Regina Council approves curbside organic waste pickup, with pilot due for 2020

Regina Council approves curbside organic waste pickup, with pilot due for 2020

Regina City Council has approved a plan to bring curbside food and yard waste pickup to Regina, but it will likely take more than four years before it comes to most residents.

The vote at Monday’s council meeting went 9-2 in favour, with only councillors Jerry Flegel and John Findura opposed. Findura said residents aren’t sold on paying for another bin, whether it’s through property taxes or user fees.

But most councillors supported an idea administration predicted could divert up to 18,000 tonnes per year from the landfill, and far more if business and neighbouring cities come along for the ride.

They approved a step-by-step approach that could lead to city-wide, year-round implementation by 2023. A pilot will roll out in 2020 — assuming councillors go on to approve funding through the 2019 budget process.

Service would first come to about 1,000 residents spread out in 10 different neighbourhoods, according to preliminary sketches of the plan.

Solid waste manager Lisa Legault said that will help staff design a better program by soliciting how the early adopters like the service. At this point, the idea is for a “scrape the plate” model, which would allow residents to keep meat, dairy, fat and even greasy pizza boxes out of the landfill.

The city predicts the model will reduce annual greenhouse gas emissions by 760 tonnes, the equivalent of taking about 140 of cars off the road.

Mayor Michael Fougere said he knows many want to get moving more quickly on a program that has proven effective elsewhere. But he said the gradual rollout is key to coming up with a “Regina model.”

“Organic waste is a major issue,” he said. “Fifty per cent of what we throw away is actually organic and can be recycled. I think people want to see that.

“I think we need to do a trial, a test, to see how it works and determine the cost.”

If approved at budget time, the pilot will eat up $3.5 million in capital funding from the solid waste reserve, when communication and consulting costs are factored in. Legault said most of the price tag comes from the cost of collection.

The proposal council supported includes a depot, but as an interim solution for yard waste as the pilot moves forward. 

Staff pointed out that Regina is one of only two major Canadian cities that haven’t yet adopted a food waste pickup program. The other one, Saskatoon, recently approved the idea.

If the program is fully implemented, it will cost $7.9 million in annual operating funding. But that could be offset by $4.9 million in savings from a move to biweekly garbage pickup. With a weekly service for food, the theory goes, residents will be OK leaving other trash sitting around longer.

Councillors haven’t yet determined whether the program will be paid for through property taxes or user fees tacked onto utility bills. That decision will come in October, when council is expected to vote on a solid waste curbside collection services funding policy, which will affect garbage and recycling as well.

Legault pointed out that the main boon for the city is helping the landfill live on. Right now, it’s only slated to survive another 28 years. Expanding it would cost $50 million, according to the city, while replacing it would run up to $100 million.

Legault acknowledged that the 18,000 tonnes of diverted waste will only add another 2.5 years onto its life. But she said getting everyone on board with organic waste diversion — business, industry, other cities that rely on Regina’s landfill — would do much more.

It would extend the landfill’s life expectancy to 82 years from the time of implementation, she said.

[Source: Leaderpost.com]