Fines Recommended for Contaminated Collection Carts in Castlegar

The latest update to Castlegar City Council on their new Organics Program recommended fines be introduced to contaminated collection carts.

Solid Waste & Organics Ambassador Emilie teBulte explains:

“We’ve got some pretty strong evidence, I’ve been tracking the bins that have been contaminated and so we have a pretty good idea of the houses that continually are contaminated and we’ve gone through the avenues to try to stop that contamination and it hasn’t worked. I think in that case that would be a scenario where a fine might be a more effective method.”

TeBulte says the RDCK's grace period means no loads have been charged to date, but that will change:

“They’ve got waste spotters in Ootischenia, so that waste spotter will send a report to the RDCK who will decide whether or not that load is rejected. If a load is rejected it is sent to the landfill and we are charged five-times the fee for that load, which is pretty hefty. I believe that the load for organics is about $88 per ton.”

Director of Corporate Services Tracey Butler has the timeline:

“Currently Cooperate Services is working on two bylaw amendments, one for our wildlife attractant bylaw and one for our MTI (Municipal Ticketing Information) so you will be seeing both of those by the end of the year…. Amendments so that we can start with our ticketing process.”

The program's first week was the heaviest for contamination, but it has steadily decreased now that problematic carts are being tagged.

Castlegar now has over 3100 organics and garbage services, with over 3300 recycling services.

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