Waste from more than a million toilets flows out of giant sewage pipes, creating a swirling stinky river that has to be processed at the Annacis Island Wastewater Treatment Plant which serves a large section of Metro Vancouver.
It’s just one of many facilities across Canada and around the world seeing an uptick in discarded masks, gloves and wet wipes being flushed down the toilet and causing treatment problems since the advent of COVID-19.
“It looks like we saw a few masks going up,” said plant supervisor Dave Hoffman, as he pointed to a giant metal mechanical screen that separates items that don’t biodegrade from the usual sludgy mass of poop and toilet paper.
Personal protective equipment (PPE) and other items that don’t biodegrade are dried before ending up in a large waste pile nearby. At this point, they’re matted into a putrid, grey mass, but a few medical gloves and items such as condoms stand out.
It’s a problem that’s drawn the attention of researchers at the University of British Columbia who are at work on creating a protective mask that biodegrades or can be recycled.
“Whether they’re wipes, whether they’re masks, whether they’re rubber gloves, all of those things can’t be treated in the sewage system and, in fact, damage our equipment,” said Jerry Dobrovolny, chief administrative officer for Metro Vancouver.
He says there’s been an uptick in this type of waste since the outbreak of the pandemic, but it hasn’t been quantified.
Some of the non-biodegradable garbage filtered out of sewage waste is set aside to be dried and trucked to landfills. (Dillon Hodgin/CBC)
This adds to the problem highlighted by the infamous fatbergs — wet wipes and kitchen fats clogging up sewage systems around the world after so-called “flushable wipes” surged in popularity.
COVID-19-related personal protective equipment (PPE) is adding to the problem, because even a small percentage of improperly disposed of items can clog pumps, pipes and other infrastructure.
Dobrovolny said colleagues across Canada who run sewer and solid waste systems are seeing a similar rise in improperly disposed of PPE, and taxpayers end up footing the bill.
“What we’re finding now with COVID is that those numbers are increasing. Across the country, it can total over $250 million a year in increased maintenance costs,” said Dobrovolny.
Masks made from plastic fibre
Metro Vancouver is putting new emphasis on an existing campaign to encourage people to be careful what they send into the sewer system. He reminds homeowners that they, too, can face personal costs if their home sewer system gets clogged.
Disposable masks, for instance, may feel like soft cotton, but they’re almost all made from non-biodegradable material such as polypropylene.
In addition to people flushing them down the toilet, cities are seeing personal protective equipment discarded on the street. A spokesperson for the city of Vancouver says that’s raising concerns for crews who have to deal with the waste.
Also, something dropped on the street can then get flushed into storm drains, many of which empty straight into streams or the ocean.
CBC reporter Greg Rasmussen looks at a pile of dried non-biodegradable waste filtered out of sewage at the Annacis Island Wastewater Treatment Plant in Greater Vancouver. (CBC Dillon Hodgin)
Richard Thompson, a professor of marine biology at the University of Plymouth in the United Kingdom, says society needs to understand and deal with what happens to all disposable items after they’re used.
“The persistence of litter is incredibly long-lasting — hundreds if not thousands of years — and that’s why it’s really important that that end-of-life phase is fully thought out,” he said.
And he notes that this new waste stream is adding to the already serious problem of microplastics, the tiny pieces of debris now found in every ocean.
A fatberg covers an 1852-built sewer at Westminster in London in 2017. (Frank Augstein/The Associated Press)
“The sea is sort of downhill from everywhere, and so there’s a tendency for materials to accumulate there carried by rivers or carried by wind.”
Racing to make eco-friendly masks
At a research lab at the University of British Columbia, a group of scientists saw the problem and decided they could put a dent in the growing waste pile.
They recently formed an ad hoc team to come up with less-damaging mask.
“This is all paper — all wood fibre,” said Orlando Rojas, a professor at UBC’s Bioproducts Institute, pointing to an array of materials and mask prototypes on a workbench.
Professor Orlando Rojas of UBC’s Bioproducts Institute shows off a paper-based biodegradable mask prototype. (Dillon Hodgin/CBC)
Canada has a long history of making paper products, and he’s confident once the right formula is found, millions of eco-friendly masks and other protective gear can be produced at low cost.
“People are very conscious about sustainability, so this flies really high in people’s minds. If we match that interest with the performance of wood fibre, we likely have a winner here,” Rojas said.
It would also help reduce dependency on foreign suppliers, a huge ongoing problem, as demand for PPE far exceeds supply.
The key is creating a soft, durable paper product that can still filter out viruses.
WATCH | PPEs create a waste problem, but Canadian scientists are working on a solution:
All those disposable gloves, masks and wipes that people are using to protect themselves against COVID-19 are creating a waste problem, but scientists are working on a made-in-Canada solution. 2:04
Rojas said many of the initial technical hurdles have already been solved, and talks are underway with manufacturers.
It could be a long-term proposition, with people all around the world now wearing face masks and concern growing over their impact on the environment.
A made-in Canada-solution, with the potential for local manufacturing would also help ensure the country isn’t caught short again when it comes to supplies of crucial equipment needed to fight the pandemic, said Rojas.
OTTAWA – The New Democrats confirmed Thursday they won’t help Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives topple the government next week, and intend to join the Bloc Québécois in blocking the Tories’ non-confidence motion.
The planned votes from the Bloc and the New Democrats eliminate the possibility of a snap election, buying the Liberals more time to govern after a raucous start to the fall sitting of Parliament.
