Eagle Terrace getting recycling bins in June

Recycling is about to get a lot easier for one Canmore neighbourhood this summer.

Eagle Terrace will see recycling bins installed this month adjacent to every bear proof garbage bin in the subdivision.

Town Manager of public works Andreas Comeau said this week concrete pads for the new blue bins have been poured and the Town expects delivery of the bins themselves by the end of June.

“It is going to be just as easy to recycle as it is to throw things out,” Comeau said. “We hope this will be convenient for people and increase our diversion rates.

“We are very excited to be moving forward with this project.”

He said staff routinely find recyclable material inside garbage bins and, by having recycling containers in residential areas adjacent to bear bins, it makes it easier for people to divert waste from the landfill.

While previously it had been proposed that Canmore go to a curbside pickup model, council decided on adjacent wildlife proof bins to avoid recyclable materials becoming an attractant.

Once the exact date of the installation is known, Comeau said staff would work in conjunction with the Bow Valley Waste Management Commission to go door-to-door and educate residents on the program.

While the recycling depots at Sobeys and in Elk Run have a number of streams, the blue bins will contain three streams that actually accommodate six different recyclable materials.

One stream will take mixed paper and fibre products including cardboard, the second, recyclable plastic containers and metal food cans and the third, glass.

“Until we have a facility to deal with mixed material here we will take it to Banff to be sorted,” Comeau said.

For Canmore to be able to sort its own recyclable materials it will have to find an appropriate location for a material recycling facility.

That facility is also needed before a recycling program can be expanded throughout the entire community, added Comeau.

“We are undertaking a waste feasibility study that will be looking at options for the community to manage its waste,” he said. “It needs to run its course before any decision can be made on a material recycling facility.”

Comeau said he expects council will have the information it needs to make a decision by 2012.

Eagle Terrace was selected for the pilot project because with only one road in and out, Town staff can weigh garbage from the neighbourhood with a reasonable expectation other areas are not contributing to it.

Comparing figures prior to the use of recycling bins to after installation will provide data for the municipality and council with respect to how successful the program is.

The Town of Banff began a very similar program with its residential waste in October 2008.

Banff Environmental Coordinator Chad Townsend said the program began with 18 blue bear proof bins through the community adjacent to garbage bins and followed the next year with another 18 installed.

Today, he said, there are 38 recycling bins throughout the resort community.

“It was over a two year budget, but we also wanted to know how well it worked,” Townsend said. “We are proud of (the recycling program) it has been a success and we are happy the Town of Canmore is duplicating it.”

A recent staff report to Banff council about its recycling project indicated the weight of residential waste being taken to landfill has decreased by 25 per cent, or 590 tonnes, between 2007 before the bins were installed to 2010.