function (CFB Halifax 1994).
' This figure does not include waste generated at CFB Shearwater, which was not added to CFB Halifax's purview untiI 1996.
Figure 6 -Waste Composition at MARLANT (in Percent)
(Source: CFB Halifax 1994: Figure 3.18)
In addition to the weights and waste composition, the study provided some information
and recommendations usefùl in the design of a comprehensive waste management
strategy. First, the study revealed the absence of any records to confirm waste quantities
or composition. Even actual weigh slips fkom the transfer stations could not be used as
haulers often collected non-Base waste either before or after its CFB Halifax collections.
This placed the Base in a financially wlnerable position visa the contractors. The study
provided estimates as a starting point, but both the Base Environrnent Officer ( C L . Giffin
pers. comm. 1998) and the Contractor Inspecter (R. Newman pers. comm. 1998) for
waste disposa1 contend that these are extremely high and inconsistent with other
information. A letter outlining the concern about the discrepancy was sent to the
consultant fiom the Base Commander. It was noted that tipping charges in the existing
contracts indicated that the Base generated roughly 673 1 tonnes of waste per year and the
CFB S h e m a t e r environmental baseline study estimates that it generates roughly 1600
tonnes per year, for a total of roughly 8,300 tonnes. In addition, a 1993 Environrnent
Canada (1 994) survey estimateci approxirnately 8,000 tonnes for both Bases. Inaccurate
assumptions in tems of stream densities, composition, and bin fullness may account for
t his discrepancy.
Table 8 - Wastc Composition By Fiinction (tnslyr)
MATERIAL FUNCTION I TYPE
Paper
Cardboard
Glass
Metals
Plastics
Organics
C&D
Textiles
Misc
TOTAL
* This total does not include 72 1 tonnes of C&D debris hauled to landfiil by the Roads and Grounds unit of BCE.
(Source: CFB Halifax 1994: Table 3.10)
Maint.
353.2
127.94
3.37
45.7 1
33.7
83.2
408.75
139.05
135.46
1330.39
Kitchcn
132.5
149.72
178,59
26.38
84.86
592.8
6.48
O
O
1 17 1.33 1
Industrial
13 1.48
78.23
90.98
57.68
60.68
140.4
1043.02
189.62
42.12
1834.22
Adii~iri
746.64
28.84
20.22
1 5.65
54.29
70.2
12.3
1-49
O
949.62
Housing
470.5
47.55
128.04
81.6
106.7
449.8
38.67
66.18
230.62
16 19.68
Sliip
367.73
343.1
686.9
27 1.6
1 14.49
605.8
138.37
260.1 1
O
2688.1
Stores
62.23
280.88
17.35
96.37
50.36
6
42.7 1
1 13.62
O
Othcr
105.9
20.16
30.5
4
6.74
132.6
.8
1.41
7.8
TOTAL
2270.18
1076.4 1
1 155.94
599
51 1.8
2080.78
1691 .O8
77 1.49
416
10572.69' 669.49 309.87
Noting the reasons listed above, 673 1 tonnes per year will be used as the 1994 baseline
tiçure for waste generation. It should be noted that this figure does not include waste
generated at CFB Shearwater, which was amalgarnated with MARLANT in 1996. To
allow for a relevant comparison, the 1994 figure was increased to 8,300 tonnes to allow
for the estimated 1,600 tonnes of waste generated at CFB Shearwater.
Secondly, the study brought attention to the fact that waste collection and disposal was
costing the Base in excess of $460,000 annually'. Widely expected increases in the
tipping tèes would affect this cost. In a time o f fiscal downsizing, the high, and
increasing cost of waste disposa1 provided an influential ally to environmental and
Iegislative considerations in motivating change. Lastly, the study noted the importance of
changing attitudes and building participation through education and promotion. While
critical to the success of any source separation initiative, the effects of downsizing,
regular turnover of military personnel, and the involvement o f several distinct groups
(civilian, military, families. contractors), would make changing attitudes challenging.
Regardless of the questionable accuracy of the statistics, the real value of the waste
reduction plan was as a starting point for developing and implementing waste reduction
initiatives.
3.4 Toward an Integrated Waste Management Strategy
3.4.1 Implernenting Diversion
With the first intenm target for waste reduction (20 percent by 1994) quickly
approaching, the Base Environment Office used the information and momentum from the
WRMP to introduce a multi-material recycling pilot program to four key administrative
buildings on the Base. Since functional responsibility for recycling felI under the
purview of FCE, the recycling tnal would later be merged with its' disposa1 program.
This figure did not include waste collection and disposal costs for CFB Sheanvater or the 72 1 tomes of C&D material collected and hauled by Base personnel.
The pilot prograrn targeted mixed paper, mixed containers, and Old Corrugated
Cardboard (OCC) for separation and diversion to the Municipal Recycling Facili ty
(MRF). As one of four designated Green Bases, CFB Halifax received seed fùnding fiom
NDHQ to launch the trial program. The funds were used to purchase and distribute
recycling centres and deskside recycling containers, consisting of a main cornpartment for
garbage and two colour-coded saddles for paper and containers. Deskside containers
replaced the traditional garbage cans, and, if applicable, the Blue Bins used in the fine
office paper recycling program. The distribution phase included training for both
personnel and cleaners. who were responsible for separation and collection respectively.
Through a new contract, the selected contractor provided extemal bins for each target
Stream, and collected and reported information on weights.
The pilot program was the fint step in a phased approach to the implementation of full
base-wide recycling. This approach provided time to purchase and distribute recycling
containers, introduce and promote the concept, and conduct training of personnel and
cleaners. Indirectly, the trial program also provided relevant waste information (sources,
quantities, barriers) which would facilitate the transition to full recycling, and, more
importantly, bridge the gap to the nexi contract cycle. Integrating full recycling service
into the waste contracts was necessary to strearnline administration, simpliQ record
keeping, and coordinate extemal bin logistics (R. Newman pers. comm. 1998). It also
demonstrated potential recycling savings in terms of avoided tipping fees and thus earned
and/or strengthened senior management support. In a military organization, support fiom
senior officers is paramount to tùll cooperation.
The planned three month recycling pilot was launched during Environment Week 1994.
By Fa11 1994, the prograrn had successfûlly diverted 20 tonnes of paper, beverage
containers, and OCC fiom the landfill (CFB Halifax 1994). Deemed a success, the Base
agreed to expand the program throughout the Base. In addition to encouraging diversion
statistics, the Base learned a valuable lesson dunng the trial. In August 1994 the Base
received a warning letter fiom the MRF stating that recycling loads were typically
contarninated and threatening to refùse fùture loads form the Base. Refùsed loads would
have had to be taken to the transfer station where they would have been subject to tipping
fees. Once the announced Provincial landfill bans came into effect, any loads containing
banned materials would be subject to double tipping fees. Source separation, education,
and training would be critical to fiiture recycling initiatives.
The diversion of paper, beverage containers, and OCC alone, however, would not achieve
the waste reduction targets and would certainly not result in a mode1 waste management
program for other Bases. In addition, two strong economic incentives existed to
encourage diversion: tipping fees and landfill bans. Tipping fees had increased steadily
to S79 per tonne by November t 995 and would eventually reach $100 per tonne by
November 1996. Provinciai landfill bans would be supported by an extra charge for any
loads containing banned materiah. Together, these environmental and economic
incentives prodded CFB Halifax to expand its diversion program to the next two largest
waste categories: organics and C&D debris.
According to the Waste Reduction Management Plan, organic waste made up 19.7
percent of the total Base waste Stream and its main sources were relatively few and easily
identifiable. Since no established composting facility exists in the municipality, the
BENV received Green Base fùnding to purchase a large in-vesse1 composter to facilitate
diversion. The composter, purchased in April 1995, had a capacity of roughly 700 kgs
per day comprising of 460 kgs of food waste and 240 kgs of arnendment (R. Newman
pers. comm. 1998). Base galleys and industrial shops generated sufficient quantities of
food waste and arnendment (sawdust and wood chips) respectively. Delayed delivery,
siting, and installation, and the contracting problems prevented the composter from being
utilized until Fa11 1 996. Between October 1996 and November 1997, the composter
processed roughly 150 tonnes of organic material (R. Newman pers. comm. 1998) and,
perhaps more importantly established source separating procedures in galleys and messes.
Higher than predicted operating and maintenance costs and the opening of an extemal
composting facility resulted in the closure of the composter afier only 1 year of operation.
It should be noted that several other bases, where composting facilities are unavailable,
have purchased similar in-vesse1 composter in recent years.
According to the plan, C&D debris, consisting mostly of wooden pallets, comprised the
third largest single waste stream (1 6 percent) at CFB Halifax. Similar to organic waste,
C&D debtis was generated by several main functions at key Dockyard sites. Prior to
1995, Base personnel were collecting and transporting to the Municipal transfer station
roughly 72 1 tonnes of C&D debris annually from the Dockyard. A11 other sites discarded
C&D material into the regular waste stream. The municipality announced a ban on wood
at the landfill begiming Apnl 1, 1996 and threatened double tipping fees on loads
containing wood. Economic incentives, in the form of lower tipping fees at C&D
recycling facilities and the threat of double tipping fees at the transfer station, prompted
the Base to act. Starting in June 1995, the Base expanded its C&D debns collection to al1
sites and began transporting the matenal to a special recycling facility.
