Financial Incentives

Paying cash or in-kind for scrap metal

Given the cost of offering a curbside collection program for scrap metal, municipalities might find it more economical to offer some kind of financial incentive to residents who drop off scrap metal at recycling depots and landfill sites. This could be actual payment based on weight, "free" compost, or vouchers for other services.

It should be noted that there could be operational issues such as payment levels, security, cash/change, labour costs, etc., so a non-cash payment might be the best place to start. In cases where the municipality has entered into a partnership with other agencies such as Goodwill, many of these issues may have already been addressed and resolved. While this could be seen as competing with the private-sector scrap yards, it could be argued that by collecting aluminum cans and other consumer packaging made of metal this competition already exists.

User pay waste collection

Any program that encourages people to divert recyclables from their domestic waste stream should see an increase in the recovery of scrap metal, and adopting the user pay principle for waste has proved to be the most effective incentive of all. By their very nature, scrap metal items tend to be heavy and/or bulky. Thus, programs like in the City of Orillia, where the user pay principle is applied for waste, in conjunction with a convenient and well-promoted scrap metal program, should see increased recovery of that material as well as many other recyclables.

Tipping fees that favour source separation

Just as user pay programs apply levies to garbage and usually offer the recycling service at no charge, differential tipping fees at the landfill can encourage source separation of materials. The degree of difference between fees charged for source-separated recyclables and regular waste, and for loads that are unsorted or contaminated, may vary; many programs do not charge for separated recyclables. Increasing the disposal cost for unsorted or contaminated loads provides a financial incentive for the generator to segregate waste.

Enhancement and encouragement of reuse activities

There are often many opportunities already in place in a community to divert certain materials from landfill (thrift stores, annual yard sale events, reuse businesses, etc.) and a municipality's role may be limited to promotion, encouragement and assistance to these activities. This could be as simple as making a list of "reuse" facilities or scrap metal dealers available to residents. It could be a municipally sponsored reuse guide, or tipping fee relief to thrift stores and associated activities.

A growing trend in larger municipalities is the establishment of "eco-centres" (e.g., Montréal) or community recycling centres (e.g., Region of Peel, Ontario) where various waste diversion services are offered, including some kind of reuse facility. These are often partnerships with non-profit organizations like Goodwill.