The City of Nelson will continue its pilot of the FoodCycler in Fairview for another year before a decision on whether to roll it out across the city.
In an independent evaluation report released in November, the program got high marks for its popularity with the 710 Fairview residents who chose to place a FoodCycler on their countertop.
The evaluation was less positive on the question of whether the FoodCyclers would perform better than a curbside pick-up of kitchen waste, both in terms of volume of waste diverted from the landfill and greenhouse gases reduced. These results were based on a one-day point-in-time audit in the summer of 2024, and council decided more information is needed.
The FoodCycler grinds and dehydrates food waste, reducing the weight of the food scraps by approximately 75 per cent on average, and reducing the volume by up to 90 per cent, resulting in a nearly odourless residue that can be put in a garden or compost, or placed in one of two neighbourhood receptacles to be picked up by waste collection crews and taken to the Salmo site.
The goal of the organics program is to divert food waste from the landfill, reduce methane emissions, and minimize wildlife attractants.
In 2025, city staff will not only carry out more monitoring and measuring, but will also provide more public education on the FoodCycler.
The cost of the additional year – $238,253 – will be included with several other increases in the fee hike from $125 to $150 per year for all residences in the 2025 city budget for waste collection.
Chris Johnson, the city's manager of community planning, climate and infrastructure, told council at its Dec. 3 meeting that the audit raised questions and provided information not just about the FoodCycler but about the city's garbage and recycling program as a whole.
He said they discovered there is a lot of recyclable material that residents throw in the garbage.
"I think we as Nelsonites like to think we do a really good job of that, but a really high percentage of waste was recyclable," he said.
It is important to understand the waste stream, he said, because "one of big deliverables in Nelson Next (the city's climate plan) is to become a zero-waste community and to reduce organics in the landfill."
He said it is hard to completely understand residents' waste habits because it is unknown how much garbage, organics, and recycling is hauled by residents to the transfer station and then put in the garbage headed for the landfill.
He said he hopes that another year of evaluating the FoodCycler will also add other useful information about garbage and recycling.
