HRM and 2019

[OldDartmouthMark]

And...
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-...junk-1.4496435

Some interesting points:

B.C. producers must do own recycling

A second solution could be laws compelling the companies that produce the bags to ultimately dispose of them. "So if you're going to be a manufacturer of plastics or plastic bags, then you should also build into your business model the cost of end-of-life," Walker said.

Allen Langdon of Recycle B.C. told CBC's Information Morning: Cape Breton that the producers of all packaging and printed paper are responsible for recycling the material in his province.

"On behalf of the producers, we contract local governments, private operators, and sometimes non-profits to collect printed paper and packaging across the province," he said. "We pay for the collection; those collectors drop it off at our processor and we pay that processor and are responsible for managing that material ourselves."

He said it adds less than a cent per item. It's all done within B.C. Ontario has taken a similar approach.

If the federal government doesn't step up, Jason Clyburne thinks Nova Scotia should, and it should work with New Brunswick and P.E.I. for a Maritime-wide policy.

Clyburne, a Saint Mary's University professor and the Canada Research Chair in Environmental Studies and Materials, said a unified policy would carry weight.

"We do generate waste and it's full of carbon. Rather than letting it rot or putting it into a disposal, I have been re-looking at new technologies that can be used for combustion and get energy from the waste," he said Friday.

A few years ago, he would have dismissed out of hand the idea of burning plastics to create energy. But Norway, Sweden and Denmark — famed for their green policies — have changed the equation lately. The Nordic nations, and much of the European Union, have embraced cleaner technologies to turn trash into energy.

A European Commission research unit says there is "enough waste energy produced in the EU to heat the EU's entire building stock."

"It opened my eyes to new technologies. I think it's something that we as Nova Scotians should reconsider," Clyburne said. "When you have waste streams that are relatively pure, it looks to me that combustion is now a possibility."

Clyburne said grocery bags are likely a "pretty small" part of the overall plastics problem, but they are literally in the public's hands and so can act as a tool to increase our consciousness about the bigger issue.

It strikes me that there are some really intelligent people in Halifax who are putting a lot of thought into the problem and considering some good solutions, and it appears that HRM is not consulting with any of them...

[OldDartmouthMark]

Quebec's study from 2017:

https://monsacintelligent.ca/wp-cont...ull-Report.pdf

[OldDartmouthMark]

https://www.kingscountynews.ca/news/...a-prof-270137/

Duke says that's why he doens't favour a bag ban and would instead support taxing plastic bags – with money going towards improving recycling facilities and making reusable and fully-recyclable plastic totes cheaper and more accessible – as well as a sharp increase in penalties for improper plastic disposals.

“If we want to nudge people's behaviour into new directions using policy, this would be a better way to do it in my opinion,” he says.

[Colin May]

If we want to 'save the planet' we need $5 a litre gasoline and massive increase in the cost of air travel - which assumes China & India would stop building oil refineries.
We have nice clean air in Nova Scotia, unlike many places in the developing world i.e where most of the population live.
There are people in HRM who don't test their well water because of cost and because they don't want to know the results.
Last night I read an annual report from a very successful business - no pictures, no photos, no graphs, no glossy paper, no buzz words. No mention of 'diversity' or 'inclusion' or other in vogue words or phrases. Just the facts. Mentions successes and failures.

[Keith P.]

Bags made of recycled paper are less strong and break down easier with moisture than virgin paper. Not ideal when you are using them to transport anything that is moist/damp.

[OldDartmouthMark]

Originally Posted by Keith P.

Bags made of recycled paper are less strong and break down easier with moisture than virgin paper. Not ideal when you are using them to transport anything that is moist/damp.

Sobeys rolled out bags that use 30% less plastic last year, and they have recycling bins at their stores:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/princ...bags-1.4566891

Stores also have bins where customers are encouraged to recycle their bags. Those will be sent back to the bag manufacturer, Inteplast, in New Brunswick to make new bags and other plastic products.

