Residents can already recycle tin, plastic and paper, and this week, the city took the first step in rolling out its organics recycling program.
“This is the logical next step in diversion,” said Rod Muir, a waste diversion and climate change campaigner with the Sierra Club of Canada.
“This is win-win, all with the flick of the wrist. You’re holding a banana peel in your hand; all we’re asking you to do is find the kitchen bin and drop it in. This is the easy part.”
To help kick off Environment Week, the city launched its Green Bin Champions pilot project yesterday to give city councillors and other stakeholders first-hand experience with the program before it goes citywide in January.
The city will start distributing around 220,000 large green bins for the yard and smaller beige bins for inside the home in September. Kevin Wylie, the city’s manager of Solid Waste Operations said organic waste will be collected every two weeks, while dry waste will be collected weekly during the winter. In the spring, it will be reversed, with organics being collected more.
