Discount urged for bulk buyers of compost

Bulk buyers of compost should get a price break to help clear away a huge inventory of the material, city council will hear today.

The deep discount — threequarters off — should help get rid of a huge quantity of unsold Ogogrow, waste management officials say.

But no price reductions are being recommended for individual gardeners buying small amounts of the soil amendment.

Doing so “may actually diminish Ogogrow’s value to our clients,” utility services manager Kevin Van Vliet writes in a report going to council.

Using material drawn from the yard waste stream, the city produces 65,000 cubic yards of Ogogrow every year.

But there’s currently a backlog of 50,000 cubic yards of unsold Ogogrow — enough to cover 31 acres to a depth of one foot.

Staff’s proposal for shifting the material is to extend price discounts already available to buyers of large quantities of Ogogrow.

Someone who buys less than 50 yards of Ogogrow currently pays $21.43 per yard, with progressive discounts that max out at $8.48 for buyers of more than 5,000 yards of the material.

Staff’s idea is to add further discounts, with buyers of 20,000 yards or more paying just $5 a yard.

Last month, council heard a huge inventory of unsold compost products is a problem that exists at many B.C. landfilling operations.

“There is a glut of compost within the province,” Central Okanagan waste reduction co-ordinator Peter Rotheisler told council on Aug. 15.

“It’s creating a large problem that isn’t necessarily talked a lot about,” Rotheisler said. “You have this massive inventory of compost that’s sitting there that isn’t being used for the intent everybody thinks it’s used for.”