Sobeys said this will take some pressure off waste managers, who have been struggling to find markets for this plastic waste.

So, customers who use their bags have the option of re-using them as garbage bags (as many, or most, people do), thereby negating the necessity of buying heavier purpose-made single-use garbage bags... or, taking them back to the store to have them recycled.

Seems to me to be a reasonable way to handle the situation - bags that use less plastic and are recycled in the Maritimes (not shipped overseas for recycling - though I believe China stopped accepting them a while back). Sounds like Sobeys did the work to improve the situation while satisfying customer needs - meanwhile HRM is just doing some knee-jerk reaction to the calls of the activists, without actually doing any research or putting any thought into it. In other words, just doing what is popular in hoping that it makes them look good so they will hopefully be reelected.

BTW, I was at my local Sobeys last night and I saw what appeared to be stacks of paper bags under the counter, so I'm not sure if they are planning to phase those in or perhaps give them as an option??

[Colin May]

" WORKING WITH STAFF FROM ALL LEVELS AND DIVISIONS WITHIN THE BUSINESS. WE'LL BE ESTABLISHING AN ACTION PLAN ON INTERNAL REWARDS AND RECOGNITION. SO WHAT WE WANT TO DO IS TALK TO THE EMPLOYEES AND ASK THEM HOW THEY WANT TO BE RECOGNIZED AND WHAT REWARDS THEY WOULD LIKE.
ONE OF THE RISK AREAS THAT WE HAVE IS SUCCESSION PLANNING. WE HAVE A NUMBER OF REALLY BRIGHT TECHNICAL PEOPLE THAT ARE EITHER AT -- TOWARDS THE END OF THEIR CAREER OR AT THE RISK OF BEING RECRUITED AWAY FROM US. WE WANT TO MAKE SURE WE'RE DEVELOPING PLANS NOT ONLY FOREVER THOSE PEOPLE BUT ALSO FOR PEOPLE THAT ARE NEW TO HRM OR PEOPLE WITH POTENTIAL AND REALLY WANT TO GROW. AND THIS IS THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE ORGANIZATION'
Today at HRM Budget presentation from Finance Dept.

[Keith P.]

This is both interesting and very disappointing, and gets to the dysfunction at Council and their inability to stop spending:

https://www.thestar.com/halifax/2019...to-budget.html

While that funding option doesn’t directly raise taxes, some councillors worried it would reduce council’s flexibility to use the surplus money to offset tax increases due to the operating budget.

“I fully understand the rationale, that these are things a good city should have. We are a pretty good city, but I think we have to be really careful,” Mayor Mike Savage said during debate.

“We need more information, in my view, before we can authorize this kind of spending.”

Savage argued council should hear the rest of the departmental operating budget presentations scheduled over the next few weeks before deciding to use the surplus for the capital budget.

Last year, council considered using its surplus to pay down the operating budget and keep the increase to the average tax bill at 1.6 per cent, as opposed to the 1.975 per cent hike that eventually went through.

Municipal staff recommended against it last year, and did so again this year, warning councillors not to use one-time money to fund ongoing expenses.

Savage said that given council doesn’t appear to be in line to hit its self-imposed goal of keeping the increase to the average property tax bill to 1.9 per cent this year, it should be more restrained on capital spending.

“If we’re going to be spending an extra, what is it, $21 million, on capital, plus we’re blowing 1.9 all to hell, that’s not responsible under any circumstance,” he said.

There’s also a risk that, even with funding, many of the projects on the list won’t be completed.

“Our estimate right now is, of the $21.8 million that’s there, we’re probably going to be able to deliver $3.7 million” in 2019/2020, chief administrative officer Jacques Dubé told councillors on Friday.

Hold on to your wallets. This bunch is going to spend like here's no tomorrow until they get turfed out. Surprising to hear Savage being the voice of reason, which is a good indicator of how reckless this really is, but he is being ignored.