Green carts for a greener Strathmore

By Adelle Ellis, Times Reporter

It’s been a little over a year since the green carts rolled onto the streets of Strathmore, and both the Town of Strathmore and Waste Management (WM) have seen positive results.
With the implementation of the green carts in June 2018, every resident received an under-the-sink container and an outside 32-gallon (120 L) cart to use for compostable material such as food scraps, used paper and cardboard food containers, yard waste, pet waste and more.
If residents find themselves filling their cart weekly, they have the option to switch to a 64-gallon (240 L) cart for no extra cost. Currently, there are no larger carts available for order in 2019 but residents can request a larger cart for next year.
“The majority of the feedback has been good. Most residents acknowledge and appreciate the need for this service,” said Ty Tomasta with the Town of Strathmore. He added that generally, the carts are being properly used with some room for improvements, including making sure there is one metre clearance around the cart and that compostable bags instead of plastic bags are used.
Within the first six months of 2019, 427.5 tonnes of compost were collected and diverted from landfills. Comparably, within the first six months of this year 1,050 tonnes, or more than twice the amount of collected compost, was collected solid waste.
“This number could drop significantly, and the town will take measures to help educate and promote the service,” said Tomasta in collaboration with WM.
The cost of disposing garbage at a landfill costs approximately $110 per tonne while the cost of disposing compost is around $40 per tonne. Compost collection and disposal costs for the first six months of 2019 was $121,104. Although collection costs are a fixed rate, the Town of Strathmore saves approximately $70 per tonne for disposal on every tonne of waste diverted from garbage to compost.
If residents are unsure what can or cannot go into the green carts, the town has supplied an information sheet that went out with the delivery of the green carts and it is also available on the town’s website by searching ‘green cart program.’
To handle the compost process, WM completed several upgrades to equipment, systems and technologies to support the compost site and to mitigate any odour issues.
Compost is collected by WM using two different types of trucks. One is a single hopper where either the green or black carts are collected first before the second cart is collected on a return trip, or by a two-hopper truck where the black cart and the green cart can be collected on the same trip and are sorted into different hoppers on the same truck.
From there, the compostable material is transported to the WM compost facility for processing where the organic material is mixed with a balanced carbon source before being moved onto an aerated static pile. The mix then receives a controlled amount of oxygen over a period of time to facilitate the optimum composting process. The food and yard waste is turned into a very rich soil and compost mixture in approximately 90 days.
Nearly 100 per cent of finished products is sold to a local nursery, but town residents can access the compost for personal use at no charge at the WM facility in Strathmore.
“Composting is an effective way to reduce greenhouse gases … composting also replenishes and revitalizes existing soil by replacing trace minerals and organic material, and reduces soil erosion,” said Tomasta in collaboration with WM.
There are no current released plans to add a blue bin for recycling for each residence, although Tomasta said the town is continuously evaluating economically viable opportunities to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of its waste program.
For more information on the green carts, proper spacing requirements, and for a list of compostable materials that can be placed in the green carts, visit strathmore.ca and search green cart program. Any cart upgrades, repairs and replacements can be directed to the town’s operations department by calling 403-361-2137. Any cart collection issues can be directed to WM by calling 403-934-5605.