The city’s Sort Toss Roll waste collection system doesn’t accept deer carcasses.
The City of Nanaimo advised residents of that guideline earlier this week after it was discovered last week that someone had put a deer carcass in their green bin, said David Thompson, city manager of sanitation, recycling and public works administration.
“Friendly reminder, Nanaimo: animal carcasses are not acceptable in the green cart for composting! Please talk to your local game butcher about rendering options,” noted the social media post from the city.
Thompson said the city’s messaging was already clear about not accepting roadkill, but felt greater clarification was needed about disposal of game carcasses.
“It’s primarily because of the fur. The fur and the skin is not compostable,” Thompson said. “And also the animals can be quite large, considerably different than what might come out of a kitchen.”
He said the Regional District of Nanaimo’s organic waste contractor screens the truckloads for contaminants, sometimes finding items that shouldn’t be in the green bins, such as plastic plant pots.
“There’s always room for improvement,” Thompson said. “That’s one of the reasons why we have this feedback loop with the processing plant is to identify these things as they come up and provide clarification.”
The city has been allowing residents of north and south Nanaimo to swap their garbage and recycling bins for smaller or larger carts this month, but larger green bins are not available because of capacity limitations at the organics processing plant.
“We have an open line of communication as to what we’re seeing on the ground in terms of our curbside collection and what residents are asking for and we always look to compare that with what the processing plant’s capabilities are and hopefully those two things are getting closer and closer as time goes on,” Thompson said.
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