3.4.2 A Waste Management Vision or Plan
Potential diversion through these multi-material, C&D debris, and composting initiatives
clearly represented improvement and positioned CFB Halifax well to meet the 50 percent
reduction target. The ad hoc addition of the new initiatives and contracts, however,
precluded a coordinated approach to waste management and created a logistical and
administrative burden on the Contract Inspector. By Fa11 1995, the Base was
administering and/or managing 7 different recycling and waste disposa1 processes and 4
di fferent contractors. These included four for garbage (Stadacona, Dockyard, Dartmouth,
and Halifax), one for multi-material, one for kitchen fats, and one for C&D debris (Table
9). In addition, the Base was developing another contract for the collection of the food
waste and operation of the in-vesse1 composter.
Table 9 - Recyclhg And Waste Contracts
1 MATERIAL 1 LOCATION 1 CONTRACTOR 1 Waste
Waste
Dockyard
Waste
BFI
Halifax Area
Waste
Office Paper
Green Waste
Dartmouth
Multi Material
BFI
Stadacona
Base wide
Kitchen Fats
1 I 1 I (Source: R. Newman pers. Comm. 1998)
BFI
Hannah Paper
Trial Locations
C&D Debris
With the increasing number of. and in some cases overlapping, service contracts, the
absence of a coordinated approach was creating confusion arnong personnel and thus
compromising the effectiveness of the overall diversion efforts (C.L.Giffin pers. comm.
1998). Encouraging participation during any procedural change fkom an accepted n o m
requires a consistent and well-communicated process throughout the affected
organization. Comrnon separation and collection processes are particuIarly cntical to
CFB Halifax which encompasses many sites in different geographical areas and whose
personnel regularly work at different locations or are transient, as is the case with
reserves, cadets, and personnel enrolled at one of the several schools or training centres.
BFI 1 Galleys
In addition, the large number of contracts and gmgraphically scattered sites that existed
in 1995 made it difficult and time consuming to monitor contracts, respond to service
problems (e.6. contamination around the bins or missed pick-ups), and compile
information for reporting requirernents (R. Newman pers. comm. 1998). This
administrational problem was intensifiai by the existing overlap in contracts. To address
these issues, the BENV and Contract Inspecter, representing the environmental and
Rothsay
Dockyard
contract administrative perspectives respectively, collaborated in 1995 to develop a more
Base Personnel
integrated approach to waste management. Using a macro view of the waste streams and
diversion options, the Base's first comprehensive waste management plan began to take
shape.
Frorn a Base perspective, the pnmary objectives of a waste management plan were
two fold: achieve the reduction targets. and reduce waste management costs. S trong fiscal
pressures on departmental budgets and the corresponding decrease in the Base
Commander's operational budget, meant that any new waste reduction program must
eenerate net savings or potentially face modifications or delays. Fortunately. the existing - economic and regulatory climate meant that the waste and cost reduction objectives were
not only compatible but mutually dependable. High municipal tipping fees and the threat
of double tipping fees on loads contaminated with materials bamed from landfill were in
fact, established to provide a business case to divert. In other words, not diverting
materials could potential lead to significant increases in costs. Lastly, high market pnces
for OCC and paper created further economic incentives for diversion. As a result of these
regulatory and market incentives, both objectives could be achieved through a single
strategy: maximizing waste diversion.
Maximizing diversion required that both a material supply system and market access be
present. With the transient workforce typical of a military Base, effective source
separation depends on consistency, simplicity, and education. Marketing of materials, on
the other hand, requires knowledge of and access to markets. Consequently, the
environment officer proposed that the Base implement an integrated waste management
program by combining al1 CFB Halifax locations and waste materials under a single
streamlined contract and establishing mutually beneficial partnership with a single
contractor ( C L . Giffin pers. c o r n . 1998). In addition to providing a consistent and
streamlined approach, a single waste management partner would enjoy some economies
of scale by collecting al1 recyclable materials throughout the Base and thus be better able
to develop andor explore potential market opportunities. In summary, the new approach
strived to streamline administration, provide consistency, and maximize diversion.
Prompted by the s i m i h factors (lack of accurate waste data, large number of contracts,
reduction targets, and market incentives), CFB Vdcartier was also developing an
integrated waste management plan. The fundamental components of the plan included a
single contractor for al1 streams and resale of 'resource' materials (CFB Valcartier
unpublished 1995). The one significant difierence was the inclusion of scrap and surplus
materials in the CFB Valcartier model.
3.4.3 Implementing Change: Barriers and Limitations
To allow for the development of an integrated waste/recycling management program,
existing contracts were extended fiom April 1995 to November 1995. D u h g this period.
the Contract Inspector worked closely with the BENV to identi@ diversion oppomtnities.
lntegral to designing a diversion focused program is a sound understanding of
composition, quantities. and generation points for al1 streams. To detennine or estimate
the relevant waste data, the team reviewed existing records and conducted an informa1
waste audit. Existing information, Iimited to the 1994 WRMP report and the recycling
pilot reports, provided a usefùl starting point for general composition and source
information. Since, the waste quantities reported in the WRMP were believed to be
extremeIy high, estimates f-rom the existing contracts were used as a starting point. The
Base Environment Officer and Contract Inspector conducted site visits and spot
inspections of the bins throughout the Base to identie the main sources and specific
generation points for each waste strearn and to improve waste quantity estimates (Table
1 O).
Table 10 - Main Generating Points
Material
OCC
P a p a
Beverage Containers
Food Waste
The inspection revealed that in many cases the bins were less than two thirds fidl at the
Main Sources
Suppl y Warehouses
Admin Buildings, Schools Canex, Cafeterias, Galleys Galleys, Ships
L I
time of collection. While the check was neither exhaustive nor statistically accurate, it
C&D Debris
did indicate that smaller, fewer, andlor less frequent pick-ups of bins might suffice. Since
Ships, Industrial Shops
contract fees were calculated on number, size, and coIlection fiequency of bins, these
(Source: R. Newman pers cornm. 1998)
service inefficiencies were clearly reflected thorugh higher collection costs. Baseci on
expected diversion and existing collection inefficiencies, waste quantities estimated were
modified. With quantities and sources identified, the Base Environment Officer and
Contract Inspector developed a centralized collection plan, which proposed that one
series of designated bins be placed between several neighbouring buildings. Centralizing
the collection, it was believed, would heip offset the increased number of bins (one each
for OCC, paper, mixed containers, and garbage) (R. Newman pers. comm. 1998).
Amed with information and a plan, the Base begin its search for a waste management
partner. During a meeting with potential bidders to introduce CFB Halifax's new
approach to waste management, the waste contractors expressed several concems which
permanently altered the implernentation of the pian. First, al1 bidders stated that they did
not have the infiastructure capacity (trucks, bins, and personnel) to service al1 CFB
Halifax sites simultanwusly. Moreover, only the one or two largest companies could
even make the adjustments to add the infrastructure. The smaller local competitors
viewed this as an atternpt to iimit cornpetition and favour the largest Company: a large
U.S. based multinational. Secondly, it was noted that the recycling market was highly
volatile (both OCC and paper prices had failen sharply in the previous several months)
and that market prices were based on clean baled loads delivered to an out-of-province
recycler (R. Newman pers. c o r n . 1998). The contractors maintaineci that in most cases
processing costs (collection, baling, and delivery) exceeded market returns.
Responding to the feedback, the Base split the consolidated contract into three site-based
contracts (Dockyard, Dartmouth/Shearwater, and HalifadStadacona) and then retendered
them. S till, only the two largest companies responded, both quoting higher collection
costs and low market returns and more importantly, neither dernonstrated any initiative or
innovation with respect to diversion ideas.
Initially, the plan's strategy was to maximize diversion, but the contract tender seerned to
emphasize market retums over diversion initiatives. The Base assumed that diversion
initiatives would be dernand driven and market supported, but discovered that regulations
(e.g. landfill bans) and supply (e.g recycling prograrns) dictated the market and that prices
were highly volatile. In part due to Low market demand for recyclables, the ambitious
plan to establish a partnership with industry that maximized returns for marketable
materials was clearly not feasible to waste haulers. Pressured by the end of the contract
extensions, the Contract Inspector canceled the tenders in October 1995 and extended the
existing contracts to November 1996.
Although attempts to create a fdly integrated waste management program had failed, the
Base did not abandon the concept. Economic disincentives (increased tipping fees),
regdatory cornpliance (landfill bans), and environmental commitments (reduction
targets) ensured that the Base would not return to a disposa1 orientai approach. The
contract extensions provided the time to review and modi@ the plan in the context of
market conditions, complete the distribution of recycling equipment, and work with the
contractors to develop a more practical and integrated waste management program.
3.5 integrated Waste Management Plan
3.5.1 Post Vision: A Collection of Initiatives
During the Surnrner of 1996, the Base made a second attempt to integrated the multiple
contracts, Once again only the two largest companies responded and the both bids
represented increases in the total waste management costs, despite increased diversion.
According to the Contract Inspector, the virtual duopoly in the industq resulted in the
uncornpetitive bids (R. Newman pers. conun. 1998). In November 1996, separate one
year contracts were awarded for recycling and waste disposa1 at each of the three main
sites and another for the operation of the composter. With multiple contracts, the
potential for lack of coordination and high contamination remained. The Base's progress
toward a fùlly integrated program was clearly an iterative process.
