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By Victor Kaisar

Green Bins in Kamloops

Kamloops proposing to roll out curbside organics program to multi-family buildings by 2028

Sep 17, 2025 | 3:38 PM

KAMLOOPS — The City of Kamloops is working on a phased approach to expand its curbside organics collection program to multi-family buildings by the spring of 2028.

The first phase of its proposed plan will be to gather information as city staff work to evaluate “several key aspects of a multi-family collection program.”

Those key aspects include things like an inventory of multi-family buildings in the city as well as technical aspects like cart sizes and styles and the frequency of pickup.

“[The feasibility study] will look at things like where the containers are placed at the curb and where that product going to be housed and controlled so it’s aligned with all of our bear-aware initiatives, as well,” Glen Farrow, the city’s Civic Operations Business Manager told CFJC Today.

“Also, are we working directly with property managers rather than each individual unit? There are lots of things that need to be worked through.”

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Farrow said the city will also aim to quantify the costs of expanding its curbside organics program and as well as the expected environmental impacts.

“The feasibility study will present a recommended approach for a multi-family organics collection program, outlining the financial and operational benefits and challenges associated with such a program,” a report going before the Sept. 18 Livability and Sustainability Select Committee meeting said.

“This will enable Council to make an informed decision on next steps [in the spring next year] whether that involves launching a pilot program or discontinuing the concept.”

If the feasibility study yields favourable results, the city is expected to implement a pilot program at several apartments, condos and townhouses “to assess waste diversion rates and participation rates.”

That pilot is expected to run from the spring of 2026 until the spring of 2027, and the city says there will be ongoing engagement with participants so they can provide feedback.

“The feasibility study findings will inform the design of the pilot program, including the collection method and frequency, size and style of bins, processing and transferring, material acceptance and budget,” the report said.

“Data collection throughout the pilot will allow staff to assess the program and inform the design for full implementation.”

If the pilot is successful — and if council greenlights the initiative in the summer of 2027 — the curbside organics collection program will then expand to all multi-family properties in Kamloops.

“The design and implementation of this phase will be based on the findings from the first two phases,” the report stated.

In July 2023, the city rolled out a curbside organic waste collection program at 27,000 homes that have curbside garbage and recycling collection. In the report, staff say that program has resulted in a nearly 40 per cent reduction in residential garbage collection compared to pre-pilot levels in 2021.

It also helped divert over 5,600 tonnes of organics through collection in 2024, the report added.

“We’ve seen great success with that, so really the next step is to look more broadly across the community and at those properties that do not have collection of organics,” Farrow said.

“We have to do a bit of a deeper dive into the multi-family sector.”

At the time, Farrow also said more work was needed before multi-family buildings could be added to the curbside organics program, citing issues like higher contamination and other logistical challenges like the need for more bins.

Project costs

According to the city, the first phase of work will require approximately 300 hours of staff time and cost about $60,000 in advertising. Costs for the second and third phases will be released next spring.

“Staff identified potential funding through the Clean BC Organics Infrastructure and Collection Program for 2025/2026 and 2026/2027 fiscal years,” the report said, noting the city got similar funding to introduce its curbside organics program in 2023.

“The grant is a cost-sharing program that funds eligible project costs, including professional services, collection containers and promotional materials. The funding requires a council resolution that commits to funding one-third of eligible costs.”

According to the report, the capital and operational cost increases that will be incurred in phase three of the plan may include the addition one of truck as well as increased processing costs along with ongoing communications and engagement work.

“The first step [of our plan] is getting that feasibility step out of the way and then really there will be other opportunities to re-engage and go back to council to get a clear decision on where they ultimately want this to go,” Farrow added.

“Steps could be skipped but at this point, we’re just looking to have that charted out to go through those three phases in the coming years.”