Research Team

Jamie Baxter

Jamie Baxter is an Associate Professor in the Department of Geography at Western University in Ontario and he is the principal investigator for the project. He has been involved in studying community-based social construction of risk, and facility siting issues for over two decades. He has extensive experience with combining qualitative interview and quantitative survey methods on topics ranging from voluntary hazardous facility siting, and pesticide by-law preferences to landfill siting, environmental justice and more recently, community perceptions of waste-to-energy (energy-from-waste) facilities and wind turbines.

Virginia Maclaren

Virginia Maclaren is an Associate Professor in the Department of Geography at the University of Toronto and has been involved in several international waste studies in Southeast Asia and local studies in Ontario. Her research interests include NIMBYism and facility siting, extended producer responsibility, the informal waste sector, and recycling. She has a close understanding of Ontario waste issues and sits on the Board of Directors of Waste Diversion Ontario, the organization that is responsible for overseeing Extended Producer Responsibility programs in the province.

Yvonne Rollins

Yvonne Rollins is a Geography PhD candidate in the Environment and Sustainability program at Western. She brings to the project prior experience working for the Scottish Government on waste policy issues to meet European Union mandatory goals to divert waste from landfill. Specifically, she supported municipalities to develop plans to establish new waste to energy (WTE) infrastructure.

Yvonne Rollins' PhD thesis is Study 1.

Jason Bayne

Jason Bayne is a Geography Masters candidate in the Department of Geography at Western University. Jason is interested in examining waste diversion attitudes in and how they relate to Waste to Energy (WTE) in Ontario municipalities. This study will use a survey tool to understand how waste diversion attitudes have changed over time by comparing responses in 2015 with responses in 2014 after a WTE facility became operational. The goal of this research is to understand waste diversion attitudes and the possible policy implications the change in attitudes have for the future of waste disposal in Ontario. Jason’s study is further described in Study 2.

Carrie Warring

Carrie Warring is a Geography Masters candidate in the Environment, Development and Health stream at Western University. Carrie is interested in identifying the political and economic discourses involved in the decision-making about organic waste separation (e.g., greenbin programs) in Ontario municipalities. The proposed study will likely involve a combination of interviews and document analysis to will shed light on how residential organics disposal governance processes have evolved to produce current and potential future municipal policies. The study will also aim to understand key decision-makers’ perceptions of organic waste disposal as a resource for energy and the challenges of implementing such a system. Carrie's study is described further as Study 4.

Yvonne Ho

Yvonne Ho is in the fourth year of her undergraduate environmental science degree and is conducting a study as for her 4th year honours thesis

Yvonne Ho's thesis is Study 2. Yvonne has completed her thesis and moved on from the project

News

ReWaRP findings published in RCR Journal

People will divert less if they know their discards are going to an energy from waste facility. See the Publications secttion of the mobilize page to find a links to the article and to the paper. 08 April 2020See More

ReWaRP interviewed by CBC

The CBC interviewed Virginia Maclaren about diverting plastics and the use of waste-to-energy facilities. She cites our study findings and the Waste Management paper. See the mobilize page to find a links to the article and to the paper. 21 September 2018See More

Workshop presentation files posted The workshop was held last Thursday with 25 in-person participants and an additional 10 participating online via the webinar feed. We have posted the presentation files as pdf's, on the mobilize page 13 June 2016See More

Workshop/Webinar On June 9 we are hosting a workshop "Waste-to-Energy Policy and Perceptions Research Results" in Toronto. The goal is to bring together key stakeholders and share research findings for feedback and set an agenda for ongoing research and stakeholder interaction. Invitations have been sent out already. If you would like to participate and have not been sent an invite please email us: uwo.rewarp@gmail.com 19 May 2016See More

Study 2 first survey results published The data from waves 1 and 2 of the survey for study 2 will soon appear in the journal Waste Management 29 Feb 2016See More

Wave 3 of WtE survey mailed out A third wave of our survey has been mailed out to track longitudinal views on WtE, diversion and waste facilities. 13 Nov 2015See More

Researchers attend advisory committee meeting - On Sept. 30 Yvonne and Jennifer attended the Energy from Waste - Waste Management Advisory Committee (EFW-WMAC)to learn more about facility governance. 19 Oct 2014See More

Survey on waste-to-energy and diversion behaviours - This summer we sent out a postage-paid mail-back questionnaire to a random sample of residents living: i) near the Algonquin Power facility in Brampton, ii) near the Durham York Energy Centre, and iii) in Toronto. 15 Sept 2014See More

Solid Waste Management Partnerships Workshop - Virginia and Jamie participated in the Solid Waste Management Partnerships Workshop hosted by the Waterloo Institute for Sustainable Energy. 24 June 2014See More

Alltreat farms - The research team paid a visit to the Alltreat composting facility in Arthur Ontario. 8 October 2013See More

Yvonne Ho - joins the research team. She will be conducting a survey based study for her 4th year... 5 September 2013See More

Fieldtrips – Yvonne, Virginia and Jamie visit Toronto’s Greenbin facility and the Algonquin Power waste... 24 July 2013See More

Yvonne R. has begun fieldwork for her PhD – conducting face-to-face in-depth interview with waste policy stakeholders. 2 July 2013See More