More residents will be joining Okotoks’ recycling programs in the near future.
Starting July 1, all multi-family residences will be required to offer recycling services, though they need not necessarily be through the Town.
There is no regulation for the container or service used by multi-family residences, so long as a program is in place. They will also be expected to have organics collection in place by Jan. 1, 2018.
“We’re working with the multi-families and their contractors for waste management and trying to work with them to implement all the programs at once,” said waste services manager Paul Lyons. “The cost could go down, or remain the same as it is with all three services.”
He said introducing blue and green cart services could allow multi-family dwellings to reduce the number or size of large garbage bins that need to be tipped on a weekly basis, saving money for those who live in the complex.
Some multi-family units in Okotoks began implementing their programs in the last year knowing it would become mandatory in 2017, he said. For those who have been doing it even longer, there won’t be much change coming.
“We have some multi-families that have had recycling in place for four or five years, so there is nothing they are going to be doing on their part,” said Lyons. “We’re working with them now to see if we can get the organics piece going right away.”
Implementing recycling and organics collection for multi-family residences was delayed close to a year after the same services became mandatory for single-family residences in Okotoks last October, he said.
Lyons said other municipalities with curbside programs found it was easier to begin with single-family homes and introduce the program to multi-family dwellings later.
In most places, he said it is delayed even longer than in Okotoks.
“In Calgary, for example, they’ve had two carts for 10 years, but just in the last year they did their multi-family,” said Lyons. “It really depends on your waste diversion target, the dynamics or your population and available resources. There is nothing written that says it should be one group or the other or all at the same time.”
He said multi-family residences in Okotoks haven’t pushed back too much on offering the service, but have asked why it’s being implemented in the first place.
It comes down to diverting waste away from the landfill in order to maintain its longevity, he said. Since waste, especially food waste, doesn’t break down in the landfill, the site grows closer to the end of its finite lifespan every week, he said.
There’s a good chance the region won’t see a new landfill, he said.
“The only municipality that has land that you could build a landfill would be the MD,” said Lyons. “You would have to get permits from the MD to build. And, typically a landfill takes up to 10 years to do the environmental assessment, and after that environmental assessment the Province could also reject and say no, we can’t build a landfill.”
It’s important to extend the life of the current landfill, he said, and collecting recycling and organics is the best means.
Lyons said more complexes are coming onboard as multi-family residences come to understand the reasons.
“Absolute trash is all we want to get in the landfill,” said Lyons. “People are starting to realize this objective. If we don’t protect this piece of real estate we have, then very soon we won’t have that piece of real estate, and that is what we’re trying to avoid.”
