MEASURING PROGRAM PERFORMANCE

Local governments track the quantity of packaging and printed paper (PPP) they collect from their residents in order to track progress towards their waste diversion goals and the objectives set out in regional solid waste management plans.

Local governments often also track their progress by sampling the garbage stream to identify the quantity of the types of PPP targeted for collection that remains in the garbage stream.

Using the quantity of PPP collected and the quantity of PPP remaining in the garbage, local governments measure the performance of their PPP collection program.

This approach measures the performance of the PPP collection system but does not take into account PPP that is lost as residue during processing and is ultimately directed to local disposal facilities by MRF operators.  While the route may be more circuitous, MRF processing residue is ‘in the garbage’ just as surely as when residents put PPP ‘in the garbage’ rather than in the PPP collection system.

Under the PPP Stewardship Plan, Multi-Material British Columbia (MMBC) will be compiling data from their collection network comprised of:

• Local governments that accept the market-clearing price financial incentive to provide curbside collection of PPP;
• Contractors providing curbside collection of PPP directly to MMBC where local governments decline the market-clearing price financial incentive;
• Public and private collectors servicing multi-family buildings; and
• Public, not-for-profit and private collectors operating drop-off depots.

MMBC will use these data to report the quantity of PPP collected within each regional district in tonnes and as kilograms per capita.  Local governments can use this information as the quantity of PPP collected from residential households for purposes of tracking progress towards the objectives set out in their solid waste management plans.

Under the PPP Stewardship Plan, MMBC will also be compiling data from processors providing post-collection services including:

• The quantity of PPP received from MMBC collectors;
• Of the quantity of PPP received from MMBC collectors:
  • The quantity and type of PPP shipped by the processor and its downstream processors to recycling end-markets;
  • The quantity of processing residues shipped by the processor and its downstream processors to recovery; and
  • The quantity of processing residues shipped by the processor and its downstream processors to landfill.

These data will be used to report the quantity of PPP recycled for the province in tonnes and as kilograms per capita and the quantity of PPP managed by recycling, recovery and disposal.

Using the quantity of PPP shipped to recycling end-markets, recovery and disposal, MMBC will measure the performance of the PPP collection and processing system.