Most compostable packaging still doomed to landfill
It's a 'sad reality' for businesses making the more expensive, time-consuming choice
It's Friday night, you've ordered in from a local restaurant and you're smiling contentedly, tossing emptied containers and cutlery marked "100% compostable" into your green bin.
Nice feeling, huh?
Let's throw some cold water on it.
In Ottawa — and across the country — compostable products are extremely likely to be screened out of municipal green bin collection and tossed in landfills, where they can't break down properly and produce methane (a much more potent contributor to climate change than carbon dioxide).
"I would say the majority of compostable packaging products are screened out" and sent to landfill, said Nichole Hoover-Bienasz, a City of Ottawa program manager who works in long-term planning for Solid Waste Services.
So far that's not a big slice of the waste pie, but it won't stay that way forever.
A 2018-19 waste audit found compostable products comprised less than 0.5 per cent of Ottawa's waste stream, but the city said trends are changing and a fresh audit scheduled to begin this winter should shed more light.
The sector is expected to grow after the federal government announced in June that it's banning some single-use plastics over the next 18 months, and as more consumers and businesses are seeking sustainable options.
What happens to compostables in Ottawa green bins
Unless the products are made entirely of unlined paper or cardboard, they generally won't break down fast enough in Ottawa's industrial-scale accelerated tunnel composting system run by Convertus (formerly Orgaworld).
Convertus regional operations manager Joel Rutty said about 10 per cent of everything that arrives at the facility ends up in landfill, including other contaminants like plastic bags, glass and more.
The system was created in 2010 to handle municipal food and yard waste, which breaks down much faster than compostable products — anywhere between eight and 14 days.
Compostables can take weeks or even months longer, and in Canada there is no obligation for makers of these products to comply with any standard. Even if they did, most would still take too long to be processed successfully at municipal facilities including Convertus.
Michael Leopold, CEO of Convertus Group, said they have lots of room to grow in Ottawa and could "easily" house waste longer — though the city notes taxpayers would bear the cost of any upgrade or expansion.
"It all depends on what the regulations are. If you're telling me they're saying it has to stay in the facility for six months, that's a different challenge than 20 days," Leopold said.
"I think any changes that they would make, they would do in consultation with industry, and I don't see any issues with us falling in line with whatever they want to do."
Enforced standards needed
It's a "sad reality" for businesses making the choice to use compostables, which take longer to find and cost more than traditional disposable containers and cutlery, said Stephanie Howarth, co-founder of the Mad Radish health food chain.
"You're looking at about 15 to 30 per cent higher costs on a per packaging basis. Over the course of a year, that's tens of thousands of dollars for a business the size of ours," Howarth said.
To successfully compost more waste, Howarth said local governments should make it easier for businesses to participate in municipal green bin programs. Higher levels of government need to set enforceable standards for compostables that people can understand, she added.
"The onus is … on the government to set standards that we can follow, that they can enforce for all businesses, not just the ones that see it as their personal responsibility. It should be everyone's responsibility to get away from non-sustainable packaging," she said.
WATCH | Mad Radish owner says local government should do more to help:
What the province is doing
Makers of compostables were recently required to start reporting on what they are selling in Ontario, and how much they're selling.
The province wants to better understand what's circulating in the market and how it's certified — as it works with stakeholders on how to actually compost it.
Ontario is also amending its Food and Organic Waste Policy Statement to update direction on compostable products. It formed a working group in 2019 "to set clear rules for compostable packaging … and to ensure these materials are accepted by existing and emerging green bin programs," said a news release issued at the time.
But the draft amendments posted in 2020 don't set any rules.
They only say changes to processing technologies across the province are needed over time; stakeholders "should support pilot projects and research" on the issue; and municipalities and owners/operators of processing systems "are encouraged to examine the feasibility of updating existing technologies."
Hoover-Bienasz said the city "still has some concerns" about the proposed amendments, which are still under consideration.
"From our perspective, we're not quite there yet in terms of addressing the municipal challenges," she said.
What the federal government is doing
Earlier this year, the government sought feedback on establishing Canada-wide rules to bolster the recycling and composting of plastics via accurate labelling.
The comment period closed in October and a report on the feedback received will be posted in the coming months, according to Environment and Climate Change Canada.
Draft regulations are expected to be made public around fall 2023 to solicit more feedback.
Ottawa's organics processing up close
Want to take a closer look at how food and yard waste is processed in Ottawa? Here's how it happens.
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