The City of Enderby is carrying on with a curbside collection program that, while not free of hiccups, has proven an efficient way to dispose of spring pruning and garden waste.
Council voted to continue on with the program at its Monday meeting, March 15.
No exact date has been set for the start of this year’s program, but Bengtson said it will likely be in the third week of April, when last year’s program rolled out.
There’s a lot of appeal to the program from council’s perspective.
Tate Bengtson, Enderby’s chief administrative officer, noted the program aligns with the city’s broader mandate of encouraging residents to maintain their properties while avoiding unlawful burning, and it’s also consistent with FireSmart principles.
“It’s encouraging people to remove combustible debris from around their properties to help protect them,” Bengtson said.
This time last year the city was considering cutting the program due to a lack of funds and ongoing misuse by residents.
Staff ultimately recommended against cancelling the program in April 2020, given there was a planned pilot project to chip wood waste to be burned in the city’s biomass boiler, as well as a more pressing need to divert waste away from regional landfills that were strained by a spike in demand during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic.
That pilot turned out to be unsuccessful due to the amount of improper material placed in the organics bags (soil, concrete, metal, etc.), making the material unsuitable for the biomass boiler, according to a March 11 staff report.
But the spring pruning and garden waste program remains popular among the residents who use it, staff noted, and though the program has been hampered by abuse despite “ongoing public communications,” its minimal operating budget of $4,000 makes it a viable option, even without the added benefit of the pilot project.
More information on the program will be shared once the operation dates have been set.
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