Extending curbside organics pickup to the entire District of Sechelt could save each single-family household more than $12 a year in service fees — but it would mean scaling back regular garbage collection to once every two weeks, staff reported Monday.
Speaking to council’s finance, culture and economic development committee, communications manager Connie Jordison said it would cost an estimated $108 per household annually to deliver the green bin service District-wide, based on the green bin pilot project in the Davis Bay area.
“But it will create some savings,” Jordison said.
Estimated savings per household include $70.37 in garbage tipping fees, $32.28 by moving to bi-weekly garbage collection and $18 by signing up with Multi-Material BC, for an estimated net annual savings of $12.65 per household.
“You could create savings of around $12 to $13 by implementing curbside organics, but we don’t know the exact numbers and exact parameters until we go to industry and get a response to a request for proposals (RFP),” Jordison told the committee.
She said bi-weekly garbage pickup could be feasible because “there should be 40 to 50 per cent less in everyone’s garbage can weekly,” adding the move to bi-weekly garbage pickup would be “contingent on us being able to negotiate a change with the service provider.”
The program, as presented by staff, would serve only the 4,155 single-family homes that receive curbside garbage collection, but Coun. Alice Lutes asked if it could also include condos, townhouses and apartment blocks.
District engineering technician Paul Appelt said that “would be a really big undertaking,” as multi-family units’ garbage collection is handled by the private sector.
“I hear what you’re saying, but I find it very disappointing,” Lutes replied. “I think that those of us living in that style of life have more need for the organic collection because we have nowhere that we can compost, easily.”
The committee agreed to include a multi-family option in the RFP, which will set April 6 as a possible start date for the service and specify that impacted households would be charged a pro-rated service fee for 2015.
Mayor Bruce Milne noted that council, if it does decide to move forward with the plan, would likely phase it in and the switch to bi-weekly garbage pickup would not take place until 2016, so that the full savings would not be realized this year.
The resolution, Jordison stressed, was “not the approval point” for the green bin program, but was aimed to explore its viability by issuing the RFP.
The committee also voted to continue with the Davis Bay pilot project.
In her report, Jordison said the pilot project had an average weekly participation rate of 293 households out of 500, or 58.6 per cent. Between May 23 and Jan. 2, the program diverted almost 26 tonnes of household organic waste and more than 25 tonnes of yard waste from the landfill.
The District’s current annual garbage and curbside blue bin recycling collection fee for a single-family residence is $200. Sechelt taxpayers also contribute about 27 per cent of the cost for the Sunshine Coast Regional District’s recycling program, or about $152,000 in 2014.
