Calgary might reduce frequency of green bin pickups in winter

The City of Calgary is looking at moving compost pickup from every week to every other week during the winter months.

The proposed change would have green cart collection transition to every second week from November through April, which would save the city about $2 million per year in labour and fuel costs, the city said in a report released Friday afternoon.

"It's very encouraging and I'm glad that the city is actually looking into this and make this happen," said Ward 4 Coun. Sean Chu.

The volume of compost Calgarians produce decreases significantly in the winter, likely because there's no yard waste like grass clippings and weeds when the weather is frosty. 

The total compost collected dropped from almost 12,000 tonnes in October to just 5,000 in December 2017.

Decreasing the frequency of winter pickups would also reduce the green cart charge for residents, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and give the city a chance to do more truck repair and maintenance during the off season, the city said. 

Chu said he'd like to see the schedule adjustment taken even further to save more money.

"Maybe the next step is every month, once a month pickup, just see what the result is on this one and maybe that's the next step," he said.

But, the city noted, Calgary's unpredictable weather could prove to be a problem with changing the schedule.

An early spring or late winter could lead to collection issues with overflowing, smelly bins.

In 2017, Calgary's green cart program diverted 37 million kilograms of food waste from the landfill to the new compost facility, a 47 per cent higher uptake than the city had predicted.

If council approves, the changes to the program could begin in November 2018.

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