Giant garbage bins coming this fall
Homeowners to get new city-supplied trash containers in first phase of curbside compost program
Cody Punter
Northern News Services
Published Friday, April 25 2014
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
The city will be distributing new heavy duty garbage bins to single-family homes by the end of September in the first phase of a five-year, $2.7-million curbside composting program.
Pete Houweling, superintendent of the solid waste facility, shows off the city's new 240-litre garbage bins. Every single-family home will be getting one of the new bins this fall as the city rolls out the first year of its $2.7-million curbside composting program. - Cody Punter/NNSL photo |
"The composting program will help us reduce what's going into our landfill," stated Mark Heyck in a news release issued yesterday.
"The program will increase the rate of waste diversion, reduce the overall cost of solid waste management, and make the solid waste facility a safer place for workers and residents."
The 240-litre black garbage bins, which were unveiled at a public forum on solid waste held Wednesday night, are intended to be used in tandem with smaller 120-litre green organic waste bins, with organic waste and garbage being collected in alternating weeks.
Only one neighbourhood will receive the green bins this fall, meaning that most single-family homes will continue to have their garbage picked up every week in the short term.
Pete Houweling, superintendent of the solid waste facility, said city council will decide which neighbourhood to select for the pilot program at a later date, with subsequent neighbourhoods added to it every year for the next four years.
"We don't want to bite off more than we can chew," he said.
The city has allocated $510,000 to purchase the bins in this year's budget and will require additional funding to buy the green bins for each neighbourhood in following years.
Houweling pointed out that with the new system, residents will actually be able to have more waste collected every month, as the green and black bins provide for a combined total of 720 litres of waste every four weeks, while homes currently have a weekly garbage limit of 616 litres (two 77-litre bags per week) every four weeks.
"There's less garbage, but we've created a solution to increase the volume with a positive outcome," he said, adding approximately 26 per cent of the city's trash is composed of organic material.
Houweling said the new bins have a cache at the bottom to allow liquids to drain and prevent garbage from freezing, while their heavy
lids will make them less prone to being compromised by ravens and foxes.
Residents will be asked to use the black bins beginning this fall, although neighbourhoods without compost bins will be expected to continue adhering to the two-bag rule.
"Technically, we still have a two-bag limit in place, but the receptacle is there," said Houweling.
Once the compost bins are phased in, the city will likely change its bylaws to reflect the new bins.
Although he did not know exactly how the bylaw would be worded, Houweling said it would likely state that the lids on the bins would have to be able to close to ensure people aren't going over their limit.
Kavanaugh Bros Ltd. will be buying a new truck with an automated arm that will allow drivers to dump the bins without the need for a person to physically lift the bins into the truck.
John Oldfield, president of Kavanaugh Bros, said modernizing the city's garbage collection services will help make it easier for employees to do their job.
"It's the hardest truck to staff because truck drivers want to be truck drivers and labourers want to be labourers," said John Oldfield, adding the company will be covering the cost of the new truck.
The city has diverted a total of 898-metric tonnes of waste since it began its composting pilot project in 2009.
It is estimated that this has saved the city $159,800. Another $6,287 in revenue has been generated by the sale of soil, which is created by recycling organic material at the dump.
Houweling added the city will look at phasing in a composting program for multi-family dwellings as the final years of the current composting program are implemented.
