Media Clipping – July 12, 2004, The Chronicle-Herald Editorial

Cashing in on trash

IT'S FAR from glamorous, it's often mundane, but there's money to be made in handling the trash.

Big money, as far as Nova Scotia is concerned. How's $31 million a year sound?

That's the finding of a study into the nitty-gritty of the province's much-touted solid waste management system.

Independent research group GPI Atlantic dug through the trash, concluding that the management system in place since 1996 has saved the province millions of dollars every year.

The new system costs $72.5 million, compared to $48.6 million the old way. But the report points to savings of at least $31 million annually. Those benefits are not all on the surface, but are available through a little digging. "When we do our accounting, we take all of those social, economic and environmental components into account," says Ronald Coleman of GPI Atlantic.

Sally Walker, head author of the report, detailed some of the indirect benefits of the system that has caught attention worldwide. They include job creation valued at $6 million to $8 million, curbing greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution at between $12 million and $150 million, and extending the life of landfill projects estimated at saving $18.8 million.

With respect to landfills, the stats show Nova Scotians are becoming a little slack in that regard. While the province has set new standards, it now diverts about 46 per cent of garbage from landfills, down from a high of 50 per cent a few years ago. It's a small decline, but should be noted in order to curtail any further slippage.

Ms. Walker says Nova Scotians need to keep following the plan to maintain higher standards, but said more can be done to improve waste management. That includes redesigning products to reduce packaging and making it easier to recycle.

The rest of the world is watching how we take out garbage in Nova Scotia. And they seem impressed, based on the number of delegations coming for a first-hand look. The report even found those visits impacted on the province's tourism revenues. That surely gives new meaning to the term eco-tourism, and shows yet another way we're cashing in on taking out the trash.