REGINA — Following a successful pilot program, the City of Regina has plans to launch a curbside composting service for residents beginning in the fall of 2023.
“This is a very exciting time for the Regina residents and a big step forward to becoming a more sustainable city,” said Kurtis Doney, Director of Water, Waste and Environment.
The program will provide residents with a 240-litre green cart, which is approximately two-thirds the size of the city-provided blue recycling carts, to collect food and yard waste.
Residents can toss things like food scraps including meat, bones, dairy and grease, as well as yard waste and soiled paper products into the green carts. Compostable bags will also be allowed in the carts.
Green carts will be collected weekly in spring, summer and early fall, and bi-weekly during winter months. Waste from the green carts will be delivered to a small composting site at the landfill, rather than the larger garbage section.
The city originally tested the idea of a food waste program in a pilot, launched in fall of 2020, as part of an ongoing sustainability goal.
Feedback from pilot participants was positive, said the city, and helped develop the program as it will be delivered in the future.
“The city-wide service will save landfill space, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and the material collected will be processed to create a usable product,” said Doney.
Pilot participants will continue to see their green carts collected until they are folded into the city-wide rollout of the program.
The expanded program is anticipated to divert an estimated 50 per cent of the waste currently going to the city’s garbage landfill.
Waste disposal at the landfill will potentially decrease by approximately 24,000 tonnes a year, eliminating 10,820 of greenhouse gas emissions. It is also anticipated to extend the life of the city’s landfill.
The program will be delivered through the city’s solid waste services, which is funded through property tax.
City council will receive a report in quarter two of 2022 with a funding model addressing the addition of the food waste delivery service, alongside garbage and recycling delivery.
