With the warmer weather upon us, the Ottawa Valley Waste Recovery Centre is reminding us of what goes where with regards to garbage and recycling. Residents of Petawawa, Pembroke, Laurentian Valley and North Algona Wilberforce can search 100’s of items on-line to see if something can be recycled, composted, reused or disposed of. Currently, the top five searched items are Styrofoam, plastic bags, furniture, corrugated cardboard and milk cartons.
The on-line search tool was launched in 2019 and since then over 12,000 users have searched for almost 20,000 items. Sue McCrae, OVWRC General Manager explains why this tool has been a valuable part of the Centre’s education program. “It’s important to make sure residents have all the information they need to participate in the local waste management programs. Residents can enter everything from aerosol cans to yarn and the search tool will explain how to properly dispose of those materials.
Elizabeth Graham, Communications Officer at the Ottawa Valley Waste Recovery Centre reviews the data provided by the search tool and is pleased to see the searches are reflective of current waste management programming. “In December, wrapping paper was in the top 10 searched items and recently, with the launch of the new light bulb recycling program, LED bulb was in the top 10. That shows us that people are using the tool for seasonal items and to access new program information which is very important to the overall success of our waste management programs”.
Laurentian Valley Mayor Steve Bennett, who is Chair of the Ottawa Valley Waste Management Board, is pleased that a digital method for residents to receive information on recycling is proving to be popular. “It’s great to see the Centre providing residents with an easy-to-use on-line search tool. It allows residents to find out the right information quickly and easily so they can make sure they are sorting their waste correctly.”
The search tool is designed and built by technology company ReCollect and similar search tools are in use across North America. The What Goes Where search tool can be accessed from www.ovwrc.com under the What Goes Where tab. It can be accessed both on desktop and mobile devices. For those not able to access the search tool on-line, a printed waste sorting guide is available with the 2023/2024 collection schedules which were distributed in March.
(Written by: Kyle Robinson)