The City of Ottawa needs to talk to residents to boost its waste-diversion rates to the next level, said the chair of the environment committee yesterday.
“In the new year, this council must have a dialogue with our residents,” said River Ward Coun. Maria McRae.
“We have to talk about how do we get more diversion. Why, for example, are we not picking up the green bin every week? We have people ready to do it but we’re not doing it right now … It’s very important to start that discussion.
“We also have to talk about what we do with our partners such as the schools,” said McRae. “The schools would love to participate in green bins, so we have to talk about pilot opportunities for our kids to start composting in school.”
Approaching the one-year anniversary of the city’s green bin program, residents have helped divert 53,000 tonnes of organic waste from the landfill, said MacRae.
This means residents have increased the city’s overall diversion rate from 32 per cent to 41 per cent in one year — the biggest jump since the blue and black box recycling programs were introduced.
“A significant amount of waste is no longer going to our landfill,” said McRae.
