The City of Nelson is enacting a bylaw to clarify some ownership issues related to the FoodCycler appliances that will soon be delivered to many households in the city.
The bylaw states that the appliances will remain the property of the city. This rule is intended to avoid people moving and taking the appliance with them. The appliances will be tied to the property, not to the homeowner.
The bylaw also requires that homeowners keep the appliance in working condition, pay the electrical costs involved in its operation, notify the city if it needs repair, and not misuse it.
FoodCycler appliances grind and dehydrate kitchen waste, reducing its volume and weight by about 90 per cent, resulting in a nearly odourless residue that can be put in a garden or compost, or placed in a neighbourhood receptacle to be picked up by waste collection crews.
A free FoodCycler will be provided to 1,600 households as the first stage of a pilot project that could extend city-wide if successful. That group of households includes the area of Fairview that has Friday garbage pickup, and about 600 households in other parts of the city that signed up as early adopters when the program was first announced.
The total cost of the purchase of 1,600 appliances and the administration of the program is $1,061,440.
Council received grant funding of $682,720 for the program, and the remaining $378,720 will come from the city’s funds held in reserve for recycling and/or equipment.
The program is unique in the country and the city considers it a cornerstone of its efforts to reduce the amount of waste going to landfills and to decrease greenhouse gas emissions by not hauling “wet waste” to the new composting site near Salmo.
Carmen Proctor, the city’s climate and energy manager, told council on April 11 that delivery of the appliances will begin “within the next month or two.”
READ MORE:
• Nelson to launch countertop food waste treatment pilot in spring
• Nelson will use unique technology to reduce composting costs
• Nelson’s organic waste program to be piloted in Fairview
• Nelson will use unique technology to reduce composting costs
bill.metcalfe@nelsonstar.com
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