Results of the community safety audit undertaken by the City of North Battleford were revealed to city council members Monday.
Assistant Director Of Utility Services Tammy MacCormack spoke on the findings of the audit, which was conducted over a two-week period between waste management facility staff and consultants.
They sorted through trash collected from 100 households, with garbage collected between May 28-31 and recycling from June 4-7.
What was found from the garbage composition was a lot of compostable material. According to the findings 50.4 per cent was compostable; 33.5 per cent was landfill materials (ie. non-recyclable plastics, hygiene and other wastes), 8.7 per cent was recycling materials and 7.5 per cent was properly destined for other diversion programs (ie. textiles, electronics, glass jars, household hazardous waste etc.).
A large portion of the garbage stream, 45.16 per cent, was yard and garden. Unavoidable food waste made up 28.85 per cent and avoidable food waste 13.47 per cent.
When asked, MacCormack confirmed that it was normal for the amount of compostable material to be so high as 50 per cent. Such compostable material included compostable paper, food and yard waste.
For the recycling stream, 76 per cent was paper products, 20 per cent was contamination, 7.2 per cent were plastic and 2.2 per cent metal. Contamination included such items as a coffee maker, glass jars, footwear, clothing, books and other items.
As for the discussion that followed, the amount of compostable material in the garbage prompted discussion about whether to look into a mandatory composting program in the city.
“I’m guessing we want to at least explore the idea,” was the reaction from Mayor Ryan Bater.
MacCormack did point out these numbers did not include waste from restaurants, apartment buildings and businesses in general.