By identiwing waste streams and high generators, training cleaners, and installing
deskside recycling bins the Base was prepared to implement andor expand diversion
initiatives independent of an integrated contract. The multi-material recycling and C&D
programs were expanded throughout the Base dunng 1995 and eady 1996. While
somewhat independent of a coordinated program, both initiatives successfùlly established
diversion programs well before the 1 April 1996 landfill ban on beverage containers,
newsprint OCC. and wood. The Base was also developing plans for the installation and
operation of the in-vesse1 composter to facilitate the diversion of food waste and expected
to begin composting by Summer/FaIl 1996. Following the amalgamation of Shearwater
in Spring 1 996 the Contract Inspector assumed additionai responsibility for managing
discarded materials fiom al1 former Sheanvater units.
While a more integrated program would have been preferred over ad hoc and independent
initiatives, the proposed waste management plan did amalgamate the disposal of
numerous waste streams under a single process owner. In addition to waste disposal, the
Contract Inspector was assigned responsibility for the implementation and daily operation
of the recycling, C&D, and composting programs. Consolidation under a single process
owner resulted in a more efficient administration, accurate record keeping, a single point
of contact for contractors and Base clients, and quicker response times to contamination
issues. Furthermore, a single process owner enjoyed a macro vision of the waste streams
and disposal options, which could facilitate the development and implementation of
future diversion initiatives.
To date, the waste management program at the Base had successfÙlly progressed fiom a
landfill to a diversion focus. The diversion initiatives, however, focused entirely on
recycling opportunities. Environrnentally, the plan did not explore reuse and reduction
initiatives and failed to encapsulate the full scope of an innovative and integrated
materialiwaste management plan.
The Office of Waste Management at Environment Canada describes a hierarchy of
options for handling discarded material as follows: remediation, residual disposal,
recycling, reuse, and reduce (Environment Canada 1993). Prompted by regulatory
requirements, the Base successfully moved fiom residual disposal to recycling, but did
not explore reuse and reduction opportunities. The 199 1 Halifax Environmental Action
Plan and 1994 Waste Reduction Management Plan both recomrnended action in these
areas. including green procurement, a Base waste exchange, office waste reduction
coordinators, reusable items, and source reduction promotion. With some exceptions,
these recommendations were not implemented.
Through surplus matenal and scrap metal programs, the Base did have several reuse
initiatives. These were managed by a different Base organization. During the
development of the waste management plan the expansion of the recycling program was
successfùlly merged with the disposa1 program under a single process owner: FCE. The
reuse program, however, was managed by FLOG and no forma1 Iines of communication
existed between the prograrns. At a minimum, a sharing of information between the two
cou1d identiw and divert discarded materials based on a reduction, reuse, recycling, and
disposa1 hierarchy. A complete review of the program in 1997 would change the entire
approach to the management of discarded materials and provide a more unique mode1 for
other Bases to follow.
3.5.2 A Process Driven Review
Under economic and social pressure to make services more efficient, the federal
governrnent introduced a policy on alternate service delivery (ASD) which paved the way
for departments to contract out services. In 1997, in preparation of an ASD study of its
activities, the Base initiated an intemal review of key processes. The review entitled
SPRMT (Selected Process Review and Improvement) aimed to analyze processes and.
where possible, improve efficiencies. Multiple process owners, largely independent
prograrns, as well as high disposa1 costs made the entire materiel disposal program an
ideal candidate for SPRINT.
At the time, several organizations were involved with waste/matenal disposal and
communication was minimal. From an operations perspective, the presence of several
process owners caused confusion, overlap of responsibilities, and suboptimai use of
resources (CFB Halifax unpublished 1997b). Moreover, without a clear comection
between procurement, supply, and disposal, the waste management program may never
go beyond simply recycling to reductionketurn and reuse. The Integrated Waste and
Surplus Materiel Management SPRMT study on waste and surplus management aimed to
simpli Q, standardize, and co~ect/integrate the entire materiel disposal process. These
elements, particularly integration, would be essential in working with suppliers to reduce
and the supply organization (Formation Logistics) to reduce packaging, and getting
maximum value for recycled, scrap or surplus materials.
The SPRINT team comprised key representatives fiom al1 organizations involved in
disposal management: FLOG (scrap and surplus), FENV (policy and training), and FCE
(waste, recycling, and composting). The multidisciplinary team was charged with
defining and designing the most effective and efficient method for providing waste, scrap,
and surplus materiel disposa1 to al1 units (CFB Halifax unpublished 1997b). Through
discussionslinteniews between members and with clients and extemal agencies, the team
charted and examinai the existing process flow for each type of material and made
recommendations for changes.
The primary recommendation by the team was to integrate al1 types of material disposal
together in a single unit under FLOG. While much of the supporting justification focused
on improved service and efficient use of resources, the tearn also concluded that
cen tralized control of the entire process would facilitate increased diversion (CFB Halifax
unpubiished 1997b). FLOG was selected as the most effective location for
wastelmaterial unit disposa1 for tluee reasons:
Relationship with suppliers: Through its procurement role, FLOG was in the best
position to identify and implement packaging return initiatives;
Base supply manager: From receiving to warehousing to shipping, FLOG had
responsibility for interna1 packaging and thus was integral to reduction initiatives:
and
Reverse logistics expertise: FLOG was in a position capacity to use reverse
logistics to identifi and implement new reduction initiatives.
Recommendations also included several initiatives that crossed the blurry boundary
between waste and materiel management. These include:
Green procurement training for purchasing personnel;
Contract training for customers;
Development of shelf life management procedures of stored matenals;
Development of a pallet management system:
Use of reusable containers in the packaging section; and
Creation of a reuse facility.
To implement these initiatives, responsibility for recycling and waste, along with the
Contract Inspector, was transferred to FLOG effective October 1997.
3.5.3 The Integrated Waste and Eazardous material Onice (iW&HO)
MARLANT established the new unit under FLOG on October 14, 1997. With the
creation of the unit, responsibility for al1 waste and surplus disposal was officially
consolidated under a single process owner. The unit is divided into four subsections al1
reporting to the IW&HO manager who in tum reports directly to the FLOG Officer
(Figure 7).
Figure 7 - Formation Logistics Organization
(Source: B-CoftTn pers. cornm. 1 998)
1
Formation Logistics Oficer
L
1 I 1
In the year since its creation, the new unit implemented a number of new initiatives to
/ Pmcurement: 1 i Poky and pbnning
both decrease waste management costs and reduce waste material sent to landfill. These
lntegrated Waste l Hazmat Unil
are summarized beiow:
Dnrm Return & Rezrse: Oil and hydrocarbon products are purchased by FLOG
I 1
1 1
( I W H section) and delivered to users in 45 gallon steel drums. In the past, afier
Waste & j Recyhbles i
using the product, the steel drums would be used to store waste petroleum, oils,
Suqtlus Disposal 8 / Hazardous Materiais Technial Support Scrap Metal i Specîalist
and lubricants (POL) or sometimes stored outdoors where rust would eventually
force it to landfill. Contaminated drums were ineligible for a return of the deposit
which averaged $50. Once the waste POL was removed, the steel drums were
pressure washed and crushed by a contractor, and sold as scrap metal. The
1 W&HO has proposed an economical and environmental alternative. The
IW&HO is purchasing 2 10 litre reusable plastic drums, which will be distributed
for the collection of POL waste. In doing so, the 45 gallon steel drums will be
retumed uncontarninated to the supplier for reuse and d i t . Environmentall y the
used steel drums will be reused rather then recycled or scraped and a reusable
waste POL container system will be established. Between June 1997 and August
1 998, 1040 drums or roughly 1 8,000 kgs were disposeci of as scrap metal
(R-Coffin pers. cornrn. 1998).
Pallet Management: According to the IW&HO staff, wooden pallets make up a
majority of C&D debris. Pnor to the IW&HO little effiort was made to track or
return pallets to the originating supplier. hstead many palïets found their way
into the C&D bins and the Base lost its deposit. In the Summer of 1997, an
agreement was made with one Company to exchange pallets one for one. That is.
if a delivery consisted of ten pallets the driver was given ten pallets back. In
December 1997, the IW&HO developed a pallet management system, whereby al1
pallets would be collected and brought to the surplus disposa1 facility. Here they
would be sorted according to their condition. Supplier pallets are stored awaiting
retum or resale. Intemal pallets in good condition are stored for reuse or
exchange. Damaged pallets are sold to a contractor for repair and eventual resale.
The IW&HO is currently explonng the possibility of arranging a one for one
exchange with al1 suppliers. By tracking, sorting, and storing pallets, the pallet
management system will decrease C&D debris recycling with pallet reuse
(D Jeffenes pers. comm. 1 998).
Sei-ap Wood: Scrap wood was typically collected as C&D debris and sent to a
C&D facility for recycling. To facilitate recycling or reuse of scrap wood, the
IW&HO installed specific bins for the collection of wood in key locations around
the Base. In addition, collection of scrap wood was included in the pallet repair
contract. That is, the same contractor who takes the damaged pallets is also
responsible for removing fkom the bins al1 scrap wood meeting certain
specifications (small, rotted, or considerably damaged pieces are excluded). This
wood is then reused or recycled (D. Jefferies pers. comm. 1998).
