City of Whitehorse Green Cart Pilot

The City of Whitehorse has operated a residential organics collection program since 2002 but is concerned with respect to resident participation, compost quality, and worker health and safety. The City of Whitehorse will conduct a field test to assess the feasibility of implementing standardized green carts with lids, coupled with automated lifters for organics to eliminate the cost and process issues currently experienced with bag liners. Black carts will also be tested to create a unified two-cart curbside system, which will improve the profile and visibility of the program. Approximately 450 households and 100 businesses, multi-family housing units, restaurants, and grocery stores will participate in the field test. By partnering with the 2007 Canada Winter Games Host Society, the City will also field test the potential for waste diversion at special events. A move to full-scale implementation will depend on the change in participation rate, diversion rate, customer and worker satisfaction, operating costs, and quantitative and qualitative changes in compost quality. Full-scale implementation would yield a reduction of more than 229 tonnes of organic waste currently being landfilled each year. This would offset in excess of 1,100 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions from the landfill. Additional environmental benefits include a decreased potential for leachate toxicity and groundwater contamination.