Island Waste Management Corporation

The Island Waste Management Corporation was created May 29, 1999, constituted pursuant to section 18 of the Environmental Act R.S.P.E.I. 1988, Cap. E-9.

Waste Watch Program
Waste Watch is a mandatory program where residents, visitors and businesses must separate the waste they produce at the source, into the following three categories: marketable RECYCLABLE material, COMPOST, and WASTE.

Residents are provided with 240 Litre compost and waste carts which are collected curbside on a biweekly basis on alternating weeks. Recyclable material is collected monthly in blue bags. The commercial sector is responsible for transporting their sorted material to designated facilities.

Our program continues to expand to allow safe environmental practices when disposing of special items such as household hazardous waste, needles and sharps, medication, batteries, tires, used motor oil and tires.

Our Success Story
The Waste Watch system is working very well and produces some of the best waste diversion figures in North America. Since the start of the program, we have learned many lessons; mandatory source separation by the user is one of the main reasons the program is a success and it is the most cost effective and precise way to separate different waste streams. The residents of Prince Edward Island have proven that the goal to reduce waste going to landfills by 50% by the year 2000, which was set by the federal government, can be achieved as we were the first province in Canada to surpass this feat by diverting as high as 65% from landfill.

General Information
Waste Watch Participants (2009 numbers):
- 70,000 residential& apartment units
- 8,000 cottage units
- 10,000 businesses
- 1,000,000 annual visitors