Calgary Launches Landfill Reduction Efforts with new Green Waste Bins

cbc.ca

In an attempt to reduce the amount of garbage that ends up in Calgary’s landfills by at least 50%, the city has distributed green bins to a portion of its homeowners for the safe and environmentally friendly disposal of organic food waste.

As workers make their rounds to each region of the city, they’ll have soon distributed the 320,000 green waste bins they sought to provide homeowners with, up from the current 80,000 that are already being used. The pilot program that preceded the waste management change cut the amount of garbage bin waste in half. All of Calgary will likely see the same result when all residents have green bins.

Part of the push to implement this new system was the steep cost to find, create, and run a new landfill space - up to $1.5 billion over the course of 25 years if Calgary’s current landfill reaches maximum capacity. The easiest way to divert waste from the landfill was to compost organic waste.

The food waste collection by the green bins will be sent to the city’s industrial composting factory, where in two months, it will become soil with the optimal amount of nutrition for growing plants. The large scale of this factory helps the city compost far more material than commercial composters can. Most of the resulting soil will be sold, but a small fraction of it will be kept for things like residential and community garden donations, something the city hopes to begin some time next year.

Nearly any type of organic waste your household produces can go into a green mini bin. This includes cooking oil, animal bones, eggshells, coffee beans, tea bags, paper plates, and napkins. Leftover yard bits like grass, twigs, leaves, and weeds can also be put into green bins, along with solid pet waste that isn’t contained in a plastic bag.

You can put compostable liners into your green bin if you wish, though they aren’t required. Many hardware stores sell them, but if you’d like to save some money, you can make your own out of old newspapers. As long as the material you use is biodegradable, it can be put into your green bin. Never put paint, plastic, glass, treated wood, waxed paper, or food packaging into your green bin, as many of these materials will only partially break down and infect compost soil.

Your green bin will be collected on the same day of every week or every two weeks, usually coinciding with blue bin pickup. Black bins are typically collected on a different day of the week, or the week during which your green bin is not collected. If you’re in Calgary, every region of the city is expected to have green bins by mid-October, with a $6.50 fee to be introduced the following year.

Calgary’s composting and waste management journey has only just begun, but if the city achieves the expected result, it could save the waste industry thousands of dollars and preserve the health of its citizens.