Strathmore residents producing more waste, is COVID-19 to blame?

By Sean Feagan, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

This year, Strathmore residents are producing more garbage and even more organic waste, possibly because they are spending more time at home due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

During the Town of Strathmore’s Committee of the Whole meeting on Sept. 9, representatives from Waste Management, the company that handles Strathmore’s solid and organic waste collection, processing and disposal, presented details of their operations for the first half of this year.

The company has been picking up more curbside waste and organics compared to last year: waste volume increased by eight per cent, while organics volume increased by 28 per cent.

The company has collected 577 metric tonnes through the town’s green cart program this year through to June. According to an administrative inquiry response published in July, the town saves $70 for every tonne that is diverted from solid waste (black cart) to organics (green cart).

According to Chris LeMaistre, business development manager with Waste Management, these trends – not specific to Strathmore – may be due to changes of work and personal routines as a result of COVID-19. 

“As a company, we see similar trends across our organizations with curbside waste and organics volumes up over prior years as people are spending more time at home,” said LeMaistre.

The company presented volumes collected by month through the first six months of this and last year. The largest difference between years in the volume collected for both waste and organics came in June, which may have been driven by high rainfall during that month, explained Cody Huxted, landfill operations manager. Strathmore received about 104 mm of precipitation in June according to the Alberta Climate Information Service (ACIS), compared to its typical average of around 70 to 80 mm.

Waste Management has invested in its facility to enhance its operations, said Huxted. The company installed a new aeration control system that provides the organic waste with more oxygen, which drives the composting process. A new screener is also working on site, which is two and a half times more efficient.

Strathmore residents benefited directly from these upgrades, as they picked up at least 20 cubic yards of compost from the site through the first half of the year. Free compost is still available and will be so until Oct. 31.

To keep enjoying this benefit, residents have a responsibility to make sure they add the right material only to their green bins. Metals, plastics, diapers, sanitary wipes and products, painted or treated wood, vegetable and fruit stickers, dryer lint, vacuum dirt and wax paper are all prohibited items. “Keeping out non-compostable materials, of course, is key to us being able to continue to produce a high-quality finished product.”