The city of Port Coquitlam could profit from a new organics ban that starts next year.
On Tuesday, city council discussed a move to expand its organics collection - i.e., pickup of yard waste, food scraps, etc. - to condo and townhouse units as well as to industrial, commercial and institutional (ICI) buildings in PoCo.
Currently, the municipality picks up trash and organics at all single-family homes at the curbside, a service that has been in place since 2009 and has resulted in a 11% boost in organics being diverted from the landfill.
The aim of the proposed organics collection for multi-family residences and ICIs is to improve the city's overall diversion rate, said Mayor Greg Moore, who chairs the board of Metro Vancouver, which is imposing the organics ban that starts on Jan. 1, 2015.
He said food waste accounts for about 40% of the region's garbage and once in the landfill, it creates a greenhouse gas called methane.
To enforce the new ban, Metro Vancouver will fine waste haulers if they don't separate trash from organics. Those penalties will likely be passed on to customers and create challenges for the multi-family and ICI haulers, the city said.
Should strata housing complexes and ICIs change service providers for municipal pick-up, the price would be: $12 per year for each apartment unit with a 240-litre organics bin; $65.28 a year for each townhouse unit; and $7.95 a month for ICI buildings.
Later this month, council is expected to give three readings to a change in its solid waste bylaw to allow for expansion of organics collection.
For more information on Metro Vancouver's new organics ban, go to metrovancouver.org/foodscraps.
@jwarrenTC
