Carts come rolling in

Christian Benson has no shortage of cans in which to put his trash.

He watches as a forklift hauls yet another stack of green carts out of a sea can. Behind him, a small mob of workers slaps wheels, lids and axels on some 37,000 new carts for the city's waste collection program.

The carts have been rigorously tested for durability and ease of use, says Benson, the city's solid waste program co-ordinator. "We actually had a guy hop in [one] and pushed [him] around for a bit."

Starting this Monday, two of these carts — one green, one brown — will be delivered to every home in St. Albert. This week's rollout is the latest step in the city's move towards a fully automated organic waste collection system, which kicks in June 1.

The city has hired two summer students to handle the flood of questions that's sure to follow, Benson says. "It's a huge change, and there's a lot of questions."

Fancy trash cans

The city awarded a roughly $2-million contract to IPL Inc. earlier this year to supply carts for the city's new trash service, says public works director Glenn Tompolski.

The carts come in 60, 120 and 240 litre sizes to correspond to the half, one, and two-bag subscription levels, Benson says. Each has a kick plate for leverage and 10-inch wheels that should help people push the carts to the curb. "Even with maybe 100 pounds in this thing, it's extremely easy to manoeuvre."

The city will work with the St. Albert Senior Citizens' Club to help any resident who is physically unable to move the carts.

Each home will get a guide in which Wiser the Minimiser, a sagacious cartoon owl, discusses what waste goes in each cart. He's meant to be the face of the waste program, Benson says, and will likely promote other waste-reduction strategies in the future.

Also included with the carts will be one of 18,500 kitchen-catcher bins for food scraps. "These are dishwasher safe," Benson says, and can be emptied into the bigger green bin.

You don't need to put a bag in the catchers, Benson says, but bags can help contain any smells. Any bags used have to be compostable, as plastic bags will contaminate the compost. Each catcher comes with two free compostable bags.

While the brown trash carts will be picked up every other week, Benson says the green organic carts will be collected weekly during the summer to avoid smell problems. "If your garbage hasn't smelled before, it won't smell now." Bags and layering can both reduce any smell issues, as can storing the bin in the shade.

The point of the carts

Yard and food waste make up about 52 per cent of residential waste, according to the Recycling Council of Alberta, all of which could be diverted out of landfills into compost.

"This is another huge portion of the waste stream that's going to be separated and diverted," Benson says. Strathcona County brought in a similar scheme years ago, and now keeps about 65 per cent of its trash out of the landfill.

Staffers are now training with the new automated collection trucks that go with the carts, Benson says. City reports suggest the trucks could save the city money on transportation and labour.

They'll still be using the old manual trucks until June 1, Benson says, so hold off on using the carts until then. "We want people to get them early and get familiar with them, but we're asking that they don't use them until the actual start date."

The rollout should be complete by May 30. Any questions on the carts should go to 780-459-1520.