Case Studies

There are two forms of residential scrap material recovery to consider: curbside collection service and drop-off depots. Historically, the separate handling of this material began with the "annual spring clean-up" when tipping fees were low and the municipality often provided the collection service at no charge. This material was usually disposed of.

However, a significant proportion of the salvageable goods was removed from the curb by enterprising individuals before the scheduled collection for use in their own homes (in the case of easily repaired appliances and furniture) or by commercial scavengers who converted the metal scrap into cash at local scrap yards.

As tipping fees increased and environmental standards and awareness grew, the tradition of the municipally sponsored spring clean-up (and disposal) was either discontinued completely or evolved into a large-item/white goods collection.

In communities that collect scrap metal, the most inexpensive and common option is the drop-off depot where resident access is usually provided at no charge. Associated depot costs include staffing (recommended but not essential), promotion, fencing enclosure, signage, car access, site maintenance, and container purchase or rental.

Revenues from the sale of the materials will partially offset costs; indeed, with high scrap metal values, drop-off depots could even be regarded as revenue generators for a municipality, depending on the contractual arrangement with the scrap merchant who takes the material. Greater distances to market will disadvantage remote communities.

The following summaries are in addition to the case studies provided in the AMRC survey report (www.recycle.nrcan.gc.ca). The recovery rates from these communities range from 1.95 kg/capita/year to 28.7 kg/capita/year, which is residential plus commercial scrap.

County of Northumberland (Ontario): 205 tonnes from 79 120 pop.

Northumberland residents are provided with a two-stream, "wet/dry" program. In 2002 they recovered 205 tonnes of scrap metal from the waste stream, about 75% of which was residential and the rest was commercial. A local scrap dealer provides a 40-yard roll-off container at the processing plant and removes the materials, as required, for further sorting off-site.

Ottawa Valley Waste Recovery Centre (Ontario): 133 tonnes from 40 000 people (not including pilot tonnage)

The OVWRC 2004 "Don't Scrap It" scrap metal collection pilot will evaluate whether residential scrap metal can be economically added to the existing curbside recycling program. The pilot's 3 927 households have been asked to put scrap metal into their 25-gallon yellow bins and set them out with other recyclables. Only those items that fit in the bins can be included; larger items such as chairs, appliances, bicycles, etc., must be set out during special collections. Total metal collected in the first six weeks of the pilot (April 1-May 14) was 3 370 kilograms. The OVWRC also provides a special spring and fall curbside collection for all other large residential metal scrap.

City of Edmonton (Alberta):
2 592 tonnes from 648 284 pop.

The following data are not included in the AMRC survey report: A total of 2 952 tonnes of residential scrap metal was recovered in Edmonton in 2003 (44% at the composting facility, 28% at the MRF, 17% at drop-off depots and 11% at the central transfer station). This total excludes 513 tonnes of white goods and 84 tonnes of IC&I metal.

Halifax Regional Municipality (Nova Scotia):
5 000 tonnes from 377 932 pop.

Bulky items including white goods are co-collected with waste every second week. These materials are taken to the Otter Lake Waste Processing and Disposal Facility where they are unloaded onto the tipping floor. At this point, larger metal items are manually removed and stockpiled until sufficient quantities justify shipment to market. The rest of the waste stream is loaded onto a conveyor belt where more metal items are sorted prior to shredding. While the shredded waste is then screened using an overhead cross-belt magnet, the resulting material stream has yet to be recycled due to high contamination levels. Halifax staff estimate that 50% of the recovered scrap metal is from residential sources (this includes white goods).

East Hants (Nova Scotia):
650 tonnes from 22 649 pop.

The Town of East Hants provides its residents with two collections per year (spring and fall) that target scrap metal. Staff plan to add smaller items to their list of targeted items, including pots, pans, small appliances, cutlery and metal toys, etc. Quantities have increased from 422 tonnes in 2002/03 to current levels. As in Halifax, staff estimate the split between residential and IC&I to be about 50/50.