Recycling full speed ahead for multi-family projects

Like items destined for the Blue Cart, Airdrie city council refused to throw out the idea of a recycling program in multi-family developments.

At the March 7 meeting, Council approved with 100% participation from members to implement a new program.

The idea itself was ratified last fall when Council voted to add condos, townhouses and apartment buildings to the municipal recycling program through private contractors, but asked City of Airdrie staff to come back to chambers with more thorough details on the mechanics of the program.

Airdrie Waste and Recycling Services team leader, Susan Grimm, outlined the requirements of the program to Council and stated that owners and building management must provide residents with things like storage including separate containers and bins to segregate types of materials. They must also obtain proof that recycled materials are indeed being recycled rather than being shipped off discreetly to landfill areas.

Currently, about 20% of all households in the City of Airdrie are units and homes without multi-family buildings or complexes and don’t get curbside garbage pickup.  That’s about 4,300 residential units.

The Airdrie model for recycling is based on a City of Calgary strategy for new building and retrofitting existing buildings and townhome developments.  When a new multi-family development is in the planning and permits stage, the process now has to include blueprint plans for recycling in addition to waste management areas. It’s expected, in theory, that the space or square feet required would not increase as the amount of material discard should be the same, just deposited in different bins with different destinations.

Until a firm plan is ironed out, residents residing in small buildings or developments are free to carry their recycling to a depot, as they always have done.

Some of the City’s operating budget requires adjusting, as $100,000 is required from Airdrie’s Waste Management Department to pay for a contract employee to get the program underway and to pay for advertising to get residents on board with new recycling initiatives.

Blue Cart recycling for single-family residential homes was approved last fall.  There are 100 items on the approved list for recyclables currently, with paper and cardboard to be added to the list in 2018 and organic compost materials in 2019.

The recycling bylaw in Airdrie will come into effect in May 2017, but shortly the City will start with an awareness program aimed at home owners, building managers and residents of multi-family dwellings.

The City of Airdrie doesn’t operate a landfill or recycling facilities but uses the City of Calgary facilities and is charged a disposal fee.