SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Residents may see further changes to curbside garbage pickup next year if city council approves a proposal for installing a program of alternating weeks of trash and organic waste removal, as presented at Tuesday's solid waste management public forum.
Rebecca Alty, chair of the city's solid waste management committee, said this would mean residents in single family dwellings would put household trash to the curb one week, and organic waste the next. Alty said the proposed plan is based on Whitehorse, Yukon's current collection model, which has proven successful in reducing waste and improving waste diversion.
"There's a large portion of garbage that's compostable," said Alty, who pointed out that the idea to expand the city's composting project for residential curbside pickup was introduced based on findings in Ecology North's report on its centralized composting pilot project at the dump, which were presented at the public forum by Kim Rapati.
According to the report, 765 tonnes of organic material, including food waste, garden waste, shredded paper and wood chips, were diverted from the landfill and recycled into grade "A" compost. Rapati estimated that $144,000 in costs to the city was saved by diverting compostable waste during the pilot project. She also said the soil generated from composting was sold to the public, generating $7,000 in revenue for the city.
The solid waste committee understands residential curbside collection presents a different set of challenges, said Alty. Therefore, it will propose that it be phased in gradually, beginning with a small scale pilot project. Apartment and commercial buildings will not be included in the proposals.
"There are some challenges in the North, that we learned about in the (compost) pilot project," said Alty.
"I think we want to go with a phased-in approach for residential, because there will be different concerns that we see with residential."
The city has already approved $750,000 for the expansion of its composting facilities at the city's landfill, and will commence work on it this summer. It is hoped that the expanded facility will allow for a greater amount of compostable waste to be accommodated at the dump, in the event that the proposal for a curbside pickup pilot project is approved by council.
The question remains as to how the program will be funded. The monthly solid waste levy was raised by $2 to $16.50 this past January. However, Alty believes that since there will not be additional garbage pickup, the levy should remain the same.
"Technically, you shouldn't see an increase because we're not increasing the service. It's just that you're going to get your garbage one week and your compost the next."
Alty said the proposed change would require residents to have an extra container, although it has not yet been determined how those bins will be paid for. She explained that the committee is currently studying business models from cities that already have successful composting programs.
One of the options the committee is exploring would see the city pay for the bins. "In a lot of cities what they've done, is the city buys all the compost, and garbage, and recycling bins, and then they are tied to the property," said Alty.
Mayor Mark Heyck said any money left from the $750,000 approved for the facility could go towards purchasing the bins.
Residents are currently allowed two 77-litre bags of trash at the curb per week, and must pay an extra $1 for each additional bag. The limit was reduced from three bags on Jan. 1, 2012.
The committee doesn't plan to propose a curbside recycling program, said Alty.
As it stands, the compost pick-up plan still needs to be presented to council, and there needs to be further public consultation.
However, Alty believes that if the program is implemented, it can make a huge difference.
"It currently takes up 20 per cent of what's in the landfill," she said, referring to organic waste. "So just getting curbside pickup would be substantial."
Heyck said he is not certain when the proposal will go before council but hopes that a curbside collection project will be in place at some point in 2014.
"As part of the process of easing curbside collection of compostables into the city, we would want to undertake a lot of public consultation," said Heyck.
