By Town of Ponoka

Reducing Waste

Ponoka asks residents to help divert more waste from landfill with Green Cart composting

Mar 4, 2020 | 8:33 AM

The Town of Ponoka is asking residents to help divert more waste from the landfill through the Town’s curbside Green Cart composting program.

The new Green Cart program, which was launched in Ponoka in January 2019, diverted 25 per cent of the community’s residential household waste from the landfill last year – a total of 733 tonnes.

“That’s an outstanding accomplishment that exceeded our expectations for the first year of this program and puts us closer to achieving the provincially-set goal of eventually diverting 80 per cent of our waste from the landfill,” says Dwayne Kwolick, Manager of Environmental Services for the Town of Ponoka, in a news release.

He points out Ponoka is currently diverting about 40 per cent of its total waste from the landfill through composting, recycling and other diverted materials management at the Town’s Waste Transfer Station.

Kwolick is confident the community can increase its residential waste diversion rate even higher if more residents pay closer attention to what they place in their Green Carts.

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“The majority of people who are using their Green Carts are doing a great job of putting the right materials in the carts,” adds Kwolick. “However, we are finding that a small number of households are using their Green Carts for regular household garbage or they are bagging their compostable waste with non-compostable plastic bags.”

“It only takes one plastic bag for a whole truckload of compostable waste to be rejected at the compost site and be sent to the landfill,” continues Kwolick. “Rejected truckloads of contaminated compost result in extra costs for transportation and tipping fees at the landfill. Those costs eventually get passed down to residents because Alberta municipal utility services are required to be financially self-sustaining and cannot be supported by property tax dollars or other forms of municipal revenue.”

To reduce the number of rejected truckloads of contaminated compost, the Town plans to begin a new Green Cart tagging program this month.

“We will be randomly inspecting Green Carts at the curb,” advises Kwolick. “Carts that contain unacceptable materials will be tagged with a pink sticker and left at the curb unemptied.”

Residents with tagged carts will have the option of taking their cart to be emptied at the Town’s Waste Transfer Station for a minimum $8 fee, or they can place the unacceptable items in their Grey Cart for their next pick-up day.

“We’re hoping the tagging program will encourage all residents to be more careful about the items they place in their Green Carts,” says Kwolick. “Ensuring that only compostable items are placed in your Green Cart will help save money by avoiding unnecessary increases in utility bill fees. It will also increase our community’s waste diversion rates and help protect our environment for future generations.”

Compostable items that can be placed in Ponoka’s Green Carts include most kitchen food waste, coffee grounds, cooking oil, egg shells, poultry bones, shell fish, tea bags, certified compostable food containers, food-soiled newsprint and cardboard, facial tissue, food-soiled paper towels and napkins, grass clippings, leaves and wood chips.

A complete list of items that can be composted in your Green Cart is posted on the Town website at www.ponoka.ca (click on ‘Community’ on the top menu bar, then click ‘Recycling, Disposal & Waste’ on the side menu and scroll down the page until you see ‘2020 Green Cart – What Goes IN and What Stays OUT’).

Paper copies are also available at the Town Office for pick up at #200, 5604-50 Street in Ponoka.