10.2190/5ATC-LKEV-87JH-QMTT 5ATCLKEV87JHQMTT 5 The Waste Diversion Potential of Backyard Composting 257 267 20020509 20020509 20020509 20020509 5ATCLKEV87JHQMTT.pdf http://baywood.metapress.com/link.asp?target=contribution&id=5ATCLKEV87JHQMTT 3 Robert J. P. Gale University of Toronto, Canada The amount of waste diverted from curbside pick-up through home composting was determined for a sample population in the Regional Municipality of Hamilton-Wentworth, Ontario. Over the study period, 1,322 grams per household per day of organic waste was transferred to a manufactured home composting unit. Of this, 523 g/h/d was kitchen waste, 244 g/h/d grass waste, and 555 g/h/d yard waste. Previous composters transfer more kitchen and yard waste than do new composters. An estimate of the annual amount of waste diverted from municipal curbside pick-up to the composter can be derived from these data. By allowing for seasonal changes in the waste stream and the different proportions of previous and new composters, the annual household diversion is calculated to be 219 kilograms. New composters divert 279 kg, previous composters 97 kg. Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto, Department of Works, <i>SWEAP NEWS</i>, (Solid Waste Environmental Assessment Plan), No. 18, p. 3, January 1990. M. M. Dillon Limited and Cal Recovery Systems Incorporated, <i>Composting: A Literature Study</i>, A report prepared for the Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Toronto, Ontario, 1990. Gore and Storie Limited, <i>Residential Waste Composition Study</i>, Volume 1 of the Ontario Waste Management Composition Study, A report prepared for the Waste Management Branch of the Ontario Ministry of the Environment, 1990. Compost Management Associates Ltd., <i>A Field Examination of the Cost-Effectiveness, Waste Diversion Potential, and Homeowner Acceptance of Three Different Backyard Composting Units</i>, A report prepared for the Works Department, Regional Municipality of Durham, Whitby, Ontario, 1990. V. W. Maclaren, <i>Metropolitan Toronto Home Composting Study</i>, A report prepared for the Metropolitan Works Department, The Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5G 1Y8, 1990.