Council mulls changes to waste collection
Separate bins, ban on grass clippings in trash are among ideas being considered
Edmonton residents could see a ban on putting grass clippings in the trash, a requirement to separate organics at home and a move to front-street garbage collection.
Those are just three public changes needed if Edmonton is going to regain status for responsible waste management, city officials told the audit committee Friday.
But cleaning up Edmonton’s act behind the scenes is critical, too, said deputy city manager Doug Jones. He’s been involved in turning around under-performing organizations throughout his career, said Jones, who joined the city in 2016 after spending 20 years in the private sector.
He replaced nearly all of the managers in the last two years, and reintegrated the formerly “independent” waste management department into the rest of the city. Officials are overhauling internal processes and will work to stabilize the business end this year.
“It’s a typical change management process,” said Jones, while trying to reassure city councillors nothing found in a scathing waste management audit released last week was news.
The audit found Edmonton’s data on how much waste was being diverted from the landfill through recycling was not reliable, its businesses cases for innovative, new projects were not thorough or accurate and the department had an “independent” streak that kept it from learning.
Rather than adopting citywide best practice in maintaining buildings and facilities, it let that slide. Now the roof of the composter is at risk of collapse and Edmonton needs a new $13-million groundwater diversion system around its old sewage lagoon.
Everything residents put in a black garbage bag is going straight to a landfill until the long-delayed waste-to-ethanol plant gets up and running.
“Selling ourselves as a world-class leader at this point is not wise,” said city manager Linda Cochrane.
Next steps, such as requiring residents to leave grass clippings on their lawns, will be debated Feb. 23 at council’s utility committee.
The changes could also include having separate bins for different kinds of recycling instead of the single blue-bag program Edmonton has now.
Requiring residents to have a bin for organics is something many municipalities do around Alberta and across the world.
Garbage collection needs to move to the front yard anyway, said Jones, because Edmonton’s heavy garbage trucks have been destroying its back alleys. Now that the city is planning to reconstruct back alleys, officials want them to last.
Coun. Ben Henderson warned staff these changes are so big they absolutely require public involvement soon: “Doing that without checking in with them is a recipe for disaster.”
Mayor Don Iveson said the audit makes it clear “we need a reset at waste management.”
“But my commitment ... is to shoot for excellence again with waste management. We were there once and we can get there again,” he said after the audit debate.
Rotting garbage is a significant source of methane, which is a “very, very dangerous greenhouse gas, many times more problematic than (carbon dioxide),” he said. “This is one of the most tangible things municipalities can do to tackle their emissions.”
My commitment ... is to shoot for excellence again with waste management. We were there once and we can get there again.