Trail residents will have to start tagging their garbage this fall as part of changes coming to waste collection in the region.
When curbside composting begins on Oct. 1, the Regional District of Kootenay Boundary says it will assume responsibility for the pickup contract in Greater Trail, except in Montrose, where the RDKB will handle compost but the village will keep collecting garbage.
Presently Trail residents are allowed to put out two bags without tags each week, but come the fall each bag (maximum of 50 pounds) will require a $3 tag. However, the RDKB expects Trail households won’t generate as much garbage thanks to compost pick-up.
Rossland and other communities already tag each bags or use similar systems. The same $3 tags will apply in those places.
The tags only apply to garbage. Food waste will be picked up in green bins that will be distributed to each household.
Because Trail residents have already paid through their taxes for garbage pick-up through the end of the year, the city says more information will be coming about offsetting fees for October to December.
The RDKB has awarded the residential pick-up contract to GFL Environmental. They say garbage and food waste will be picked up at the same time using split packer trucks, which have separate collection compartments.
The RDKB also says it hopes the move will extend the life of the McKelvey Creek landfill. Presently food waste accounts for up to 38 per cent of waste going there.
“We are excited to move closer to the launch of this program, which will enable us to become a carbon-neutral local government,” RDKB board chair Linda Worley said in a news release.
She said the average annual reduction of greenhouse gas emissions is expected to be the equivalent of nearly 500 cars driven for a year.
The food waste will be composted at an RDCK facility near Salmo to create a soil product.
Green bins, along with educational materials, and a kitchen tote will be delivered to residents in August. The standard 80-litre bins are considered “critter resistant” but the RDKB has also bought some “bear resistant” bins that will available under a trade-in program. Residents will have to pay the difference.