Composting: The original composting program established in Fa11 1996 targeted
only the larger galleys on the Base. This program was expanded in Novernber
1997 to include al1 galleys, messes, and cafeterias on the Base. More recently, the
IW&HO is in the process of expanding the program to all ships. Once completed
the program will capture and divert a vast majority of the food waste generated at
the Base (R. Newman pers. comm. 1 998).
Scmp Tiri Recycling: Effective April 1998, the IW&HO implemented a new
diversion program for scrap tin. Prior to this. tin was either separated and
recycled as scrap metal or thrown into the regular waste Stream and sent to
landfiII. Through this initiative specially labeled containers were placed at high
generation points and staff were provided training. Between April and September
1998 the program diverted 3,700 kgs of scrap tin from local landfill (B-Coffin
pers. comm. 1998). Although this initiative was motivated by the high residual
value of tin, it aIso serves to improve the current scrap metal program by targeting
high generators.
Brifb Cnrsher: The IW&HO acquired two florescent bulb crushers in Spring 1998.
The units are designed to separate the glass, metal and powder contents. The
glass and meta1 are then diverted for recycling while the powder is sent for proper
disposa1 as hazardous materials. Previously, the bulbs were sent to landfill
(W-Manuel pers. comm. 1998). While the total diversion through this initiative is
minimal, it demonstrates environmental responsibility.
i3attet-y Recycling: In Fa11 1998, a household battery separation program was
impiemented by the IW&HO section. Small labeled battery recycling bins have
been placed by the recycling centres throughout the Base. Once collected, the
batteries will be sent for recycling rather than disposa1 (B.Coffin pers. comm.
1998).
ShevLife Management: The FLOG organization is slowly devolving itsel f, where
possible, of the warehousing business by implementing a just in time delivery
system. In the hazardous material stores, for exarnple, only high demand items
are being stockeci. For commonly used items, such as tools, stationary, and office
supplies, local standing offers have been negotiated, thus allowing individual
units to buy items on their own at a good rate. This initiative will keep internai
packaging to a minimal.
Te-rtile Reuse: The Base issues a large quantity of clothing for use in various
operations, such as shops, ships, maintenance facilities, etc. Typically, clothing
contaminated with POLs was sent to the hazardous material unit for proper
disposal. In late 1997, an initiative was introduced to send the contaminated
clothing for dry cleaning. Once cieaned the clothing is reused.
In addition to these initiatives, MARLANT is actively participating on a regional inter-
departmental cornmittee reviewing green procurernent opportunities. The cornmittee
developed a green purchasing list, which is accessible on the Environment Canada web
page: the Green Lane (C. McNeil pers. cornm. 1998). The comrnittee is in the process of
reinforcing this initiative through a training workshop for Meral procurernent officers
(G. Mercer pers. comm. 1998). The MARLANT environment and logistics offices are
playing leading roles in the development of the workshop.
The development of these initiatives was born not only fiom the SPRINT report but fiom
improved communications between previously divided units. The scrap wood r a s e and
pallet management systems, for example, came to Iight through a discussion between the
contract inspector and the surplus material supervisor. These initiatives not only
represented strong progress but also pushed the Base toward reuse and reduction
programs.
3.5.4 Measuring Performance: The Green Indicaitors
The solitary performance measwement associated with waste management at the Base
has historically been cost. The environmental targets for waste reduction set out in the
Canada's Green Plan and more recently the National Defence Sustainable Development
Strategy introduced a second @ormance indicator; the reduction of solid waste sent to
landfill. Together, these provide the appropriate feedback to measure success of the
waste/material management prograrns. Thanks in large part to the high tipping fees and
threat of double tipping fees for contarninated loads these two green performance
indicators were mutually compatible.
The cost trend for waste management is difficult to analyse, as many factors determine
the total arnount. For the purposes of this analysis, capital or equipment costs (e.g.
recycling containers, truck weigh scale, composter, etc.) expended to implement the
program have been ignored. Funding fiom different sources and a lack of central records
would make it dificult to calculate these costs. Nonetheless, in the face of significantly
higher tipping fees and collection charges, the Base has reduced waste/material disposa1
costs fiom over S 1,000,000 in 1995 to a forecasted $890,000 in FY 98/99 (R.Newman
pers. comm. 1998). Amalgamating scrap and surplus disposa1 with waste, has resulted in
administrational and infiastructure reductions. Exact savings have not been identified.
Determining accurate diversion amounts for previous years is made impossible by the
absence of records. However, as more information became available following the
WRMP and various interna1 studies, estimates becarne made more and more accurate.
The implementation of a weighing system, using a truck scale acquired in January 1998,
will ensure accurate records in the future.
TABLE I I - Total Annual Base Waste Ceneration by Stream (in tonnes)
Using rough estimates based on previous contracts, waste weights were calculated as at
YEAR
Pre 1995*
FY 95/96
FY 96/97
FY 97/98
FY 98/99**
Table 1 1. The decreases in total generation may be explained by downsizing and the
corresponding consolidation of operations and reductions in personnel and activity levels,
* Excluding CFB Shearwater. Total rough estimate places the figure close to 8000 tonnes ** Extrapolated fiom actual data for first 6 months (R. Newman pers comm. September 1998)
TOTAL
6545
705 1
5400
4366
3850
however, reduction initiatives must be seen as a contributing factor. Per capita waste
generation, a more relevant measuring tool, is difficult to determine as precise population
WASTE
5824
4605
3239
2700
statistics were not tracked annually due to the transient nature of military personnel.
Nonetheless, the Base population was estimated to be 12,850 in 1992 (CFB Halifax 1992)
RECYCLING
129
388
450
and reported to be 9400 in 1998 thus the per capita generation decreased fiom roughly
645 kgs per person to under 300 kgs per person (Table 12).
Table 12 - Per Capita Waste Generation at MARLANT
C&D
72 1
666
690
560
COMPOST
48
140
1994
Total Waste Generation Base Population Per Capita Generation
1998
Total Waste Generation Base Population Per Capita Generation
8,300 tonnes 12,850 people 645 kgs/year
2,700 tonnes 9,400 people 290 kgslyear
Diversion amounts, on the other hand, are directly related to the recycling, C&D, and
compost diversion initiatives. Development and implementation of reuse and reduction
initiatives as recommended in the SPRINT report and implemented by the IW&HO
section will continue to improve reduction targets while saving money. The figures
clearly demonstrate that the Base will meet, and likely surpass, the 10 percent SDS
reduction targets long before the 2000 target date.
3.6 Summary
Once iittle more then a naval docking facility for Brïtain, the Dockyard at Halifax has
çrown into the largest single military facility in Canada. With sites scattered throughout the
province and operation spanning the industriai, commercial and institutional sector,
MARLANT is among the single largest generators o f waste in the province. By
implementing diversion and reduction based program in the past three years, MARLANT
has successfùlly reduced the amount of waste sent to landfill by over 50%. Furthemore,
the creation of a dedicated waste management unit in the Logistics branch has already
resulted in the implementation of reduction initiatives. These past successes do not,
however. ensure that MARLANT will achieve the departmentai goal of sustainability. To
assess its capability to meet this, the appropriate factors should be in place, including top
management vision, an appropriate view of waste, organizational support, and cornmitment
to implement.
CHAPTER 4
4.0 ASSESSMENT OF MARLANT S W M PRACTICES
Progress toward sustainable development makes good business sense because it can create cornpetitive advantage and new opportunities. But it requires far reaching shifis in corporate attitudes and new ways of doing business. To move fiom vision to reality demands strong leadership fiom the top, sustained commitrnent throughout the organization, and an ability to translate challenge into opportunities.
Declaration of the Business Council for Sustainable Development
The new SWM initiatives have reduced the amount of solid waste MARLANT sent to
landfill fiom roughly 8,300 tonnes in 1994 to under 3,000 tonnes in 1998. In addition,
the recent creation of the IW&HO dedicated to fiirther reductions indicates fùndarnental
changes to the way in which solid waste is managed at MARLANT. While considerable
progess has been made and the outlook is strong, the prograrn must be viewed against
both short and long t e m objectives. That is, the systemic change in the MARLANT
SWM program must be capable of achieving both the 10 percent reduction target outlined
in the departmental SDS and, more importantly, the overall departmental cornmitment to
sustainable development through potlution prevention.
In response to rising environmental concerns, many organizations are in the process of
developing, implementing, or improving SWM prograrns that aim to minimize waste and
maximize the efficient use of matenals. Using the Integrated Solid Waste-Resource
Strategy in Nova Scotia and the 3P program at 3M Corporation as benchmarks, cnteria
were identified against which to assess MARLANT's program. These cnteria, flowing
from planning to practice, represent the pivota1 elements in the creation of a SWM
prograrn. They are organizational vision, view of waste, commitrnent and support, and
implementation.
4.1 Evolution and Current Status of Program
Over the past decade, MARLANT has undergone considerable organizationai change,
including the introduction and growth of an environmental management program. One of
the p n m q issues on the Base's environmental agenda, the reduction of solid waste, was
made more urgent by the announced changes in the early 1990s to the provincial and
municipal approaches to SWM. The frrst of these changes saw dramatic increases in
tipping fees and consequently MARLANT's waste management costs. In an attempt to
address increasing costs and waste reduction commitrnents, MARLANT implemented
significant changes in its SWM program since 1994, including the introduction of several
new initiatives and the modification of others. While the changes were largely gradual,
MARLANT has passed through three distinct stages of SWM (Figure 8).
