With a goal of 80 per cent waste diversion by 2020 in sight, the Town of Cochrane wrapped up its final two public engagement sessions last week on the issues of organic waste composting (a possible green bin program) and multi-family recycling (not yet available in Cochrane) becoming services provided by the Town.
The town has hosted four public engagement sessions on these issues over the last two months.
“The intention was to gain perspective about how citizens feel about organic waste diversion,” said Sharon Howland, waste and recycling manager with the Town of Cochrane.
Howland explained that over 50 per cent of municipal waste is made up of organic matter (food and yard waste), which creates methane gas and toxic leaching in landfills, as well as takes up a vast amount of site space.
“We will be going to present to council later this year about citizen engagement and will have some recommendations,” she said, adding that the engagements enticed a variety of responses. “Over the past two years, since the launch of Roll With It (Cochrane’s automated waste and recycling collection program), 2.8 million kilograms of newspaper, mixed paper, tin cans, cardboard and plastic have been recycled at the curb - and in the alleys,” said Howland.
This figure means that, combined with the recycling collected at the Cochrane Eco Centre (recycling depot), Cochranites have doubled their recycling in the last two years.
One of Howland’s concerns at this point is the low attendance at the public engagement sessions – which were advertised extensively by the Town of Cochrane. This concern was shared by Cochranite, Barb Veillette, who attended two of the public engagement sessions. Veillette lives with her husband, Yves, in a condominium in Sunset Ridge.
“Right now we don’t have the recycling in our building. We do recycle, but I think if it was made easier for them, more people would,” said Veillette, who is concerned about the amount of recyclables she sees tossed out with the trash.
Veillette recently began composting organic waste, using a re-sealable counter bin with compostable bags that go inside; she said her system works well and is not time-consuming.
She added that it’s key for families living in multi-family residences to get kids excited and involved with composting and recycling.
Cochranite Shawna McNeil also attended two of the recent public engagement sessions. The mother of one said she and her family live in a condo in Heritage Place (near downtown Cochrane) and is anxious to see both organic waste composting and recycling options be made available to multi-family dwellings in the near future.
“I think what they’re doing (the Town) is fantastic,” said McNeil, adding that she feels she and her family are not recycling and composting to their full potential due to the current system (or lack thereof).
The current cost of the Roll With It program is $18.60 per month per household; it is too preliminary to speculate the future costs of a possible green cart program in Cochrane. The launch of the Green Cart pilot project in Calgary has been highly successful.
The City of Calgary has extended their 2012-13 pilot project, which provides green cart recycling (organic waste) to four communities in Calgary: Abbeydale, Brentwood, Cougar Ridge and Southwood. These communities will continue with the program until the city launches a citywide green cart composting program, slated in conjunction with the opening of a large-scale indoor/outdoor composting facility in 2017.
“Overall, we saw a 40 per cent reduction in garbage in those communities,” explained Philippa Wagner, leader of program management in waste and recycling services for the city of Calgary.
Garbage pick-up has switched to bi-weekly instead of weekly in the four communities.
“We’ve also seen overwhelming support from those communities, where 91 per cent supported a city-wide (green cart) program and 89 per cent were personally satisfied with the program.”
Wagner said that so far, 97 per cent of the materials put into the green carts have been suitable; this three per cent contamination has contributed to the program’s success.
The City of Calgary is currently in the middle of pooling data collected over the last 12-18 months to present multi-family recycling options to council.
Howland stressed that she hopes Cochranites will take the time to bring their fall pumpkins, bagged leaves and grass trimmings (no soil) to the Eco-Centre for recycling. This is a free service offered by the town, which seeks to significantly reduce landfill waste and runs until Nov. 16. People can bring their organic waste to the Eco-Centre for composting at no charge.
