Castlegar city council has awarded a garbage and recycling collection contract to Waste Management for a term of seven years. The company has held the city's garbage contract for a number of years.
The contract marks the beginning of changes to the city's waste collection system. The new system is scheduled to roll out in April and will see a switch to bi-weekly garbage collection. The city will be purchasing bear resistant carts that will be issued to residents. The funding for the carts will come from the Gas Tax Reserve Fund. The standard size for the wheeled carts will be 64 gallons, but residents can request a smaller one if they find it too large for their needs. Arrangements can also be made to purchase an extra cart if residents find the 64 gallon one is not large enough for them.
Recycling collection will remain bi-weekly. The change will be that it will now be a dual stream system meaning that the recycling is separated by the home owner into two separate blue boxes that will also be supplied by the city. Glass will no longer be collected, but a centralized collection bin will be set up.
There will be no change to yard waste collection, curbside collection will occur twice annually and the drop off location behind the Castlegar Complex will remain in operation. In addition council will be considering subsidizing compost containers during the 2016 budget process.
A substantial communication and education program will be undertaken to help residents understand how to handle waste within a bi-weekly collection program and how the recycling changes will affect them.