Waste less, pay less under proposed black cart plan

Calgarians could eventually be able to choose the size of their black cart, and households that produce less waste could pay lower monthly collection fees, according to a proposal coming to city council in June.

After council elected last month to replace the tax-based model for funding black carts with a monthly service fee, city officials are now hoping to introduce different cart sizes and variable collection fees to encourage Calgarians to waste less.

“Currently, all households receive the same level of service, but of course they do not all generate the same amount of waste,” said

Katherine Trajan, with the city’s waste and recycling services unit.

“A black cart variable pricing approach (gives) households an option for the size of their black cart, so that fees can be adjusted based on the amount of waste that their household produces.”

The proposal was floated as one component of the city’s strategy to divert 70 per cent of all waste from Calgary landfills by 2025, according to the waste and recycling services’ seven-year outlook presented Wednesday at council’s utilities committee.

“We’re basing this on what we see from other municipalities. Introducing a variable (black) cart does enhance diversion,” said Rick Valdarchi, director of waste and recycling services.

“So we do see less waste going to landfill, and that is the goal at the end of the day.”

Similar programs in other jurisdictions typically allow residents to select either small, medium or large carts, ranging in size from 120 litres to 360 litres. Calgary’s current black cart is about 240 litres.

Part of the program could also involve a ‘tag-a-bag’ component that would see customers charged for waste bags that don’t fit in the provided carts but are put out for collection. Calgarians could eventually see similar changes for blue and green carts, Valdarchi said.

The city said it isn’t planning to change the every-other-week collection schedule for black carts as part of the changes.

The proposal will come to council in June for approval but a detailed implementation plan isn’t expected until early 2019.

Wednesday’s meeting also saw the city acknowledge the huge effect of China’s decision in January to ban the import of certain recyclable commodities and put tight contamination limits on others.

Calgary is currently working to identify new markets and purchasers for its recyclable commodities that were previously almost entirely shipped to China.

One exacerbating factor is the increasing amount of contamination in Calgary’s blue cart program; contamination rates have risen above 10 per cent since the implementation of the green cart program and every-other-week black cart pickup, according to city data.

Contamination increases the cost of processing, Valdarchi said, and degrades the quality of the recycled material that Calgary sends to market.

“We’re competing now very actively for open market on our materials because of what’s happened in China, so anything we can do to increase the quality of our material, the better.”

Committee members also approved a motion brought by Coun. Druh Farrell on Wednesday, asking the city to investigate ways to “significantly” reduce plastic waste and single-use items, such as takeout containers.

“We need to look at ways to reduce the single-use items in our landfill, especially single-use plastics,” Farrell said. “We’re seeing more and more information around the damage that single-use plastics are wreaking in our environment and we need to do something.”