Pickup of bulky junk tested

Regional waste office plans 8-week trial for pickup of large items

Bulky and cumbersome items can be left out for curbside pickup in select Kelowna area neighbourhoods.

Furniture, appliances, mattresses, carpets, water tanks and renovation materials are some of the things that will be collected in an eight-week trial project.

“The purpose of this pilot is twofold — to gauge interest from the public in having this type of program available to them,” Peter Rotheisler of the regional waste reduction office said Monday in a release.

“Also, it’s to see if it could replace the need for transfer stations in the designated areas down the road,” he said.

About 500 property owners will be able to leave out bulky items for pickup. The program will be tested only in areas of the Upper Mission in Kelowna, Pretty Road in Lake Country and Renfrew Road in Peachland.

Homeowners will receive notices this week they’ve been selected to participate in the bulky-items pickup program. Only homeowners who have received this notification at their door can participate; bulky items will not be picked up from other addresses.

The trial project is an attempt to assess the feasibility of introducing a bulkyitem collection program throughout the Central Okanagan at a later date.

The test areas were selected because they are the farthest neighbourhoods from waste-processing facilities in Kelowna and on the Westside.