Green Bin Recycling Program

Organic waste like fruit and vegetable scraps, paper towels, coffee grinds, and more are collected by the Green Bin Program and turns it into compost. Refer the process of making compost from waste.

Green Bin Program let the occupants getting curbside waste compilation to divide their food scraps and food soiled paper products into a safe Green Bin, rather than going to landfill the waste will be collected and processed into compost. The Green Bin material is collected at the curb by the local municipality.

The Green Bin Program gathers household organic materials like food scraps and paper towels in green bins. It turns “waste” into useful compost and helps to save precious space in the local landfill. Nearly 510,000 single-family households are presently serviced by the program. The Green Bin Program is now being rolled out to 5,000 apartments, condos and co-op buildings, after a successful lead program in 30 multi-unit residential buildings. The collected organic materials will be sent to a state of the art processing plant and converted into nutrient rich compost perfect for agricultural use. Residents can help the city feed the land and not the landfill by gathering organic waste in this way.

About 30% of household garbage is organic material that can be processed into compost for use in farms, parklands and gardens instead of being sent to landfill. The intention of the Green Bin Program is to divert these organic materials from landfill and turn them into compost. Two new containers, a smaller one for the kitchen and a larger green bin for the curb are delivered by the city. Instructions about how the Green Bin Program works were also delivered to the door explaining in detail. Every other week the garbage is collected. There should only be a few items left in the garbage for bi-weekly collection.

Materials accepted in the Green Bin Organics Program:

• Fruits, vegetable scraps
• Candies, cookies, cake
• Meat, shellfish, fish products
• Pasta, bread, cereal
• Dairy products, egg shells
• Soiled paper towels, tissues
• Coffee grounds, filters, tea bags
• Animal waste, bedding, kitty litter
• Household plants, including soil
• Diapers, sanitary products
• Soiled paper food packaging: fast food paper packaging, ice cream boxes, muffin paper, flour and sugar bags
• Paper plates
• Baking ingredients, herbs, spices
• Pet food

Materials not accepted in the Green Bin Organics Program:

• Plastic wrap, baggies, and sandwich bags
• Plastic milk bags
• Hot drink cups, lids and sleeves
• Plastic items such as food containers, cutlery
• Styrofoam, meat tray liners
• Artificial flowers and plants
• Leather, textiles, clothing
• Cigarette butts, tobacco
• Foil
• Rugs, carpets
• Ear cleaners, cotton balls, make-up removal pads
• Gum
• Baby wipes
• Wax paper
• Corks
• Dental floss
• Feathers
• Disposable mop sheets
• Hair, pet fur
• Dryer lint, dryer sheet
• Wood products, wood chips
• Dead animals
• Recyclable materials
• Vacuum cleaner bags and contents
• Fireplace or BBQ ashes
• Candles

Process of making compost from waste:

At most of the amenities getting the Region’s Green Bin compostables, the trucks enter an enclosed “receiving hall”. To wait for processing the compostables are dropped on a concrete floor. Then these compostables are fed into a machine where the plastic bags holding the compostables are opened mechanically. The materials go through one of the several processes depending on the technology used by the Region’s contractor. In a typical aerobic composting system, to “bulk up” the material Green Bin material is mixed with yard waste, its overall humidity content is reduced and the composting process is initiated. Then inside a building, the material is laden into long concrete enclosed tunnels, where the material is composted under climate controlled conditions.

Micro-organisms presented in the food waste crash the material naturally producing compost. In the thermophilic stage, an initial rapid breakdown the material goes through it and this process produces heat that pasteurizes the compost, ridding the material of harmful bacteria. The compost is screened to take away any plastics or contaminants and then located outdoors to mature for the final composting stage. The material is still breaking down at this point but at slower rate and at lower temperatures to produce the finished, stabilized material we all recognize at our local nursery as compost. The strict guidelines are set out by the Ministry of the Environment, once the complete compost is tested to ensure it meets. The finished product is used in a diversity of applications including horticultural and agricultural use, land reclamation and roadside erosion control.

Video of Green Bin Program from youtube:

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4. Green Apple Fruit Benefits
5. Green vegetables and their nutritional value