'Everything on the table' to deal with N.S.'s plastic problems, says Rankin
TOM AYERS THE CHRONICLE HERALD
Published January 7, 2018 - 8:25pm
Last Updated January 8, 2018 - 6:50am
The Nova Scotia government is willing to consider any ideas to deal with low-density film plastics, including the possibility of establishing a local recycling facility, implementing a consumer fee to support industry recycling elsewhere, or banning the material altogether.
“I would say everything is on the table,” Environment Minister Iain Rankin told the Chronicle Herald on Saturday. “I’m not against any proposal that would improve outcomes at the end of the day.”
Municipalities across the province have had to stockpile film plastics — such as grocery bags and the kind of plastic wrapping found around water bottles and toilet paper — since July, when China stopped taking the material for recycling.
The plastic is one of a dozen or so items the province has banned from burying in landfills. Rankin said the province is reviewing that list, which includes mostly recyclable items, and is considering adding materials such as textiles.
But it is not considering taking film plastics off the list.
“I think the biggest misconception is people think the items on that list are banned because they’re harmful to put into the landfill, which is not the case,” he said.
“The items on that list are there because there was a market found somewhere for them.”
On Friday, Rankin allowed a six-month exemption on the burying of film plastics, only for Halifax Regional Municipality and only at a private landfill operation in West Hants, because HRM’s stockpile had grown too large.
Municipalities will continue to collect and sort recyclables, but they will have to store film plastics until a long-term solution is found.
The temporary exemption was intended to allow HRM to bury the excess material it couldn’t store inside its Bayers Lake facility, but it “conceivably” could allow the municipality to bury any new low-density plastics it collects over the next six months, Rankin said.
HRM solid waste manager Matt Keliher told CBC on Friday that some of the excess material has already been sent out of province for burial, and a large portion is also being sent away to be burned.
Rankin said the Environment Department has no control over what happens to materials once they leave the province but it was encouraging that the municipality was considering all options to avoid burying the plastic.
An environmental critic and a waste management consultant have said they are leery of the province’s temporary exemption allowing HRM to bury plastic, and they worry the move will be extended if a long-term solution isn’t found within six months.
They suggested the province implement a ban on the plastics, or an extended producer responsibility program similar to the ones currently in place for recycling tires, pop and alcohol bottles, or electronics.
Under those programs, the manufacturers are responsible for recycling and consumers pay an up-front fee that helps subsidize the cost.
Either way, they said, it might take more than six months to find a long-term solution.
Rankin said he and departmental staff were not comfortable with authorizing a longer-term exemption on burying plastic, because a solution needs to be found. However, he is confident the problem can be resolved in that time frame.
The Liberal environment minister and MLA for Timberlea-Prospect said he has met with groups representing smaller and larger retailers, who could be affected by a ban or by an extended producer responsibility (EPR) program, and plans to meet with municipal solid waste officials later this week.
Colchester County Mayor Christine Blair said last week the municipality has already amassed 13 containers of plastic bags and is proposing to build a gasification plant that could turn some plastics into fuel.
Rankin said he is open to discussing that idea as one possible solution but citizens need to use fewer single-use plastics, such as plastic grocery bags. He’s also willing to look at a ban, an EPR program, or anything else that provides a long-term solution.
“I’m not against an EPR program,” Rankin said. “We have been looking at that as an option.”
Truro-Bible Hill MLA Lenore Zann, the New Democratic Party’s environment critic, said the Colchester proposal could be a good solution, eliminating waste plastic and some other types of garbage, creating jobs and generating power for local buildings.
It would likely require a capital investment of around $42 million, she said, but the technology is already in use in other jurisdictions and could provide an answer for all of the province’s municipalities.
“This is the type of thing they do in Germany very well, and I would love to see Nova Scotia come on board and be a leader in Canada,” Zann said.
“Colchester County has actually had the best recycling project from Day 1. They’ve really been forward thinking, so this is a setback with the plastics.”
Some kind of producer responsibility program could also work, she said.
“At this point, I think anything is worth considering, because the status quo is not enough,” said Zann.
“The reason why China has stopped accepting these items is because they said that they are concerned about the environment and health of their people.
“If China’s concerned about that, I think we should be, too.”
She also said other types of packaging need to be reconsidered. Many products could be wrapped in paper, and cloth bags could be used at retail stores, Zann said.
“I think it would be nice if we had homegrown, homemade recycling facilities here in Nova Scotia that can look after our own garbage, instead of sending it off to some other poor, Third World country,” she said.
Whatever solution is chosen, it needs to happen soon, Zann said.
“I do not want to see this government sit on its hands and say, ‘Oh yeah, it’s only for six months,’ and then keep on creeping it out and making it last longer, especially since it took them six months to even come up with an answer for HRM,” she said.
