New Westminster hopes to establish a pilot program for public trash and recycling receptacles.
Coun. Jonathan Cote has proposed that the city begin a pilot program to collect paper, organic food waste and bottles in receptacles placed in high-traffic areas of the city.
He believes it's a natural next step in the city's recycling efforts to consider recycling in public areas.
"There are garbage cans. If you have pop bottles, paper or food, there are not a lot of options there," he said about the current situation.
Council recently approved a recommendation that the city move forward with implementation of a pilot program for a public spaces recycling program. Staff will report back to council on the issue.
"I am hopeful it can be something that can be looked at relatively soon," Cote said.
Cote and fellow councillor Bill Harper saw a similar pilot program in action while they were attending the recent Federation of Canadian Municipalities convention in Halifax.
"They have a really successful pilot project they have implemented on their waterfront esplanade," Cote said. "They call it the public spaces recycling program. ... They have had tremendous success there."
Cote would like to see a similar program piloted in high-traffic areas of New Westminster, such as the uptown, downtown and Quay. Cote said the city has received some inquires about public recycling opportunities for people who walk along the waterfront esplanade.
"I have heard those comments before," he said. "I think now is a good time to do this."
Because there is a solar-powered component to the waste recycling bin, the waste is compacted and doesn't need to be collected as often as regular garbage.
According to Cote, each of the bins is estimated to cost $3,000 to $5,000. Each bin collects garbage and various types of recyclables in different compartments.
Cote said staff will review costs associated with the pilot project and determine when it can be launched. He's hoping it's something the city can move forward on quite quickly.
Harper said he'd like the City of New Westminster to buy two to four of the receptacles and place them in locations around the city.
"The idea is to see how effective they are," he said.
A report about the Halifax Harbourwalk public spaces recycling pilot project stated that that city's pilot project was funded by Nestle Waters Canada in partnership with the Waterfront Development Corporation Limited. The project was intended to collect items often left by people in areas such as parks, streetscape and other public spaces.
"Project results demonstrate that the program was extremely successful at increasing the recovery rate of recyclable beverage containers," said a report about the pilot project.
The three-month pilot project saw the collection of fibers, organics, garbage and recyclable containers.
The report stated that that recyclable and/or compostable materials comprise about 68 per cent of the solid waste generated along the Halifax Harbourwalk.
