Toronto S Green Bin Program

Toronto S Green Bin Program

SVN3M - Waste

Toronto’s Green Bin Program

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As you go through the presentation, answer the following questions in the space provided.

  1. Aside from food waste, what are 4 other kinds of material that can be put into the green bin?

◊ tissues, napkins, paper towels

◊ house plants

◊ diapers

◊ animal waste, cat litter

  1. What are the 5 major steps that transform curbside organic material into finished compost?

◊ curbside collection

◊ preprocessing organic material

◊ primary processing by anaerobic digestion

◊ secondary processing by aerobic composting

◊ using compost

  1. How successful is the green bin program with single family homes? (What percentage of Toronto’s single family homes participate, and how many participate?)

Over 90% of single family homes, (half a million single family homes)

  1. What 3 things are done in the pre-processing stage to prepare the material for composting?

◊ spinning it in a hydropulper to separate liquid organic pulp and plastic bags

◊ raking to remove plastic bags and other unwanted items

◊ placing waste in landfill

  1. How long does anaerobic digestion take, and what 2 products are produced?

Approximately 20 days

◊ digestate – organic solid material

◊ biogas

  1. What is biogas, and for what can it be used? What is cogeneration?

Combustible mixture of methane and carbon dioxide, renewable energy source

Cogeneration – both useful electricity and heat can be generated at the same time from the biogas

  1. How much biogas is produced from 1 tonne of organic waste, and how much energy can be generated from the biogas? (1 kWh can power about 100 compact fluorescent lightbulbs for an hour – how many can be powered from the energy generated by 1 tonne of biogas?)

110 cubic metres of biogas from 1 tonne of organic waste, or 570 kWh of energy

570 kWh of energy × 100 light bulbs/kWh = 57,000 light bulbs

  1. A biofilter is used to deal with odour. What is a biofilter made of, and how does it work?

Biofilter is made up of organix materials such as wood chips and compost

Bacteria living on the compost and woodchips remove odours by consuming chemical compounds that cause odours

  1. What is aerobic composting and how long does it take?

Breaking down of organic materials by using naturally occurring bacteria and fungi, process takes about 6 months

  1. In what way does Toronto’s Green Bin program “come full circle”? (i.e. in what way does it promote waste diversion, rather than waste disposal, and how does it promote sustainability?) Check the link “Green bin goes full circle”:

Organic materials from food “waste” are transformed into compost, which enriches soil for the growing of more food, rather than being put into a landfill or incinerated which is a waste of energy or valuable nutrients