Focus on...Industrial, Commercial, and Institutional (ICI) Waste - 2006

When we think of garbage, we normally think of the residential sector. Much effort has been directed toward getting individuals and households motivated to reduce, reuse and recycle.

All well and good, but household garbage amounts to less than 40% of the total waste stream (see table below). By far the biggest producer of waste is the industrial, commercial and institutional (ICI) sector.

There is great potential to reduce ICI waste. As the pie chart shows, more than half of ICI waste is paper. The most common types are office paper, mixed paper and cardboard. Offices generate the higher grades of paper while the retail sector produces a great deal of cardboard. Even in institutional settings like hospitals, paper makes up half of the waste stream.

Food wastes make up about 13 percent of the ICI waste stream. This number is higher for food-service businesses and institutions. Yard waste is generally less of an issue for the ICI sector than it is for residents. Plastic is also a significant part of the ICI waste stream, as is scrap metal. Each make up about 7 percent of the total.

While some businesses and institutions are working on reducing their waste, much remains to be accomplished.

How can we encourage more of the ICI sector to actively work on reducing waste? There is a role to play for all of us.

Provincial governments are starting to pay attention to the ICI waste stream and to encourage waste reduction. The Ontario government (see p. 14) has announced renewed enforcement of older regulations requiring businesses to reduce waste. Alberta has recently hired a person whose primary mandate is to work on ICI waste reduction programs.

Municipalities can encourage businesses to reduce waste in various ways (see p. 3). Setting up tipping fees to encourage waste diversion or differential fees for sorted loads helps send a message to the ICI sector. Municipalities can also ban materials from their landfills. Just think about how the waste stream would look (and how much longer landfills would last) if all paper products were banned from disposal!

For businesses and institutions, viewing waste reduction as a way to make systems more efficient allows problems to be seen as opportunities. One starting point is to perform a waste assessment to set a baseline and identify which materials to tackle first. If you have a program, let the world know! This makes you look good and inspires others to follow your example.

For individuals who are also workers, does your workplace have a waste reduction program? Gather like-minded people, start a “Green” committee and see what you can do.

As consumers of goods and services, talk to the front line people. Ask questions (“does this facility have a recycling program?”). As a share-holder, ask the same questions.

(Source: Sept. 2006 WasteWatch)

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