Nanaimo Household Waste Reduced

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NANAIMO RESIDENTS CHOP THEIR HOUSEHOLD WASTE IN HALF

Nanaimo residents are on track to take 50 per cent less garbage to the curb this year, saving resources, landfill space and helping to control their user fees.

Last October, the City of Nanaimo extended food waste collection to all City-serviced households. “Thanks to your efforts almost half of what we once collected as garbage is now being composted,” says Gary Franssen, Manager of Sanitation. “We now divert 64 per cent of household waste through composting or recycling, twice as much as five years ago, but as our recent survey shows there is room to improve.”

In September, City collection crews tracked the number of garbage bags, use of extra garbage tags, and frequency of Green Bin use for roughly 24,000 households. The survey showed the vast majority of households put out one bag or fewer of garbage on their collection day and 60 per cent regularly use their Green Bin.

“The basic service of one standard-size container of garbage collected once every two weeks meets the requirements of 90 per cent of our clients,” Franssen says. “We would like to see more households take advantage of the Green Bin program and we will be exploring ways to increase participation levels.”

The Waste Line newsletter has more information on how Nanaimo’s curbside programs contribute to making the City more sustainable and improvements at the Nanaimo Recycling Exchange.

The newsletter also has important news about expansion of Product Stewardship Programs for materials such as paint, motor oil and appliances. The handy chart on the back of the Waste Line lists all materials collected through Product Stewardship Programs, which include items like electronic toys and all residential lighting and lamps, and how to find drop-off locations.

Starting October 29, Canada Post will deliver the Fall 2012 Waste Line newsletter to all Nanaimo homes. If your household doesn’t receive Canada Post admail you can download the online version by clicking the above graphic or using this Nanaimo Info LINK.