Prior to the introduction of a limited recycling trial in 1994, waste removal was controlled
through hauling contracts that emphasized convenient coHection and tirnely removal. A
single contract inspector had responsibility for arranging, coordinating, and monitoring
the removal of the thousands of tonnes of waste generated at the Base's widely scattered
sites. It should be noted that this was not a dedicated task as the contract inspector had
simiiar responsibilities for other service contracts. With the emphasis on adrninistering
the contract rather than managing the waste Stream, the inspector's primary role was to
liaise with the contractor and monitor compiiance with the contract. The presence of
several small recycling initiatives aimed at high value matenals (e.g. paper, bottles) was
largely ad hoc and localized. During this stage no attempt was made to integrate or
coordinate a11 S WM activities.
With the addition of multi-material recycling, C&D recycling, and composting programs
throughout the Base, a multi-stream SWM program was unconsciously created at
MARLANT. Initially the new activities were administered and managed separately from
the waste contracts and involved the participation of three separate and distinct
MARLANT units: environment, construction engineering, and logistics. The expanded
scope, increased number of activities, and multi-hctional participation caused
administrative and logistical confusion among staff and required a new approach that
shified focus to a more integrated program. The ISWM stage was characterized by the
integration and coordination of ail S WM activities, with the exception of surplus
matenals targeted for resale, under a single program. Faced with the compliance issues
and the potential for reducing waste management costs through recycling and
composting, the new priority for the program became the implementation,
standardization, and promotion of diversion efforts throughout the base.
FoIIowing the completion of an extensive interna1 review of its waste management
activities in the Fa11 of 1997, MARLANT progressed to its curent stage. Following
recommendations of that review the new waste management unit was given dedicated and
exclusive responsibility for the management of al1 process by-products, which, in
addition to solid waste, included surplus material, scrap metal, and hazardous waste. The
primary objective of the unit is to minimize waste management costs through diversion
and reduction at source. This stage is characterized by an integrated and coordinated
approach to the management of ail surplus materials.
The stages described above represent the three tùndamental ways in which waste can be
rnanaged, however, a fourth stage c m be added. The fourth stage aims at more efficient
material and energy usage by creating an integrated and closed system where by-products
from operations are (re)integrated into the production cycle as raw materials to the sarne
or a different production process. The goal goes beyond reduction at source as the
emphasis is entirely on maximizing the use of materials, including by-products.
Although recent changes have considerably improved its S Wh4 program, MARLANT has
not reached the fourth stage. The program is currently focused on diverting waste
strearns and, to a lessor degree, modifj4ng various processes rather than maximizing the
overall use of materials. Nonetheless, the placement of the integrated waste unit,
recommendations from the SPRINT report, and the development of an EMS may position
MARLANT to move toward this goal.
4.2 Organizational Vision
Change is certainly evidenced in the accelerated rate of technical progress, economic
development, social change experienced today. In government and industry, it is the role
of top management to understand trends and their future implications, and develop an
organizational vision to provide direction and guide action. Schrnidheiny (1 99585)
emphasizes the importance of vision: "when vision is understood to be a comrnon context
for action as opposed to just a by-goal or an idealized picture of the future, it provides the
fiarnework and guidelines for simulating action." A clear vision creates a comrnon
purpose for al1 employees, provides generai guidance for the strategic policies and daily
activities, and acts as a systemic tool to encourage new and innovative ideas.
The World Commission on Environment and Developrnent's 1987 report Our Common
Future provides a good example of the importance and impact of a vision. It provided the
vision of 'sustainable development' and over the past decade it has spawned nurnerous
policies, programs, and actions at al1 levels of government throughout the world. For
industry, reconciling the seemly opposed goals of long term sustainability and short term
profitability will require a committed vision fiom top management (Schmidheiny 1995).
In tenns of S WM, the vision can shape the organization's view of waste, guide its
approach to S WM, and communicate the program's priority to al1 stakeholders, including
ernployees, investors, customers, and suppliers.
Governments and corporations have developed visions that communicate their underlying
philosophy toward S WM and guide their respective programs and practices into the
future. In the case of NSDOE, the central mission is to protect, manage, and promote a
healthy environment, which in turn is reflected in the S WM vision captured in the
guiding document entitled Solid Waste-Resource Management Strategv: Toward a
Healthv Environment and a Sustainable Future. This vision communicates to the seven
provincial regions a belief that managing waste as a resource is consistent with the
concept of sustainability. The regional action plans reflect this vision thereby creating a
cornrnon provinciai approach to S WM.
At 3M, the corporate vision is to be the most innovative enterprise and one of its four
core values is to respect the social and physical environment. These are reflected in the
solid waste management the vision, which is to achieve zero waste. The vision is
captured and amplifred in both the environmental policy and the 3 P program which
ernphasize pollution prevention at source through process and product modifications.
The policy and program communicates this vision to employees, investors, and customers
and have resulted in thousands of initiatives, significant reductions, and numerous
awards. At the company's tape plant in Perth, Ontario, for example, new recycling and
recovery initiatives reduced waste by 96 percent and saved almost $650,000
(UNKNOWN CND BUS ). More recently, 3M strengthened its cornmitment to pollution
prevention by fonnally weaving a vision of sustainability into the business planning
process and requiring each business unit to develop an environmental plan and objectives.
The DND organizational vision, focused as it is on defence operations and personnel,
provides little or no overall direction for environmental programs. Moreover. a review of
the DND environmental policy, Sustainable Develo~ment Strategv, and MARLANT's
environmental policy did not reveal a clear vision with respect to the environment. These
documents do provide both principles and goals of the environmentai program, which in
turn are reflected in MARLANT's Formation Environment Management Cornmittee
goals. The absence of a clear committed vision to fiame, guide, and champion the
direction may slow MARLANT's progress toward the fourth stage of SWM.
The current perspective, however, may change in the near future with implementation of
an EMS, the departmental SDS, and a MARLANT integrated waste management plan.
Each unit is responsible for developing a unit level EMS, which outlines a unit's roles
and cornmits it to drafting procedures for its areas of responsibility. This means that
IW&HO will have the authority to direct reduction initiatives. In addition, the IW&HO
was assigned MARLANT responsibility to achieve the SDS target of 10 percent
reduction in solid waste by the year 2000. These efforts can be complemented by
MARLANT's plan to develop a cornprehensive integrated waste management plan. as
stated in the final SPRINT report.
4.3 View of Waste
The way in which waste is viewed is arguably the most critical factor in a company's
S WM program. A telling indicator of management and staff attitudes toward waste, this
view will dictate ai1 other aspects of the prograrn, including policies, approaches, and
practices. If waste is seen as useless material, for example, it will be disposed without
consideration of other options. Three common and distinct views of waste are waste as a
useless by-product, waste as a potential resource, and waste as an indicator of
inefficiencies. While al1 three views exist, the focus in recent years is shifiing fiom
disposa1 to integrated management and most recently to pollution prevention. The fourth
stage outlined above is not associated with a particular view of waste as material
eficiency precludes the generation of waste thus the need for its management.
MARLANT's development in SWM was separated into the three stages illustrated in
Figure 8 to represent the three distinct and views of waste.
4.3.1 Three Views of Waste
In the first of the three stages, waste is typically viewed as an undesirable and unwanted
by-product of human activity. To avoid the health and safety problems associated with
the accumulation of waste, automatic collection and removal services have been
established in every Canadian municipality. The destination for the waste is a local or
regional landfill, typically located on the outskirts of the municipality. Together. the
convenient removal and distant disposal have successfully separated, both physically and
psychologically, waste from its generator. On the surface, this appears to be an ideal
solution for industry as they avoid the management and side effects of waste, as well as
the cost it imposes. The tme cost of the waste management system is borne by the public
who subsidizes municipal operations and bears the environmental impacts. While
gradually being replaced, this hiçtorical view and management of waste is still being
practiced today.
Progression to an integrated approach to SWM involves a fundamental shift in the way
that waste is viewed. The primary components of an ISWM prograrn, reduction,
recycling, and reuse, require strong participation by al1 employees. Management's view
of waste and cornmitment to diversion will affect participation levels and ultimately the
program's success. In the ISWM stage, waste is viewed as surplus material or potential
resource and program management typically focuses on finding a user. This generally
inchdes either extemal or internai recycling or reuse of products and materials. In the
case of Nova Scotia, the provincial SWM strategy clearly sees waste as a resource and
aims to derive economic benefit from it. Al1 provincial and municipal SWM policies,
projects and programs resulting h m this strategy strive to maximize and utilize this
potential resource. Examples include landfill bans that facilitate the availability of the
resource and product stewardship programs to develop provincial markets and overall
demand. In short, the traditional waste stream is now managed toward economic as well
as environmental objectives
The view of waste as a potential resource will facilitate a stronger and more effective
S WM program. That is, managing waste as a resource requires a sound understanding of
the volumes and composition of the solid waste stream as well as the diversion options
available. The result is a more infomed and prepared organization for managing and
reducing waste. As in the case of Nova Scotia. rising disposa1 costs and environmental
concerns are increasingly prompting municipalities and industry to implement ISWM
prograrns.
An ISWM prograrn includes al1 the elements of the 4Rs hierarchy but the focus is
typically on managing the surplus material after it has already been generated. In
contrast, the third stage views surplus material as an indication of operational
ineficiencies and aims to prevent the generation of surplus material at the source. Both a
sound understanding of the flow of materials through the organization, that is raw
material, industrial process, and final product, and management cornmitment are essential
to implementing prevention opportunities.
