City of Kamloops rolls out carts for Curbside Organic Waste Pick-up program

KAMLOOPS — It’s rollout day — literally — for the city’s new Curbside Organic Waste carts. Starting in Zone 3, and working through all five collection zones in Kamloops, the new carts will be delivered before the program officially begins in August.

“There are 27,000 carts that need to be delivered over the coming month,” City Streets and Environmental Services Manager Glen Farrow explains. “Be patient in getting your cart, and when you get it, please hold back in using it, because the first week of collection will not be until August 21.”

Once you get your cart, there are a few goodies included to make understanding the new system easier.

“Once you open it, you’ll see a kitchen catcher — or a smaller bin you’ll use to collect that product [as well as] 30 bin-liners in each kitchen catcher,” Farrow explains. “And then a whole bunch of really, really good material that we’ve been working on laying out what’s recyclable, what’s compostable, and what should go to the garbage.”

Image Credit: CFJC Today

Kamloops is one of the last municipalities in the province to bring curbside organics recycling to its citizens. Up to this point, Friendly Composting has filled that gap, offering a residential compost pick-up service for the past few years.

“Anyone who’s going to be serviced by the city, we will no longer be servicing on the residential side of things,” Co-founder of Friendly Composting, Claire McLoughlin, explains. “Of course, that excludes certain areas. We’ll continue to service Tobiano and Sun Rivers and anyone outside of the city limits we currently service.”

Friendly Composting has been working with the city on the launch of the new program, which means they’ve been planning to pivot the business to serve a commercial clientele.

“If they’re going to get all of Kamloops composting, that’s awesome. What a win,” McLoughlin says. “It’s really our goal to get more people composting, so it really does align with our values and what we’re trying to do. We’re going to transfer our focus to the commercial side of things — making sure businesses, like restaurants and breweries and stratas that won’t be serviced by the city, will still be able to compost and divert their waste streams.”

The city’s Waste Wise app is a great place to access more information about the program and what waste belongs in which cart. While some residents may be skeptical, Farrow has one request.

“Please give it a try,” Farrow asks. “Use it, understand it, there’s lots of information. It’s different than how you used to handle your waste in the past, but moving forward, there’s a great opportunity.”