Ever really wonder where all that garbage and recyclables go after they are picked up at the end of your driveway?
I mean we all know they go to the “landfill” and are taken care of there… but, how many of us think past that?
Well, yesterday I was privileged to receive a private tour of our Waste Management site here in Waterloo Region. After being inspired artistically by Cari Rastas talk at Ignite Waterloo 4.0 I decided it would be interesting to see exactly where our “trash” goes and how it’s managed.
This is the Waste Management Centre. Â Located West of Ira Needles on Erb St. Waterloo.
When I arrived Cari was ready and waiting to show me around. First stop. The Materials Recycling Centre.
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This is the area where all the items to be recycled are sorted into their proper groups for processing. Plastic, aluminum cans, and other debris are all separated so they can be delt with separately. What you see here are huge bundles of pop cans that have been crushed and await their transport to be recycled. Very cool!
Next stop is the Landfill.
Here’s where all the garbage ends up. Large areas are dug out and specially lined and prepared with Leachate (garbage juice), and gas collecting lines. The Garbage is then dumped and spread by these crazy looking bull dozer’s that also pack it down. A layer of dirt is then pushed over it in preparation for the next day. Sometimes a huge tarp is used to cover the garbage overnight for easier access and space preservation. It’s estimated that we have 20-30 years of dumping left at this site.
All the gas that is collected from the garbage is filtered and used to generate power.
Cari is a wealth of information! I couldn’t possibly cover all the info she provided here, so please check out the Region of Waterloo website for more detailed explanation. Or you could go visit and have your own tour of our fantastic facility.
Thank you to Cari for her time and effort in helping us be a greener community! Reduce, Reuse, Recycle!
Some of the pieced inspired by the 3R’s will be exhibited May 2011 at Minds Eye Studio Art.