Residential Food Waste Collection Field Test

The Regional District of Nanaimo (RDN) has identified organic waste as a key opportunity for increasing waste diversion and is conducting a six-month residential organics collection field test to determine the potential for full residential implementation. In 2001, the RDN adopted a Zero Waste Strategy. A 2004 study revealed that organics, including food waste and non-recyclable compostable paper, comprised 53 percent of the residential waste stream by weight , In 2005, the residential curbside diversion rate for all waste was approximately 35 percent, a number that has remained relatively static for several years. If all organic material currently in the residential waste stream were diverted, the residential curbside diversion rate of all waste would be 67 percent. The field test will be conducted on 2,881 homes on three different collection routes. Eventual full-scale implementation of the program to approximately 45,000 single-family residences is expected to result in a 60 percent overall diversion rate of all waste, equal to a 72 percent organic diversion rate. Full residential implementation of a curbside organics collection program would yield a reduction of 5,770 tonnes of organic waste being landfilled each year. This would offset 1,825 tonnes of methane from the landfill, equivalent to 38,325 tonnes of carbon dioxide.