Victoria city council is considering changes to the green bin program that would divert yard waste from the landfill and require residents to bring their bins to the curb for pickup.
The city has set a goal of cutting the waste going to landfill in half by 2040, and accepting yard waste with organics was recognized as an area where the city can make an immediate impact, said Rory Tooke, manager of sustainability, assets and support services.
A 2020 waste composition study showed that yard waste comprised 10 per cent of material collected through the garbage stream of the city’s residential solid waste service.
“It’s really low-hanging fruit. It’s stuff that shouldn’t be in the garbage and definitely shouldn’t be going to landfill,” Tooke said.
Yard waste is currently prohibited in green bins and garbage bins in Victoria, but can be dropped off once a week at the city’s public works yard.
Saanich, Oak Bay and Nanaimo allow yard waste in the green bin, and Sidney collects yard waste from the curb separately, according to a staff report heading to Thursday’s committee of the whole meeting. In Esquimalt and View Royal only drop-off disposal of yard waste is available.
Victoria hasn’t made the change before now because of capacity constraints on the three garbage trucks that service 14,000 households, Tooke said.
Trucks fill up faster with organics because the material is wet, and when the truck fills up, it has to return to the yard to dump the material.
“The more of that organic material that they get, the more times they have to drive back to the yard to transfer it, so that means that the crews can’t finish their shifts in a normal scheduled day,” he said.
To accommodate yard waste in the green bin, city staff are proposing a shift from backyard to curbside collection that’s expected to cut down on the amount of time it takes workers to collect bins.
Victoria is the only municipality in the region that offers garbage and organics collection from residential backyards instead of curbside.
Mayor Lisa Helps said the public has been waiting a long time for yard waste collection at curbside.
“I think the fact that residents can get a better level of service for the same cost is really good,” she said.
Staff anticipate the cost of processing organics to increase, but that’s expected to be offset by reduced labour costs so residents won’t see a change in user fees.
An increase of 1,000 to 1,500 tonnes of organic material at a cost of $135,000 to $200,000 a year is anticipated as a result of accepting yard waste in green bins, according to the report.
Three of 12 waste collection positions would be eliminated by switching to curbside pickup, Tooke said. Those workers would take on other city roles.
Collection services are considered more equitable and accessible than drop-off services. During community engagement on the city’s zero waste program, people raised concerns that drop-off yard waste services are not accessible to people with mobility issues and those who don’t have access to a vehicle.
Users with accessibility issues can use the city’s existing Helping Hand Program to have their bins collected from and returned to their property, instead of curbside pickup.
Staff acknowledge in the report that demand for drop-off services will continue for bulky materials, such as larger branches, that can’t be picked up.
Changing the service model is expected to reduce worker injuries and WorkSafe B.C. claims costs.
Staff estimate 10 to 15 per cent of users already bring their garbage and green bins to the curb and most are familiar with the practice because the Capital Regional District’s blue box program collects from the curb.
City council will consider the proposed changes at a committee of the whole meeting Thursday.