3M provides a good exampte of a company committed to prevention of waste at the
source. This cornmitment is reinforced by a corporate belief that avoidance of long term
compliance and liability issues and more efficient use of resources will make the
company more competitive in the long terni (3M 1998b). This philosophy has lead 3M to
review manufacturing process and product inputs and implement fundamental changes
resulting in a significant decrease in the release of pohtants to the environment (3M
1 998c). In fact, the company has tumed several manufacturing by-products into
marketable products. Frorn an environmental perspective, prevention at source represents
the leading edge of SWM and while some companies are moving in this direction,
widespread applications is not yet evident.
4.3.2 The View of Waste at MARLANT
Until 1994, MARLANT viewed waste as a useless by-product of operations and disposa1
costs as an accepted expense item. With the basewide introduction of recycling and other
diversion programs between 1995 and 1997, waste suddenly became a surplus material.
To encourage the shifi in the view of waste, MARLANT promoted the environmental
value of waste through training sessions, videos, written information, and the distribution
of new deskside collection containers. Senior management supported the prograrn and
the awareness videos contained statements by the Admirai or Base Commander.
Recognizing the transient nature of life on a military base, this education is ongoing and
al1 military personnel posted to MARLANT must watch the recycling video as part of
their "in-routine".
The Commander's Environmental Policv Statement and SDS outline in broad tenns the
department's cornmitment to protecting and sustaining the environment through pollution
prevention. Yet MARLANT's program encourages and pursues diversion opportunities.
This focus may be explained by three factors. First, the historical approach to S WM at
MARLANT bas focused on the waste strearn and not the generating process. Second, in
response to budgetary cuts, strong emphasis has been placed on short term costs. In fact,
MARLANT completed a comprehensive management review of the SWM program with
the goal of improving operationai efliciencies. Last, the final report fkom that review
indicates that MARLANT sees waste as a potential resource and emphasizes reducing
waste management costs through increased diversion. The new unit's responsibilities
include actively pwsuing diversion and revenue generation options and, while the
document does make several source reduction recommendations, the majonty are focused
on increasing diversion efforts.
4.4 Cornmitment and Support
If the organizational vision and resulting view of waste provides the direction for a SWM
program, then the supporting mechanisms cornmunicates to employees its organizational
priority and likely influences their participation levels. While there are numerous
supporting mechanisms, perhaps the most important are policy directives formalizing the
direction and objectives, and financial and human resources to irnplement the changes
effectively.
4.4.1 NSDOE and 3M Corporation
Nova Scotia was a signatory to the CCME waste reduction targets and has adopted the
target, but jurisdictional divisions place the actual implementation of S WM operations
with the municipalities. With little control over actual prograrns or operations, NSDOE's
primary role in achieving the SWM vision is to provide direction and support. This
division of responsibilities is similar to that of a large multi-functional organization,
where top management provides the vision, goal, and support and operationai units
implement and manage prograrns. Given the new direction and approach required by the
guiding vision, NSDOE established a comprehensive support system that includes a
strategic policy, regulations. fimding, and expertise.
In Solid Waste-Resource Management: A Strate- for Nova Scotia, NSDOE outlined its
vision of waste as a resource and committed to providing support in two areas. First.
legislative support was provided through the SWM Regulations as well as various
guidelines, which established landfill bans on designated materials and strict criteria for
the operation of landfill, composting, and C&D recycling facilities. This support ensures
a provincial standard and supports the implementation of a consistent approach to
diversion. Second, direct program support is provided through the RRF, which is used to
Fund the developrnent and implementation of SWM programs consistent with the vision.
More specifically, the RRF Board administers the provincial deposit and refund system
for al1 beverage containers and directs the revenues to municipal diversion prograrns,
industry stewardship initiatives, and general education programs. In addition, Nova
Scotia is addressing source reduction at the national level (e.g.CCME) to create or
improve opportunities at the provincial level. Together, these support mechanisms are
aimed at al1 aspects of the IS WM program: implementation, market development and
public awareness.
At 3M, support for the 3P program is provided, first and foremost, through the
environmental policy, which clearly communicates to al1 employees the vision of zero
emissions and the corporate cornmitment to pollution prevention. To support this
commi tment and encourage participation, 3 M founded a formal program to recognize
projects that meet certain criteria, including the more efficient use of materials or
resources. A second program, the Chairman's Leadership Award, was developed to
recognize employees who propose initiatives demonstrating the corporate vision of
sustainable development (3M 1998~). Further supporting the prograrn and overall
cornmitment, 3M publishes an Environmental Progress Report annually. Similar to the
traditional financial report, the report outlines the progress and highlights with respect to
the environmental program. The Company has also developed an Environmental
Management System (EMS) to incorporate a systematic approach to planning,
implementing and reviewing operations fiom an environmentai perspective (3M 1998~).
It incorporates environmental challenges and opportunities into the strategic plans of
every business. In addition to emphasizing continuous improvernent, the EMS endorses
Life Cycle Management of materials from raw material to disposal and utilizes audits to
identim opportunities for improvernent. Finally, the che f executive oficer of 3M, L.D.
Desirnone, is currently serving as chairman of the World Business Counçil for
S ustainable Developrnent, which reinforces to al1 emplo yees the priority top management
places on its pollution prevention prograrn.
4.4.2 MARLANT
The environmental management program at DND began in earnest only a decade ago, yet
substantial progress has been made in terms of integrating environmental considerations
into daily operations. Given the scope of issues facing DND and the distribution of sites
throughout the country, a strong environmentai organization \vas established at both the
national and regional levels to develop, impiement, and support programs and initiatives.
This supporting foundation, most notably the creation of dedicated environrnental
positions and access to h d i n g , has k e n integral to the development, implementation,
and success of numerous projects.
At the national IeveI, NDHQ supports environmental programs at the individual bases in
three important ways. First, overall departmental policies with respect to the
environment are developed at NDHQ. Backed by top management, the departmental
policies have provided the context, direction, and goals for the policies, programs, and
initiatives at the Base level. The SDS, for example, defines the department's principles
and sets the goals for the environrnental program for the next three years.
Second, an environmental office (Director G e n e d Environment - DGE) was created at
NDHQ to provide support, advice, and guidance to the Bases. To facilitate the flow of
communication between Bases and with NDHQ, DGE sponsors an annual Base
Environmental Officers conference. The four-day conference is designed as a forum to
discuss common problems and solutions and includes presentations of lessons learned.
Another key support mechanism arising out of DGE is the completion and distribution of
environrnental publications to the Bases. The genenc waste reduction plan was one such
publication. Together, these mechanisms ensure that expert assistance is available to the
front line.
Third, and perhaps most important, NDHQ provides fùnding to support the
environmental initiatives. Most DND environmental projects are funded through the
Incrementai Environmental Program (IEP) administered by DGE. The IEP has spawned
a number of sub-programs including the now completed Green Base project, which
provided funds to pilot new initiatives. Over the years, MARLANT (CFB Halifax at the
time), as one of the four designated Green Bases, has received fùnds to purchase
recycling infrastructure and an in-vesse1 composter, and develop training programs. IEP
fûnding is still available to support SDS projects, which include SWM. MARLANT has
recently received fùnds to complete a waste audit and purchase equipment for recycling
training.
Strong supporting mechanisms for environmental programs are also present at
MARLANT. Management support is provided by the Formation Environmental
Management Cornmittee, which is chaired by the Base Commander and has as mernbers
al1 cornmanding officers. The cornmittee meets three times per year to discuss
environrnental issues, including SWM, and in the near fhture will fulfill the EMS
management review h c t i o n . The MARLANT EMS is currently being implemented and
emphasizes cornpliance wïth the SDS targets and assigns responsibility to the appropriate
unit for developing the applicable policies and written procedures. Additional
management support is provided through the Commander's Environmental Policv
Statement, which must be visibly posted in each unit.
Unit level support is provided by the Unit Environmental Offïcers, who receive specific
environrnental training and supporting resources. In mm, they are required to provide
unit personnel with general awareness training, which includes an in-routine video
introducing personnel to the MARLANT environmental program. Further support is
provided by FENV, who is responsible for providing environmental advice to units and
implementing MARLANT wide programs. One of the key suppon mechanisms provided
by FENV is environmental training, which consists of general environmental training and
detailed unit enviromentai courses. FENV has produced a video to facilitate the
training.
4.5 Program Implementation
The environmental vision, organizational view of waste, and supporting mechanisms are
the key planning tools for the development of the SWM progrm. These tools. together
with an understanding of the organizational setting and strengths, provide the foundation
for an effective program. The implementation program confirms the program's
consistency with vision and objectives.
In the development of their respective SWM programs, NSDOE and 3M pursued
approaches consistent with their corresponding organizational setting. In the case of
NSDOE, the province implemented its program in two steps. First, in view of the fact
that individual municipalities or regions are responsible for collection and disposa1
operations, NSDOE conducted an extensive consultation process to build consensus. The
process resulted in a province-wide SWM strategy emphasizing waste diversion and
economic development and ensured that each of the seven regions worked toward a
common goal. Second, the province implemented a regulatory h e w o r k to reinforce
and support the diversion of waste and development of markets. As a result, al1 regions
have, or are in the process of, implemented fiil1 recycling and composting prograrns and
the province is actively pursuing product stewardship agreements to enhance market
opportunities. According to the 1997 status report, the efforts have resulted in a 26
percent reduction in the amount of waste sent to landfill in only two years (NSDOE
1997).
