The City of Castlegar says the introduction of organics pick-up this week generally went well but there is room for improvement.
Throughout the week, city staff did compliance audits and tagged carts with information for residents who need to change the way they’re sorting their garbage and compost before the next collection.
The contractor emptied carts that had been tagged, but the city says this won’t happen in the future. Starting next week, carts that aren’t sorted properly and contain items that don’t belong won’t be collected and infraction tags or fines may be issued.
“Generally the first weekly organics collection went well and many residents used their organics carts for kitchen scraps and yard and garden waste,” says solid waste and organics ambassador Emilie teBulte.
“Unfortunately, many organics carts had materials that should be in garbage carts, and this means the material was sent to the landfill rather than sent to the composting facility.”
The city says with the change in the collection process, the contractor has also adjusted its process and schedule.
Residents need to place unlocked carts and bins at the curb between 4 and 7 a.m. on their scheduled collection day. Putting them out the night before attracts wildlife.