Poilievre issued a challenge to NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh earlier this week when he announced he will put forward a motion that simply states that the House has no confidence in the government or the prime minister.
If it were to pass, it would likely mean Canadians would be heading to the polls, but Singh said Thursday he’s not going to let Poilievre tell him what to do.
Voting against the Conservative motion doesn’t mean the NDP support the Liberals, said Singh, who pulled out of his political pact with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau a few weeks ago.
“I stand by my words, Trudeau has let you down,” Singh said in the foyer outside of the House of Commons Thursday.
“Trudeau has let you down and does not deserve another chance.”
Canadians will have to make that choice at the ballot box, Singh said, but he will make a decision about whether to help trigger that election on a vote-by-vote basis in the House.
The Conservatives mocked the NDP during Question Period for saying they had “ripped up” the deal to support the Liberals, despite plans to vote to keep them in power.
Poilievre accused Singh of pretending to pull out of the deal to sway voters in a federal byelection in Winnipeg, where the NDP was defending its long-held seat against the Conservatives.
“Once the votes were counted, he betrayed them again. He’s a fake, a phoney and fraud. How can anyone ever believe what the sellout NDP leader says in the future?” Poilievre said during Question Period Thursday afternoon.
At some point after those comments, Singh stepped out from behind his desk in the House and a two-minute shouting match ensued between the two leaders and their MPs before the Speaker intervened.
Outside the House, Poilievre said he plans to put forward another non-confidence motion at the next opportunity.
“We want a carbon-tax election as soon as possible, so that we can axe Trudeau’s tax before he quadruples it to 61 cents a litre,” he said.
Liberal House leader Karina Gould says there is much work the government still needs to do, and that Singh has realized the consequences of potentially bringing down the government. She refused to take questions about whether her government will negotiate with opposition parties to ensure their support in future confidence motions.
Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet hasn’t ruled out voting no-confidence in the government the next time a motion is tabled.
“I never support Liberals. Help me God, I go against the Conservatives on a vote that is only about Pierre Poilievre and his huge ambition for himself,” Blanchet said Thursday.
“I support the interests of Quebecers, if those interests are also good for Canadians.”
A Bloc bill to increase pension cheques for seniors aged 65 to 74 is now at “the very centre of the survival of this government,” he said.
The Bloc needs a recommendation from a government minister to OK the cost and get the bill through the House.
The Bloc also wants to see more protections for supply management in the food sector in Canada and Quebec.
If the Liberals can’t deliver on those two things, they will fall, Blanchet said.
“This is what we call power,” he said.
Treasury Board President Anita Anand wouldn’t say whether the government would be willing to swallow the financial implications of the Bloc’s demands.
“We are focused at Treasury Board on ensuring prudent fiscal management,” she said Thursday.
“And at this time, our immediate focus is implementing the measures in budget 2024 that were announced earlier this year.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
OTTAWA – Treasury Board President Anita Anand has been sworn in as federal transport minister at a ceremony at Rideau Hall, taking over a portfolio left vacant after Pablo Rodriguez resigned from cabinet and the Liberal caucus on Thursday.
Anand thanked Rodriguez for his contributions to the government and the country, saying she’s grateful for his guidance and friendship.
She sidestepped a question about the message it sends to have him leave the federal Liberal fold.
“That is a decision that he made independently, and I wish him well,” she said.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was not present for the swearing-in ceremony, nor were any other members of the Liberal government.
The shakeup in cabinet comes just days after the Liberals lost a key seat in a Montreal byelection to the Bloc Québécois and amid renewed calls for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to step down and make way for a new leader.
Anand said she is not actively seeking leadership of the party, saying she is focused on her roles as minister and as MP.
“My view is that we are a team, and we are a team that has to keep delivering for our country,” she said.
The minority Liberal government is in a more challenging position in the House of Commons after the NDP ended a supply-and-confidence deal that provided parliamentary stability for more than two years.
Non-confidence votes are guaranteed to come from the Opposition Conservatives, who are eager to bring the government down.
On Thursday morning, Rodriguez made a symbolic walk over the Alexandra Bridge from Parliament Hill to Gatineau, Que., where he formally announced his plans to run for the Quebec Liberal party leadership.
He said he will now sit as an Independent member of Parliament, which will allow him to focus on his own priorities.
“I was defending the priorities of the government, and I did it in a very loyal way,” he said.
“It’s normal and it’s what I had to do. But now it’s more about my vision, the vision of the team that I’m building.”
Rodriguez said he will stay on as an MP until the Quebec Liberal leadership campaign officially launches in January.
He said that will “avoid a costly byelection a few weeks, or months, before a general election.”
The next federal election must be held by October 2025.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said he will try to topple the government sooner than that, beginning with a non-confidence motion that is set to be debated Sept. 24 and voted on Sept. 25.
Poilievre has called on the NDP and the Bloc Québécois to support him, but both Jagmeet Singh and Yves-François Blanchet have said they will not support the Conservatives.
Rodriguez said he doesn’t want a federal election right away and will vote against the non-confidence motion.
As for how he would vote on other matters before the House of Commons, “it would depend on the votes.”
Public Services and Procurement Minister Jean-Yves Duclos will become the government’s new Quebec lieutenant, a non-cabinet role Rodriguez held since 2019.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
— With files from Nojoud Al Mallees and Dylan Robertson
