Encore Condos at The Met TSCC 1979 25 Carlton Street

About Encore Encore is a 33-story building, consisting of 334 residential suites including 6 town houses and 3 retail units Home to approximately 600 residents Encore residents are primarily first-home buyers, ranging in age from 25 – 45, students and young professionals Approximately 50% of the building is leased and only ½ of the owners reside in their suites Building registered in late November 2008 Encore is a new Condominium in the heart of downtown Toronto, located near the corner of Yonge Street and Carlton Street, diagonally opposite from Maple Leaf Gardens. Encore is the 2nd phase of a project know as The Met. Encore condos at The Met is also known as TSCC 1979. Encore is a 33 Story building, consisting of 334 residential suites including 6 town houses and 3 retail units. It is home to approximately 600 residents. The demographics of the residents are first-home buyers, ranging in age from 25 – 45, students whose parents have purchased units for their children who attend nearby Ryerson University, George Brown College, or University of Toronto medical students. Approximately 50% of the building is leased out so only ½ of the owners actually live in their suites.

About Encore Residents A lot of younger residents High consumption of take-out or delivery food by many residents A lot of waste and packaging On any given night, between 50-100 food deliveries Many small suites with tiny kitchenettes do not encourage cooking As a large population of Encore residents are younger, there is a tendency for them not to cook but rather order delivery such as pizza or take out food from the numerous restaurants in the area. A brief review of the cameras in the lobby of Encore, show that on any given night, between 50-100 delivery drivers can be seen delivering food.

The Waste Removal System Each floor’s disposal room contains a garbage chute 3 Tri-Sorter buttons at each chute opening Trash, Recycle and Organic Under-sink Organic Containers in each suite City of Toronto Blue Bag in each suite Under-sink Blue Bin in each disposal room for collection of LCBO bottles Large clothing bin located in Loading Bay Additional recycling located in Loading Bay As Encore is a new condominium that registered at the end of November 2008, the latest in waste- sorting and removal products were installed. Each floor has a garbage chute with three buttons that leads to a tri-sorter that handles garbage, recycling and organic green waste. In addition to the chute on each floor, blue city of Toronto under the sink-style bins have been placed in each disposal room for LCBO bottle collection. Due to the size of the complex, a clothing recycle bin has also been installed in the loading bay and to date, over 4 tonnes of clothing has been collected and donated to charity. During the annual in-suite fire inspection, city of Toronto organic containers were distributed to every suite and instructions on how to use organic disposal were included inside the containers.

In Suite Waste Separation Kitchen Sink Recycle & Organic Bins Inexpensive Bag Hangar for reduced Waste Waste is separated in each suite for easy disposal down the chute

Select Organics Button Organics Compartment Select Organics Button No diverter movement Organic Button lights All Floors - Door Unlocks quickly Organic access only All floors - Waste/Recycle buttons lock-out When Last Door Closes System ready for use -NO Flashing Light delay

Organics System Layout

Recyclables Selection RECYCLE BUTTON FLASHES WHEN PRESSED SELECT RECYCLE BUTTON Recycle Button lights All floors - Diverter moves (few seconds!) - Door Unlocks – use thumb latch Recycling access only All floors Organics/Waste buttons lock-out When Last Door Closes Ready for next selection FLASHING LIGHT DOORS LOCKED OUT

Dry Recyclables Bin

FLASHING LIGHT GOES OUT Waste Compactor FLASHING LIGHT GOES OUT SELECT WASTE BUTTON Waste Button lights All floors - Diverter plate moves - Door Unlocks – use thumb latch Waste access only - All floors Organics/Recycle buttons lock-out When Last Door Closes Ready for next selection FLASHING LIGHT = DOORS LOCKED OUT

Waste Compacted into bin

Issues with Waste Minimization New Building Many other building concerns are given preference Performance Audit Deficiency recovery Negotiations with Builder Waste Removal Costs were not a high priority during 1st year budget As the building is relatively new, there are a lot of issues that are currently being dealt with such as budgets, the performance audit and ongoing negotiations with the builder. That being said, the focus on waste minimization strategies has certainly not been given the attention that is needed. Each disposal room is fitted with both an instruction sheet, informing residents on how to use the chute and the 3 tri sorter buttons. There is also a City of Toronto recycling guide in each room. The garbage chute is programmed to operate from 8:00 AM – 10:00 PM. Oversize garbage, cardboard, pizza boxes etc. can be taken down to a separate recycle room, located in the loading bay of the building.

Waste by the Numbers Prior to Registration, private waste removal in place Up to 65 Garbage Bins collected each month Cost of almost $3000 per month Monthly contract in place for a set amount of bins An extra fee ($36) applied to each additional bin Minimal Recycling in place– not a high priority Before registration, the building had a 95% occupancy rate and recycling and organic had not yet been set up. Moreover, City of Toronto garbage pick-up was as yet unavailable, so 100% of pick up was private and charged for. The cost for additional waste to be collected through extra lift charges was approximately $1250.00 per month on top of the monthly waste removal fee. Prior to registration and the implementation of recycling, up to 65 bins were picked up per month. This number was higher than normal due to not all of the bins being compactable.

After Registration Switch to City of Toronto waste removal services Implementation of Recycling, and then later, Organic waste collection Substantial reduction in the number of garbage bins picked up – from 65 to 15 Significant increase in the amount of Recycled and Organic waste collected free of charge Since registration and the implementation of organic and recycling collection, the number of garbage bins collected each month has fallen drastically to between 10 – 15 bins per month and recycling is roughly 22-24 bins per month. Organic waste is made up of twin bins that connect together and average 8-10 twin bins equaling 4-5 pick ups per month. Since the implementation of recycling and organic waste into “the system” waste removal costs have gone from almost $3000.00 per month using private pick up to less than $1500.00 per month using the City of Toronto.

Getting the System On-line Garbage Chute manufacturer contacted to reprogram tri-sorter to provide recycling Purchase of Organic “Twin Bins” Contact made with the City of Toronto to add Encore to their organic and recycle collection Conversion of several compactable bins to non-compactable recycle bins – no fee charged for non-compactable bin

Chute Tri Sorter Corner Layout and “Twin Bin”

Implementation of “The System” Organic under-the-sink bins distributed to all units during in-suite fire inspection Signs posted in each Disposal Room Notices posted on Recycle Room Door Information brochures posted in Mail Room and Elevator Notice Boards City of Toronto Blue Bags distributed to all suites

Why Encore? Brand New Building with all the tools to succeed Currently still incurring large waste removal fees More focus to be given towards waste minimization strategies Attitudes and lifestyle habits likely need to change Waste collection needs to be reduced a further 50% to avoid the city’s garbage levy and to achieve the 70% waste diversion goal You are probably wondering why a building that is brand new and has all the tools to minimize waste is participating in this panel discussion. The truth of the matter is that although the tools are there, the residents of Encore still have a long way to go in reducing garbage and minimizing their waste disposal and increasing the amount of recycling and organic. For many, this will involve changing lifestyle habits. To reduce the $1500.00 per month cost of removing waste, approximately ½ of all garbage bins currently being collected need to be diverted to recycling or organic pick up.