Based on 3M's innovative nature and a belief in employee creativity, the Company
implemented a volunrary pollution prevention program. While voluntary, 3M
implemented a reward program that encouraged employee participation and directed
efforts toward reduction at source. Then, with a conmitment to sustainable development
in the late 1980s, the Company changed its approach to pollution prevention by
implementing an EMS that endorsed Life Cycle Management. This integrated the
concept of polhtion prevention into the business planning cycle for each business unit.
As a result of their 3P program, almost 5,000 employee-initiated projects have reduced
the rate of waste generation by 30 percent between 1990 and 1996.
Until recently, MARLANT's approach to S W M focused almost entirely on contract
administration rather than program management. With the introduction and expansion of
the diversion initiatives, the approach proved ineffective and the scope of duties limiting,
as the contract inspector was suddenly responsible for the installation of infrastructure,
monitoring the strearns for contamination, researching diversion opportunities, and
conducting awareness training. The expanded scope demanded that attention shift fiom
external factors (removal and haulers) to intemal ones (source separation activities and
MARLANT staff).
Based on the 1997 prograrn review, MARLANT formally shifted its S W focus from
disposa1 efficiency to diversion and reduction maximization. The report recommended
the expansion of the existing diversion programs as well as the development and
implementation of various reduction initiatives. To facilitate the new approach and
implementation of the recommendations the IW&HO was created and charged with
managing surplus materials through a coordinated diversion program. The creation of a
dedicated unit provided the time and resources to implement supporting programs, such
as education, training, monitoring, and review.
Currently, the program appears to be focused more closely on the diversion initiatives as
demonstrated by the recent expansion of the recycling and composting projects as well as
the development of awareness training and monitoring initiatives to improve the
effectiveness and efficiency of diversion efforts. While the focus has been on diversion,
some reduction initiatives have been implemented, such as shelf Iife and paitet
management. Other reduction initiatives endorsed in the SPRINT report, including
examining the feasibility of reuse facility, training of purchasing personnel, and life cycle
management opportunities, have yet to be pursued.
4.6 Summary
MARLANT has clearly made significant in the reduction of the amount of waste
generated at the Base. The success has resulted from the presence of several factors: a
fundamental shift in its view of waste; strong organizational support in terms of training,
fùnding and an active environmental structure at the Base; and a cornmitment to the
implementation of the program as displayed through the program review and creation of
the dedicated unit. The next chapter will examine how further progress toward
sustainability c m be made.
CHAPTER 5
5.0 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
As discussed in the previous chapters, waste has been viewed as an unwanted and useless
by-product of human activity throughout history. Moreover, the traditional removal and
burial strategy for managing waste has proven ineffective at separating society fiorn the
detrimental heaith, safety, environmental and even economic side effects associated with
its accumulation. Prompted by this and a fündamental shifi toward more environrnentally
sustainable practices, government and industry have adopted a new S WM approach
emphasizing reuse and reduction. As a federal facility, MARLANT has developed and
irnplemented a S WM program incorporating these practices. While still relatively Young,
the program has resulted in some notable successes, yet areas for improvement remain.
The objective of this thesis has been to assess the evolution and current sbte of the
prograrn and to provide recornrnendations for improvement.
5.1 Current State of the MARLANT SWM Program
Until 1994, solid waste generated fiom MARLANT activities were managed through
collection and hauling service contracts The prevailing view of waste as a useless by-
product of operations ensured that little effort was made to segregate it for disposal or
manage its generation. influenced by both environmental and economic factors,
MARLANT's approach to S WM changed considerahly during the mid 1990s. From the
environmental perspective, pressures to divert materials away fiom landfill were brought
to bear by two key documents: Canada's Green Plan and the National Defence
Sustainable Develobment Stratem. The former, published in 1990, committed the
federal government to reducing waste fkom its own operations by 50 percent by the year
2000. While providing the initial impetus for change, this target was replaced in 1997 by
the departmental SDS, which set a goal of 10 percent reduction fiom 1997 levels by the
year 2000.
Economic pressure to change SWM practices at MARLANT was introduced in the form
of municipal tipping fees, provincial landfill bans, and federal budget cuts. Tipping fees
had increased from $43 to $100 per tonne berween 1993 and 1996 and consequently
increased MARLANT's S WM costs by over $400,000 annually. Moreover, materials
banned fiom landfill, including cardboard, pape?, wood, and beverage containers, were
subject to a doubie tipping fee. Since MARLANT generated al1 of these items in
considerable quantities. the financial implications were substantial. Finally, governrnent
downsizing initiatives resulted in budget reductions at MARLANT, which in tum placed
a fiscai spotlight and restraint on operations.
Motivated by these environmental and economic pressures, MARLANT has made
significant and fundamental changes to the way in which it views, approaches. and
implements SWM. Begiming with the limited recyciing trial in 1994, MARLANT's
handling of solid waste began to evolve away from contract management toward
integrated program management. This shift was pivotal as it replaced the existing
administrative focus with a management one. By the fall of 1997, MARLANT had
developed, implemented, and integrated comprehensive diversion initiatives, established
a dedicated waste management unit to pursue these and other reduction initiatives, and
adopted the view of waste as a potentiai resource.
While these changes evolved over several years, the single most important step was the
1997 SPRINT review of a11 material disposal programs. The review brought together the
various organizations involved in the management of surplus materials (environment,
logistics, and constmction engineering) and approached MARLANT's program from a
process perspective. As a result, the team recommended a number of initiatives to
enhance diversion and reduce the generation of waste at the source. These include the
development of pallet and shelf life management systems, establishment of a reusable
container system in the packaging section, an examination on the feasibility of an intemal
reuse facility, and the training of purchasing personnel on the procurement of recycled
and recyclable material. The report also recommended the creation of a single dedicated
office to implement and manage al1 surplus material activities. The integrated Waste and
Hazardous Materials Office (IW&HO) was subsequently created and strategically placed
in the logistics organization to take advantage of Life Cycle Management, reverse
logistics, and green procurement opportuni ties.
In the year since its creation, the IW&HO has actively pursued and developed programs
to support, implement, and enhance diversion and, to a lessor extent, reduction initiatives.
Today, the MARLANT SWM program has fully implemented multi-material recycling,
composting, and C&D reduction and recycling programs and is in the process of
implementing shel f li fe, pallet, and drum management systems. Training and awareness,
monitoring, and reporting programs directly support the implementation and
improvement of these initiatives. In addition, strong indirect supporting mechanisms are
in place through various DND and MARLANT commitments and programs. These
include targets and fùnding fiom the SDS, integration to daily operations through EMS
implementation, expert advice and assistance fiom DND's environrnental units or
departments, and legitimization through the environrnental policy statements.
Through these practices and supporting initiatives, MARLANT is well on the way to
institutionalizing the view of waste as a potential resource and a diversion based approach
to its SWM program. As a result, diversion initiatives and effectiveness have been
increased, and pallet, shelf life, scrap wood, and drum management systems are being
implemented. More importantly for W A N T , the arnount o f waste sent to landfill has
decreased fiom over 8,300 tomes in 1994 to 4,600 tonnes in 1996/97 to a forecasted
2,700 tonnes in 1998/99 and overall waste management costs have also enjoyed notable
reductions. While personnel has also been reduced, the per capita waste generation
figures demonstrate a significant (over 50 percent) decrease in the amount of waste
generated at MARLANT.
The program is clearly an improvernent from early SWM practices and has allowed
MARLANT to meet the waste reduction goals considerably before the target year of
2000. However, the program has not yet achieved the departmental commitment to
pollution prevention and sustainability. The 1996 report to the Minister by the Defence
Advisory Cornmittee strongly recornmended that DND shift emphasis fiom control and
clean-up to prevention @EAC 1996). This concept was articulated in the SDS, which
noted in the first of its three principles: "We will act as stewards of our environment by
. . . integrating pollution prevention into al1 aspects of day-to-day activities." (DND
1997: 13). The SPRINT report and cwrent program indicate b a t MARLANT views
waste as a potential resourçe and approaches it primarily from a diversion perspective.
As a result, MARLANT's program emphasizes back-end rather than fiont-end
management. That is, the program aims to meet environmental and economic goals
through increased diversion of the existing waste stream as opposed to examining
practices which prevent the generation of by-products in the first place. The Iack of a
clear environmental vision to guide the program and a short-tenn economic perspective
may have contributed to this view and approach.
MARLANT7s aim to achieve both economic efficiency and environmental sustainability
in its operations is consistent with the concept of eco-efficiency. That is, adopting and
implementing this concept, would facilitate the overall reduction in operational costs and
position MARLANT as a leader in the departmental commitrnent to sustainability.
While MARLANT has not incorporated pollution prevention. eco-efficiency, or
sustainability into its SWM program, some important supporting mechanisms and
structures are in place to facilitate the change. First, the SDS provides clear direction
from top management as to the priority given to pollution prevention and makes fimding
available to pursue it. The IW&HO is already using this fùnding source to improve its
education and awareness program and to conduct waste audits. Second, by placing the
1 W&HO in the logistics organization the program is better positioned to develop and
implement material management initiatives and strategies. These include reverse
logistics to recapture surplus materials, green procurement to eliminate potential waste
before it arrives, and life cycle management to make more environrnentally infonned
purchasing decisions. In fact, logistics personnel are currently participating on an inter-
departmental green procurement committee and have assisted in the production of a green
alternative list available to al1 units through Environment Canada's web-site: Green Lane.
