The Green Bin Program is coming...

Pilot Project and Current Green Bin Service Areas

In October 2007 the Regional District of Nanaimo and its municipal partners launched a pilot project to provide weekly green bin food waste collection to 1,985 households in Cedar, the Cilaire neighbourhood of Nanaimo, and the Chartwell neighbourhood in Qualicum Beach. Over one year, households in the pilot areas put an average of more than two kilograms of food waste in their green bins for collection each week, and 97 per cent of respondents in a survey said the program should be expanded region-wide. Households in the three pilot areas continue to receive weekly green bin food waste collection, and lead the region in solid waste diversion as the RDN prepares to expand the Green Bin program in October 2010. For more information on the pilot project and current green bin service areas click here.

The next big step

The Green Bin Program is the biggest step forward in residential waste management service since curbside recycling began.

Curbside food waste collection completes the region's Organics Diversion Strategy. Since 2005, the commercial/institutional sector has been sending food waste to the ICC Group composting facility at Duke Point. The Green Bin Program will enable households to help divert all food waste in the region from the landfill for processing into compost and potentially renewable fuels.

By using a green bin to collect food and kitchen waste, households will divert an estimated 6,000 tonnes of material annually from the landfill to the ICC Group facility. That's the equivalent of sending 800 fewer garbage trucks to the Regional Landfill.

Moving beyond composting

The region's 2004 waste composition analysis showed that food waste and compostable paper make up approximately 50 per cent of household garbage.

A one-year pilot project proved the Green Bin Program works for urban and rural areas, including households that compost in their backyard.

The green bin goes beyond what can be composted at home. Not just fruit and vegetable scraps but cooked food, meat, fish, bones, food soiled paper and paper packaging such as waxed fast food cups and milk cartons will be accepted in your green bin.

Investing in the future

The Green Bin Program is an investment in sustainable waste management. Diverting food and kitchen waste from our garbage will have a variety of benefits:

• Help achieve our 75 per cent waste diversion goal;
• Extend the life of the region's only landfill;
• Reduce greenhouse gas emissions;
• Convert waste into fertilizer, compost, and renewable fuels; and
• Create local jobs and support a local green economy.

Watch for more information

Check back here and watch your local newspapers for updates on Green Bin Program implementation.