Seguin is a small rural…

Seguin is a small rural community in Central Ontario, largely known as Cottage country.

Organic food wastes as does regular House hold waste increase significantly in summer months when cottagers come up from the city. Small municipalities barely can keep up with this volume, let alone manage the sortation and separation of organic matter from regular household waste. It is not realistic to expect this from a small rural municipality.

It is not economically practical to recycle organic wastes in the north, or outside of urban areas. There is not the infrastructure nor the budget to manage an organic recycling facility. The economy of scale only works in larger urban centers, where there is a higher population density. This is where the bulk of the organic waste is created.

The main hurdle is that organic waste attracts wild animals, and in remote rural areas , this includes bears. Bears are particularly fond of organic garbage from humans, so much so, that once they get the taste of it, they will forever be drawn to it. Ratepayers also find that bears are cute and adorable, and often leave them treats, so they can photograph them. This is very problematic, as the bears become emboldened, and lose their natural fear of humans. This causes a Public Safety issue. Townships are on their own in dealing with rouge bears, and must dispatch the animals on their own. The MNRF will not intervene anymore due to budget cuts, and the OPP do not want to be involved. Many officers have no training in how to dispatch wild animals.

If an organic recycling facility were placed in the northern rural areas, it becomes a food source for wild animals, and no matter what you do, they will always be there trying to get at the food.

Please consider these comments when creating organic waste policy.

Thank you

[Original Comment ID: 211358]