AET has successfully conducted municipal single-family and multi-family waste composition audit studies for various jurisdictions across Ontario.

Single-family

With funding from Stewardship Ontario, detailed studies were carried-out on waste and recycling samples collected from 100 single-family homes in each municipality, four times over the course of a year. Participating municipalities included the Town of Blue Mountains, Simcoe County and the Regional Municipality of Muskoka. The sample households in each municipality were selected to ensure that all demographics were represented (i.e. rural, urban, income, seasonality, etc.). Four times over the course of the year (each season) all residual waste and recycling generated over a two week period was collected and audited for each household. The waste composition audits consisted of separating the samples into over 70 material categories, weighing each to the nearest 1/100 th of a kilogram. In addition to the waste composition audits, detailed data was collected on household set-out habits, including the number, size, fullness and types of containers and bags placed at the curb.

Multi-family

With funding from Stewardship Ontario, detailed studies were carried-out on waste and recycling samples collected from 10 multi-family buildings in each sample area, four times over the course of a year. Participating jurisdictions included Scarborough, North York, and the Region of Peel. Buildings were selected to ensure that the samples were representative of the demographics in the areas. Four times over the course of the year (each season) all residual waste and recycling generated over a one week period was collected for each building. The waste composition audits consisted of separating the samples into over 70 material categories, weighing each to the nearest 1/100 th of a kilogram.