Encore Condos at The Met

TSCC 197925 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

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

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

Recycle & Organic Bins

Waste is separated in each suite for easy disposal down the chute

Inexpensive Bag Hangar for reduced Waste

Kitchen Sink

In Suite Waste Separation

Organics CompartmentSelect 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

FLASHING LIGHT

DOORS LOCKED OUT

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

Dry Recyclables Bin

Waste CompactorFLASHING 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

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

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

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 SorterCorner 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