Third, the SPRINT report recommendations provided a sound start for implementing
reduction based initiatives. Key recommendations included exarnining the feasibility of a
reuse facility, further waste audits, and the use of reusable containers in the packaging
section. Finally, MARLANT is developing and implementing an ISO 1400 1 consistent
EMS using the SDS pnncipies and targets. This has identified FLOG and IW&HO as
MARLANT's office of primary interest for implementing, tracking, and reporting on the
SWM program and the developing appropriate base-wide procedures.
In conclusion, the changes MARLANT has made to its SWM program between 1994 and
1998 has decreased the generation of waste by over 50 percent both in real terms (8,300
tonnes to 2700 tomes) and per capita (645 kgs per person to 290 kgs per person). In fact,
the goal of 50 percent reduction by the year 2000 has been reached a full year in advance.
This success confims that changes to the program have indeed been fundamental in
nature. Second, the existence of established diversion and reduction programs, provision
of ongoing training, creation of a dedicated integrated waste unit, and placement of this
unit in the Logistics branch ensure that the changes are long tenn and systemic in nature.
The curent state of the program. however, has not yet achieved sustainability and
widespread pollution prevention. While reduction based initiatives are being
implemented (shel f li fe and pallet management systems) and exarnined (green
procurement), the capability to adopt an eco-efficient approach to managing its materials
will require some action in tetms of planning and commitrnent.
5.2 The Future: A Zero Waste Vision
Vast increases in population, production, and consumption over the past century has
made the management of waste increasingly problernatic. Global trends indicate that
these three factors will continue increasing well into the foreseeable future. Traditional
disposal or buming practices are unable to effectively deal with the growing amounts and
complexities of waste without imposing environmental penalties on society. In the past,
attempts were made to apply technical solutions to the generation and accumulation of
waste (e.g. sanitary landfill, incinerators). These control-based solutions only addressed
the symptoms of the problem and not the underlying causes, including the view of waste
as useless, unsustainable production and consumption patterns, and the earth's Iimited
assimilative capacity.
In outlining the evolution of SWM prograrns, the Council of Logistics Management
(1 993) discusses three stages: reactive, proactive, and value added. ln the first stage, the
organization simply responds to regulatory and legislative requirements. In the proactive
stage, the organization establishes voluntary programs in advance of anticipated
requirements or simply as part of an overall environrnental policy. In the final stage,
environmental considerations are integrated into daily activities as well as business
planning. Graedel and Allenby (1995) descnbe a similar process fiom the perspective of
the changes in organizational attitude. The steps include ignorance of environrnental
problems, lack of interest, reliance on technological solutions, movement toward
sustainability, and achieving absolute sustainability.
High environmental and economic costs have forced governrnent and industry to adopt a
new SMW attitude that emphasizes waste as a potential resource. Today, most, if not all,
Canadian municipalities have implemented, or are implementing, initiatives to divert
potential resources away fiom landfill. most notably through recycling and composting.
This approach, however is still focused on the "end-of-pipe", that is, managing waste
only after it is generated. Some proactive organizations believe that the actual and
potential costs fiom pollution controls, future liability, and public image justiQ the
establishment of programs that eliminate the generation of waste at the source. This
front-end approach is based on a view of production by-products as potential raw
rnaterials. Among corporations, some of the companies which have recognized the value
of these by-products include 3M, Du Pont, Proctor & Gamble, IBM, General Motors, and
Monsanto (Shen 1995, Schmidheiny 1992). Many of these companies have implemented
systemic changes to their operations and processes, and discovered that cost savings have
resul ted.
The World Business Council for Sustainable Development recently adopted a new
concept to link environmentai and economic goals. Eco-efficiency aims to reduce waste
and pollution by increasing resource productivity, which can be achieved through:
Reducing material intensity;
Reducing energy intensity;
Reducing toxic dispersion:
Enhancing materiai recyclability;
Extending product durability; and
Increasing service intensity (World Business Council for Sustainable
Development 1 996).
While eco-efficiency represents a fùndamental shifi in the way senior managers view
operations it is also entirely consistent with other business ideas and practices, including
total quality management. Some companies have already adopted an eco-eficiency
approach to business, including large multinationals like 3M Corporation, Xerox
Corporation, and Dow Chernical.
In the context of these models, leading edge S WM programs have only recently begun to
move into the value added stage and to address issues related to sustainability. The
strong verbal cornmitments and progressive actions evident in government and some
industry today certainly indicate that prevention or reduction based SWM programs will
become cornmonplace in the future. Reinforcing this evolution will be the M e r
entrenching of environmental factors in market costs (rising tipping fees) and business
decisions (marketing).
5.3 Recommendations for Achieving the Vision
Develop and communicate MARLANT Vision
One key advantage of a vision is to provide general direction and goais to employees, in
particular the prograrn manager and functional staff. To date, such a vision is absent
from the program. It is recommended that a vision be developed and adopted by the
MARLANT Commander, which indicates what the organization hopes to achieve in the
long run. The vision should then be communicated throughout the organization using the
environmental structure to facilitate participation in the reduction and diversion
programs. This will reinforce and support awareness and training efforts and provide a
cornrnon basis for discussion between the different sections of the IW&HO: scrap,
surplus, hazardous matenals, and waste. Given the success of the existing program and
the structure in place to facilitate m e r successes, the following vision is suggested:
MARLANT will generate zero waste by the year 2005.
Develop a Strategic Integrated Management Plan to firlly integrate Environment into
Pzrrchasing and Logistics.
Pnor to the completion of the SPRiNT review in 1997, MARLANT's S WM program
developed largely in response to market opportunities (e.g. recyclables) and the
announced provincial tandfill bans. The dethiled prograrn review resulted in a new and
proactive approach for the SWM program as wel1 as a dedicated unit to implement the
changes. The IW&HO, however, is currently managing the program without the benefit
of a strategic plan outlining the short and long t e m goals and management approach.
The existence of a strategic plan would enhance the program by articulating and
comrnunicating the overaIl goal and approaches to be pursued and by providing a tool to
priontize and schedule activities. For exarnple, what roles do green procurement, life
cycle management, and reuse facilities play in the strategy and how will they be
irnplemented? While IW&HO and FENV have discussed the importance of a plan like
this, it has never k e n developed.
Shifr Focus ro Material Management
While the new program was successfùl in changing the view and management of waste,
MARLANT still employs a back-end approach that focuses on the waste stream.
Evolving to a reduction or pollution prevention based program will require that
MARLANT shifi its focus to the processes that generate the by-products and implement
practices that manage materials rather than the resulting waste stream. As illustrated in
the Material Management hierarchy (Figure 4), the greater the efficiency of material
management the fewer surplus and residual materials that must be discarded and the
lower the waste management costs. To facilitate an understanding of the generating
processes, it is recommended that production process audits be conducted on operations
that produce large quantities of by-products. By identifiing waste strearn and source, the
waste audits can provide a starting point for this activity. Once a by-product has been
identified with a process, options should be identified to either change the process or
inputs to eliminate, or at least reduce, the by-product or a new use should be sought for
the by-product.
Create Strategic Linkges w ith Headquarters
Implementing a material management approach at MARLANT requires modiQing
existing processes, some of which are controlled by headquarter staff. These process.
including shipboard operations and any procurement at a national level or for a national
program, are developed and controlled at the headquarter level to ensure consistency and
standardization throughout the organization. It is recommended that MARLANT identi@
the processes that it can affect and implement the appropriate changes. Those processes
controlled at a higher level of the hierarchy should be identified and brought to the
attention of the environment staff at headquarters. The departmental cornmitment to
sustainability published in the SDS should provide the necessary motivation to pursue
these issues.
Develop Nerworks fo explore opportunifies and share lessons learned.
The development and implementation of the MARLANT SWM program has been
accomplished largely intemally in spite of the fact that other organizations in the local ICl
sector and national military cornmunity face the same econornic and environmental
pressure to change. To share experiences and gain new ideas fiom the efforts of others, it
is recornrnended that the IW&HO establish an information sharing network. The
SPRINT report recommended that a local ICI sector waste management cornmittee be
formed with MARLANT playing a leading role. This recornrnendation should be
pursued. Additionally, the IW&HO should work with other Bases in the military
cornmunity, particularly CFBs Gagetown and Greenwood, to explore how cooperation
c m applied to reduce overall generation of by-products and work toward the
departmental goal of sustainability. This might be accomplished through the annual Base
Environmental Officer's conference or a separate venue.
List Of Interviewees
De~artment of National Defence
Richard Newman. Contract Inspecter. MARLANT. September & November 1998.
Holmer Berthiaume. Waste Management Officer. NDHQ. November 1998.
Bob Coffin. Integrated Waste and Hazmat Officer. MARLANT. September 1998.
Carol Lee Giffin. Formation Environmental Officer. MARLANT. September & November 1998.
Dave Jefferies. Surplus Materials Officer. MARLANT. September 1998.
Other
Barry Fnesen. Solid Waste Manager. NSDOE. November 1998.
Colin MacNeil. EMS Officer. Environment Canada. November 1998.
Theresa Smolenaars. Halifax Regional Municipality. October 1998.
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