The Progressive Conservative Party declined to provide a spokesperson for comment.
thechronicleherald.ca/novascotia/1534594-everything-on-the-table-to-deal-with-n.s.s-plastic-problems-says-rankin
TOM AYERS THE CHRONICLE HERALD
Published January 7, 2018 - 8:25pm
Last Updated January 8, 2018 - 6:50am
The Nova Scotia government is willing to consider any ideas to deal with low-density film plastics, including the possibility of establishing a local recycling facility, implementing a consumer fee to support industry recycling elsewhere, or banning the material altogether.
“I would say everything is on the table,” Environment Minister Iain Rankin told the Chronicle Herald on Saturday. “I’m not against any proposal that would improve outcomes at the end of the day.”
Municipalities across the province have had to stockpile film plastics — such as grocery bags and the kind of plastic wrapping found around water bottles and toilet paper — since July, when China stopped taking the material for recycling.
The plastic is one of a dozen or so items the province has banned from burying in landfills. Rankin said the province is reviewing that list, which includes mostly recyclable items, and is considering adding materials such as textiles.
But it is not considering taking film plastics off the list.
“I think the biggest misconception is people think the items on that list are banned because they’re harmful to put into the landfill, which is not the case,” he said.
“The items on that list are there because there was a market found somewhere for them.”
On Friday, Rankin allowed a six-month exemption on the burying of film plastics, only for Halifax Regional Municipality and only at a private landfill operation in West Hants, because HRM’s stockpile had grown too large.
Municipalities will continue to collect and sort recyclables, but they will have to store film plastics until a long-term solution is found.
The temporary exemption was intended to allow HRM to bury the excess material it couldn’t store inside its Bayers Lake facility, but it “conceivably” could allow the municipality to bury any new low-density plastics it collects over the next six months, Rankin said.
HRM solid waste manager Matt Keliher told CBC on Friday that some of the excess material has already been sent out of province for burial, and a large portion is also being sent away to be burned.
Rankin said the Environment Department has no control over what happens to materials once they leave the province but it was encouraging that the municipality was considering all options to avoid burying the plastic.
An environmental critic and a waste management consultant have said they are leery of the province’s temporary exemption allowing HRM to bury plastic, and they worry the move will be extended if a long-term solution isn’t found within six months.
They suggested the province implement a ban on the plastics, or an extended producer responsibility program similar to the ones currently in place for recycling tires, pop and alcohol bottles, or electronics.
Under those programs, the manufacturers are responsible for recycling and consumers pay an up-front fee that helps subsidize the cost.
Either way, they said, it might take more than six months to find a long-term solution.
Rankin said he and departmental staff were not comfortable with authorizing a longer-term exemption on burying plastic, because a solution needs to be found. However, he is confident the problem can be resolved in that time frame.
The Liberal environment minister and MLA for Timberlea-Prospect said he has met with groups representing smaller and larger retailers, who could be affected by a ban or by an extended producer responsibility (EPR) program, and plans to meet with municipal solid waste officials later this week.
Colchester County Mayor Christine Blair said last week the municipality has already amassed 13 containers of plastic bags and is proposing to build a gasification plant that could turn some plastics into fuel.
Rankin said he is open to discussing that idea as one possible solution but citizens need to use fewer single-use plastics, such as plastic grocery bags. He’s also willing to look at a ban, an EPR program, or anything else that provides a long-term solution.
“I’m not against an EPR program,” Rankin said. “We have been looking at that as an option.”
Truro-Bible Hill MLA Lenore Zann, the New Democratic Party’s environment critic, said the Colchester proposal could be a good solution, eliminating waste plastic and some other types of garbage, creating jobs and generating power for local buildings.
It would likely require a capital investment of around $42 million, she said, but the technology is already in use in other jurisdictions and could provide an answer for all of the province’s municipalities.
“This is the type of thing they do in Germany very well, and I would love to see Nova Scotia come on board and be a leader in Canada,” Zann said.
“Colchester County has actually had the best recycling project from Day 1. They’ve really been forward thinking, so this is a setback with the plastics.”
Some kind of producer responsibility program could also work, she said.
“At this point, I think anything is worth considering, because the status quo is not enough,” said Zann.
“The reason why China has stopped accepting these items is because they said that they are concerned about the environment and health of their people.
“If China’s concerned about that, I think we should be, too.”
She also said other types of packaging need to be reconsidered. Many products could be wrapped in paper, and cloth bags could be used at retail stores, Zann said.
“I think it would be nice if we had homegrown, homemade recycling facilities here in Nova Scotia that can look after our own garbage, instead of sending it off to some other poor, Third World country,” she said.
Whatever solution is chosen, it needs to happen soon, Zann said.
“I do not want to see this government sit on its hands and say, ‘Oh yeah, it’s only for six months,’ and then keep on creeping it out and making it last longer, especially since it took them six months to even come up with an answer for HRM,” she said.
The Progressive Conservative Party declined to provide a spokesperson for comment.
thechronicleherald.ca/novascotia/1534594-everything-on-the-table-to-deal-with-n.s.s-plastic-problems-says-rankin
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