Residents of multi-family dwellings in the Royal City will soon be able to recycle their food scraps.
Waste Management, which has been hired by the city to offer the program, will be contacting multi-family properties to arrange "lobby events" where representatives can meet with residents, explain the program and provide people with the kitchen catchers that they'll use for gathering food scraps.
"It's a really exciting program," said Kristian Davis, the city's supervisor of solid waste and recycling. "They will receive a kitchen catcher."
Each unit will receive a kitchen catcher, which a small plastic bucket in which they place food scraps. They will then dump the food scraps into a waste container elsewhere on the site.
"The bins are going to be lined," Davis said. "The driver will take the liner right out. The cart will stay clean."
Waste Management will begin holding its lobby events later this month, once staff are trained.
"It's for all multi-family," Davis said. "Rental buildings are included. Every multi-family unit should have access to food scrap disposal."
Davis said the goal is to divert as much recyclable materials from the waste stream as possible. He noted that one highrise that took part in the pilot program started with five garbage bins, but they're no longer all needed.
"It has since gone down to three," he said. "We have seen a huge reduction. They have all seen major decreases in garbage."
At the same time garbage levels have decreased, recycling has increased in many other areas. Some buildings have requested additional bins for other recyclables, such as paper.
"Once people start seeing results, they start buying into the idea," Davis said. "It starts driving up recycling in general."
According to Davis, the program costs each unit about $1.60 per month. He noted that the cost could be offset in savings with reduced waste disposal needs or fewer garbage pickups.
Waste Management will soon be getting started with lobby events, which will be done in all buildings having 25 or more units.
"We are aiming to have everybody complete by the end of June," Davis said. "I estimate it will take six weeks in total."
For smaller complexes, Waste Management staff may go door-to-door to provide residents with information about the program.
Quayside resident Alex Csizmadia participated in a multi-family foods scraps recycling pilot project and is pleased to see it expanded citywide.
"I am happy that it is rolling in multi-family. I am excited," he said. "I am hoping champions will emerge. For true success it requires a champion who will persist and make sure regular communication occurs."
Instead of the garbage can, Csizmadia now places coffee grinds, soiled pizza boxes and all his food scraps in the food scrap bins.
"It really helps me clear that stuff out of my garbage," he said. "I am happy about that."
While he believes the lobby events are informative, Csizmadia believes the program can be even more successful if an ongoing conversation about the program occurs in multi-family dwellings. He believes that will help the program flourish and will reduce potential problems with contamination.
"It has to be monitored," he said. "It has to have the personal element."
Csizmadia is taking on that role at his multi-family building and hopes other residents will do the same at their residences.
"The garbage has actually reduced," he said about his building. "The diversion is successful."
After a successful rollout to the program, Csizmadia said he's noticed more contamination - specifically from food waste being deposited in the container in plastic bags. He suspects it's because the bins are lined with a plastic liner.
"I think it is biodegradable," he said. "It's the optics of seeing plastic."
Davis said the food scrap carts contain compostable liners. Because only one brand is accepted at the processing facility, the city isn't promoting the use of plastic-like biodegradable or compostable bags.
"We are providing a sample of an acceptable 'paper' bag along with our educational material though, as well as ways to use newspaper to line your kitchen catcher," he said in an email to The Record. "So there are options, should residents wish to carry a bag down to the recycling room while on their way out."
Once collected in New Westminster, the material will be taken to the Harvest Power (former Fraser Richmond Soil and Fiber) facility in Richmond.
According to Davis, the food scraps will go into the facility's 10 dark tunnels, where bacteria helps break down the food.
"Because of the heat, darkness and moisture in there, it will end up liquid," he said. "They convert that liquid into a compressed natural gas or use that to create hydro electricity."
