Nelson city council intends to raise the annual garbage and recycling fee for residences from $75 to $100 for 2022. The garbage tag price of $1.75 will not change.
At its Jan. 11 meeting, council approved the change that will still have to pass a final budget vote later in the spring.
The city uses garbage and recycling fees to fund curb-side pick-up, and delivery to the Regional District of Central Kootenay’s facility at Grohman.
But in the coming year, a new service will be introduced, and this is the reason for the fee increase.
The RDCK’s organic waste collection program will also roll out this year. The city will be responsible for the door-to-door collection of compostable waste and delivering it to a new RDCK composting facility near Salmo.
The city has also applied for provincial and federal grants to further fund that operation, which will include the purchase by the city, for each Nelson household, of a kitchen counter-top dehydrator. The dehydration process renders the material odourless and significantly reduces the volume and weight of organic waste to be transported, to the point that the city is considering collecting it only eight times per year.
Curbside organics collection is expected to begin in late 2022.
Nelson’s Low-Carbon Path to 2040, written in 2011, envisions Nelson as a zero waste city, and reducing organic waste is one of the goals of the plan.
Reduction of organic waste in landfills is also a goal of the provincial government, which estimates that 40 per cent of material currently dumped in landfills could be composted.
As organic material decomposes in landfills it generates greenhouse gases, which increase global warming and contribute to climate change.
Placing organic material in household garbage is prohibited in three regions in B.C.: the Capital Regional District (Victoria), Greater Vancouver, and the City of Nanaimo.
Another change for 2022 is the city’s introduction of new garbage tags. City staff say the new tags stick better than the current tags and they will contain a QR code that gives information about waste pick-up as well as other city programs. Residents can still use their old tags until they are used up.
The original version of this article specified a brand name of the counter-top dehydrator. It was incorrect and we deleted that reference on Jan. 13 at 5:00 p.m.
Related:
• Organic waste pickup for Nelson scheduled for early 2022
• Nelson will use unique technology to reduce composting costs
• Nelson city council agrees to RDCK composting plan
• Nelson households pilot counter-top organics recycling method
bill.metcalfe@nelsonstar.com
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