KC Jordan, LJI Reporter

The municipality of Alleyn and Cawood has received over $14,000 from the provincial government that will help kickstart a composting program in the coming months.

The amount, which was obtained from Quebec’s environment ministry, will pay for half the cost of acquiring rolling compost bins and small indoor compost bins. The remaining 50 per cent will be covered by the municipality.

Each residential property will receive one rolling compost bin and each commercial property will receive two, while residential properties will also receive an additional smaller bin intended for indoor use.

Isabelle Cardinal, Alleyn and Cawood’s director general, said the composting program is part of a broader effort to reduce the municipality’s garbage tonnage

Garbage is more expensive to ship than compost, and she is hoping that by separating collection of garbage, compost and recycling, the municipality can save money on waste collection.

One tonne of garbage, she said, costs the municipality $300 to drop at the transfer site, while a tonne of compost will cost them $125.

Recyc-Québec, the province’s recycling authority, estimates that 40 per cent of the weight of municipally collected garbage bags is actually compostable material – an amount that Cardinal hopes they can get residents to put into a compost bin instead of a garbage bag

She said a small investment in the compost bins will yield a larger savings on garbage collection in the future.

“Yes, it’s going to cost money up front, but at the end of the line we will reap the benefits,” she said.

Alleyn and Cawood implemented a similar program last September whereby each household received a blue rolling bin to bring their recycling out to the street – the goal being to get people to separate out their recycling instead of putting it in the garbage.

Cardinal said the uptake has been huge, and people seem to be recycling more now.

“We’ve already seen a big difference,” Cardinal told THE EQUITY in French. “The garbage bags are smaller than the rolling recycling bins [ . . . ] people seem to be recycling more.”

Cardinal said she is hoping the composting program will be similarly successful.