K.C. Jordan, LJI Journalist
A new pilot project the Municipality of Pontiac is hoping to launch next month will make indoor composting machines available to residents who might not have the yard space to process their food waste outdoors.
The machines, called FoodCyclers, are small enough to sit on a countertop, and through a process of drying and grinding, reduce household food waste into an odorless dust that can be added to fertilizer or garden compost.
After a resolution is passed at the March council meeting to purchase the machines, the municipality will order them and make them available to residents in two sizes. Contributions from the municipality, the federal government and the makers of FoodCycler will reduce the cost to $200 for a small machine and $300 for a large one.
Mayor Roger Larose said the initiative is one way the council hopes to encourage residents to deal with food waste, which, if not composted at home, gets thrown in the municipality’s garbage.
He said despite government pressures to do door-to-door collection, this practice would be too expensive for his municipality, a largely rural area with many people who already do backyard composting.
“We would need a special truck with two different compartments on it,” he said. “We can’t afford it, and the second thing is, if I go ask the farmer to put a brown [bin] by the road I don’t think he’d be too impressed.”
The FoodCycler initiative, he said, is meant for anyone, but one advantage is that you don’t need a yard or outdoor space.
“It’s people in town or in the beaches who are close to each other, who don’t have the room to compost outside,” he said. “The houses are so close to each other, the lots are so small, you don’t want to have something in the ground because of the smell.”
According to an estimate from a pilot project document from FoodCycler, the 100 machines will process 200 tonnes of food waste and will allow the municipality to save over $20,000 in garbage shipping fees.
The municipality will purchase 50 small machines and 50 large ones, an order that will total $36,500. If all 100 machines are bought by residents, the total net cost for the municipality would be $11,500, an amount Larose said will come from the recycling and garbage budget.
Sheila McCrindle, who is part of a resident waste committee, said when she attended the program briefing last fall it seemed certain councillors did not appear to be on board with the program.
“I’m really surprised they chose to do this. I don’t know what got to them, or what convinced them. They didn’t seem to think it was a good idea,” she said, adding that those councillors were bringing up the large amount of money the municipality would have to spend on the program.
“I don’t know where this money’s coming from, that concerns me. They’re spending this kind of money on a handful of residents,” she said.
A survey of the municipality conducted in 2017 found that only 46 per cent of the roughly 300 respondents were doing home composting, but 69 per cent of people were open to trying it, and preferred the option instead of door-to-door collection.
Ward 1 councillor Diane Lacasse, who was there for the briefing, said she felt the $36,500 price tag for the program is too high.
“I talked to my constituents, and they weren’t interested in [the program] because they compost in their garden and in their fields,” she said. “The only people I think would be interested are in [Breckenridge] and the ones that live in Quyon.”
Lacasse said she would rather see the money go toward green cone composters, another initiative put out by the municipality last year to encourage at-home composting.
Green cones are in-ground digesters designed for outdoor use that break down all food scraps, ranging from fruit peels to bread to meat and dairy.
According to numbers provided by the municipality, only 25 of the 200 cones the municipality acquired were picked up from the office.
McCrindle and Lacasse agreed they felt the municipality’s communication is lacking about these composting programs.
Larose, who pointed toward the municipality’s most recent online newsletter as a source of information about both programs, said a few people have already expressed interest in the FoodCyclers.
“That’s what the 100 machines are for, is to try it out and see if anyone gets involved,” he said, adding that they will re-evaluate the municipality’s participation in the program depending on interest.
He acknowledged the municipality needs to improve communication about the program, and said when communications specialist Natalie Larose comes back from sick leave later this month she will work on a strategy to get the information out there.
“We need to do a campaign to educate the people,” he said. “We’re going to have to spend more time explaining the reason why we have to use it.”
Larose expects the machines to be available for purchase in late May or early June.