Image Credit: PIXBAY

Kamloops city council has decided to move ahead with a community-wide organic waste curbside program which residents could see in three years’ time at a total cost of $5.7 million.

Currently, the City is in the planning stages of the community-wide organic waste curbside pickup program. At a council meeting, Nov 24, councillors gave the green light for City staff to continue conducting program plans and to pursue grant funding to offset the cost of the $5.7 million project.

“It was an extensive discussion… There was a lot of discussion about curbside pickup. There was a lot of discussion about multi-family. There was lot of discussion about the issue of residuals and where we would have a transfer station, who would be the ultimate disposal about the ultimate contractor, a lot of discussion in and around grant funding, so it was fairly extensive,” Mayor Ken Christian said.

Phase one includes public consultation and garbage collection route audits. The second phase would act as a test for the project and the final phase would be community-wide implementation. The City is currently in phase one, according to a report which was presented to council.

The information gathering first phase could be completed by June 2021, with testing in the second phase completed by August 2022 and the final stage of community-wide implementation could be seen in July 2023.

Organic waste collection programs can include a wide array of household waste. The following items are what is recommend be included in the Kamloops collection program: fruits and vegetables, grains, breads, and pasta, meats, fish, and poultry, including shells and bones, coffee grounds and tea bags, soups and sauces, solid and semi-solid dairy, soiled paper, waxed paper and boxes, small amounts of garden waste, fruit and yard waste.

The estimated cost for all three phases of the proposed program is $5.7 million, with most of the costs for city-wide organic collection occurring in the final stage. The approximate cost of the program includes capital expenditures of $3.6 million, ongoing program costs of $1.7 million, and $0.4 million for staff time and public engagement, according to the report.

An organic waste business is currently operating in the City using a subscriber based system. The City of Salmon Arm also has a food waste and yard waste pickup program in place.

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