Image Credit: CFJC Today

By Adam Donnelly

SOLID WASTE COLLECTION

Kamloops council approves city-wide organic waste collection

Aug 18, 2022 | 4:21 PM

KAMLOOPS — This week, the city council approved an organic waste collection program for all 27,000 residential homes in Kamloops that receive curbside garbage and recycling pick-up.

The decision comes after a year-long pilot program proved the effectiveness of organics waste collection at diverting significant volumes from the local landfill.

“If we look at the landfill, we’re talking about 30-to-40 per cent of all the product that’s going in there will be diverted. That’s generally what we’re seeing from waste composition studies,” Streets and Environmental Services Manager Glen Farrow tells CFJC Today. “Another key thing is through our pilot project, we saw about 80 per cent of people supporting this, and looking forward to full, community-wide rollout.”

There are several items the city needs to address before the program is rolled out in fall 2023. These include where the organic waste will be processed, as well as upgrading its fleet to ensure there’s no cross-contamination during waste pick-up and to accommodate continued growth in the city.

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“Between 300 and 500 homes each year are added to our collection route, so in order to ensure we’re collecting from every single home, every single week, we have put in requisitions for new equipment,” Farrow says.

As for the cost per household: “With the program, we’re looking at $12 annually or one dollar per month.”