Organic recycling depots to remain closed

The City of Brandon will not reopen its five community organic recycling depots this spring, council decided on Tuesday.

The decision was based on the high levels of contamination at the sites and the cost of renting a pickup truck during the warmer months. It follows the closure of community recycling depots in the fall.

People will instead be able to drop off excess organic waste at the Eastview Landfill.

“We feel the diversion depot (at the Eastview Landfill), combined with the extended summer hours and weekly curbside collection, will significantly improve diversion outcomes,” solid waste manager Corey Wagner told council at the meeting.

He highlighted the struggles with the community depots in the past.

“We have consistently observed high levels of contamination, resulting in much of the material being landfilled rather than composted as intended.”

Overfilled bins also turned into large cleanup efforts for city staff and a high volume of complaints over unsightly conditions, Wagner said.

He said the city would save money by not having to rent a truck for the season and would pay less overtime.

Renting a truck for the additional community depots would have cost the city about $84,000 this year. An additional $10,000 would be spent on fuel.

The diversion depot at the Eastview Landfill will be expanded by late spring or early summer and will see increased hours from April 20 to Sept. 30.

Acting mayor Glen Parker said after the meeting that he believes council made the correct decision even if it adds some cost at the Eastview Landfill.

“I think we have to give it a try,” said Parker, councillor for Ward 9.

He added that it might help increase the number of people who use the green bin program. Currently, 11,000 households in the city have green bins, which have a much lower contamination rate, the city said in a press release Wednesday.

“I think we have a fairly robust green bin program that a lot of municipalities don’t have, so we should be thankful for that,” Parker said. “Hopefully, this gives us reason to increase our fleet of green bins and get more people on side with the green bin program.”

Coun. Kris Desjarlais (Ward 2) said while the community depots are more convenient for people, he’s “confident” that council’s decision is what’s best for the city.

Council passed the motion unanimously.

The decision came after Wagner, who had recommended that the depots not be reopened in the spring, also presented a second option to council to reopen only two depots.

The two depots would have been the ones that were the least contaminated — at Westridge and the corner of First Street and Richmond Avenue. Had they been reopened, six industrial-sized bins would have been placed at both depots.

Coun. Shawn Berry’s initial motion to reopen the two depots was voted down 8-2. Berry (Ward 7) at the start of the meeting said he wanted the bins to be out in the community and wasn’t sold on staff’s recommendation.

Other councillors argued against the idea.

“Given administration’s recommendation and the cost of keeping those community depots open, I don’t see it as viable,” Coun. Heather Karrouze (Ward 1) said. “Particularly when we have weekly green bin pickup for residents.”

Coun. Barry Cullen (Ward 3) said he worried that having only two locations open would further contaminate those sites.

Coun. Bruce Luebke (Ward 6), who voted in favour of Berry’s motion, said the weekly green bin pickup doesn’t service all homes, and some people need other places to compost.

“When we start cutting back service levels to our residents, I don’t think that’s a good thing,” Luebke said.

Council also agreed through an amendment to have administration present a report in June outlining how the new system is working.

Last month, council approved a pilot project to allow people in multi-unit homes and apartments to buy electric food recyclers so they can turn food and organic scraps into compost.

Mayor Jeff Fawcett wasn’t at Tuesday’s meeting.

» alambert@brandonsun.com