While pursuing a goal to bring down costs by diverting as much as 60 per cent of waste from the garbage, the City of Côte St. Luc is moving forward with an organic waste recycling project involving 500 households.
Plastic bins to be used in the pilot project were unveiled last week by Councillor Steven Erdelyi, who represents District 4. Parts of that area, and of District 5, which is overseen by Councillor Allan J. Levine, will be taking part.
"Each home is going to be receiving two bins, plus a DVD, plus some educational material," Erdelyi told the Chronicle. The smaller composting bin, called the Kitchen Collector, is compact enough to be placed under the sink or on a counter. The larger bin can be stored in a garage or outside the house.
Both units will be used for the disposal of organic kitchen waste, including scraps, soiled paper, garden waste and even animal waste matter. The larger bin, into which the smaller one can be regularly emptied, will be placed on the street curb once a week for collection.
Residents will be asked to place their compostable waste in special paper bags. Either bin can be lined with the bags, which are designed to break down organically within two months. Erdelyi said each resident will get some samples of the bags and the City is negotiating with local businesses to sell them. Some will also be available at city hall.
In District 4, all houses west of Westminster Avenue and south of the train tracks along Wavell Ave. will be receiving bins. In District 5, they will be distributed on Blossom and Wentworth avenues, as well as on small sections of Mackle and Guelph roads west of Wentworth.
Erdelyi said the reason those streets were chosen was because they have garbage collection on Tuesday and Friday. "They're still going to have collection twice a week," he said. "The only difference is Tuesday will now be exclusively for organic waste and your blue box recycling, which is regularly on Tuesday. And Friday will be regular garbage day."
According to Erdelyi, Côte St. Luc's long-term vision of waste management is to "accustom" residents to recycling and composting, so that gradually the City can reduce its garbage collection costs, which are increasing. "Our goal is 60 per cent diversion," he said, adding that this was an objective set by the province. Côte St. Luc is currently at a 30 per cent level.
In other provinces, the overall diversion rate is approaching 70 per cent. In Nova Scotia, door-to-door composting is available at about 75 per cent of households, and a 100 per cent penetration rate for organic waste recycling has been achieved in the Toronto area. Côte St. Luc's goal for the end of this year is to have regular recycling available at all condominiums and apartments.
