Making it easier and safer to recycle in Metro Vancouver

Metro Vancouver has ambitious waste reduction and diversion goals and is interested in how they can most efficiently and effectively design and plan their recycling depots to accommodate a growing population, future expansion of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) , increase in vehicle and pedestrian traffic, and customer safety. Through this project, Metro Vancouver was seeking to make numerous developments:

• Reduce queues and vehicle congestion
• Increase efficiency of collection services
• Assess potential human/vehicle conflict locations and identify contributing factors which can be mitigated through new layouts and movement procedures.
• Understand implications of adding new services or product stewardship programs to their recycling depots.

Metro Vancouver is also committed to increasing access to EPR and recycling depots throughout the region with a goal to provide access within a 30-minute drivetime to the closest recycling facility. 

An initial study was undertaken at the North Shore recycling depot to provide Metro Vancouver with an understanding of vehicle and pedestrian movement.

We used video footage to develop a simulation-based analysis of the recycling depot, including user experience (processing times, delays experienced) and facility operations (queue lengths, utilization rates, impact of different designs, procedures, etc.). Behaviour models were produced for users and attendants.

Design criteria was informed by findings and was used in the re-design of the North Shore depot and develop conceptual layout designs and cost estimates for the future Langley and North Surrey Recycling Depots. This also included considerations upon best practices, such as site flexibility and one-way traffic flow, to ensure the most efficient, effective and safe layouts.

In the EPR Accessibility Evaluation, we produced a heat map of EPR and recycling depot locations for select materials to visually display drivetimes, and areas over 30 minutes. We compared current EPR accessibility parameters to evaluate the differences in drivetime and distance boundaries to note any findings to be considered in service standard updates.

The microsimulations allowed Metro Vancouver to make informed re-design decisions about their North Shore recycling depot, as well as future recycling depot conceptual designs. The implemented measures may reduce queues and vehicle congestion, make it easier, more efficient and safer to recycle, increase the number of material types which can be accepted for recycling, and future proof to add new product stewardship programs to the recycling depot.

The accessibility evaluation provided Metro Vancouver with an idea of current service levels for commonly recycled materials within the region and provided them with information that may be useful in the future when defining accessibility service level standard criteria.

Overall, the findings provide Metro Vancouver with information to support future decision making with the goal to increase recycling accessibility, convenience and capacity, to increase program participation and waste diversion. This contributes to Metro Vancouver’s target of achieving zero-waste by 2040 in support of building a circular economy.