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Through a new provincial program, organic waste processing facilities and curbside pickup programs aim to decrease the amount of organic material going into landfills.
Photo by Jaana Björk
Province funding organic waste processing, curbside pickup programs
Published 2:25 PDT, Fri September 18, 2020
Last Updated: 2:13 PDT, Wed May 12, 2021
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BC communities will soon be able to build organic waste processing facilities and implement organic curbside pickup programs. These programs will decrease the amount of organic material going into landfills, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and create jobs.
The province is launching the CleanBC Organic Infrastructure and Collection Program providing up to $25.7 million, over three years, to communities to develop or expand opportunities to divert organic waste from landfills.
“People in BC are increasingly committed to reducing the amount of waste going into landfills and supporting ways to turn organic waste into useful products like compost to enrich soil for growing more food rather than releasing more carbon into the atmosphere,” said George Heyman, minister of environment and climate change strategy. “Some communities, especially smaller ones, can be challenged by the lack of curbside programs that make it much easier to deliver organics to processing facilities. As a result of the measures announced today, and more to come, residents will benefit from cleaner, healthier, lower carbon communities.”
The program offers two streams of funding: organic waste processing infrastructure projects and residential curbside collection programs. Eligible applicants include Indigenous governing bodies, regional districts and municipalities. Funding will be provided through cost-sharing arrangements, with the province providing up to two-thirds of eligible project costs and applicants contributing the remainder.
The new program follows the successful implementation of a provincial-federal funding partnership, the Organics Infrastructure Program, which recently provided funding for 13 compost facility projects throughout the province. It is anticipated the new program will fund up to 18 organics infrastructure projects and provide up to 86,000 residential units with curbside collection programs. Formal applications can be submitted beginning Oct. 1, until Jan. 14, 2021. Successful recipients are expected to be announced in June 2021.
In addition, the government remains committed to preventing food waste through the popular Love Food Hate Waste campaign that helps residents make their food go further with less waste. Uneaten leftovers and spoiled food make up over 25 per cent of the waste discarded from a household. While composting food waste is better than sending it to the landfill, preventing food from being wasted in the first place is the best solution.
To learn more about the CleanBC Organic Infrastructure and Collection Program, click here.
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