The Regional District of Central Kootenay is currently preparing an amendment to their resource recovery plan that could include a composting facility, and the EarthMatters program will be bringing a survey of area residents regarding municipal composting to the table.
The survey asks composting-related questions such as if organics in the garbage should be banned, if people want to see a municipal compost pickup program, and how much they would be willing to pay for it.
“We are in the early planning stages of the resource recovery plan amendment. One of the RDCK resource recovery staff proposed priorities for the amendment is organics diversion,” says Nicole Ward, environmental cervices coordinator at the RDCK. “Input on this theme, and others, is required from the resource recovery plan advisory committee.”
The committee is made up of technical personnel involved in the plan as well as community members.
The RDCK plans to have the amendment finalized by next February.
“EarthMatters sits on the advisory committee, and we will be bringing the results of this survey to the RDCK on May 11,” says EarthMatters co-ordinator Bruce Edson.
“From a financial perspective, a centralized composting facility could reduce tipping fees by reducing waste volumes, but the cost of collecting, transporting, and centrally composting organics from households would also be significant. From an environmental perspective composting reduces methane emissions from the landfill, and produces a soil conditioner, but transportation and processing also have impacts. The most environmentally friendly way to compost is probably at home, but many people are unable to do this for various reasons.
“I’m hoping this survey will kick-start a discussion about municipal composting, because the planning process is happening now that will decide what policy we are going to see in the near future from our local governments.”
The survey can be found at ecosociety.ca/earthmatters, or contact Edson at bruce713@gmail.com for more information.