Compost conversations heat up in Ritchot, Tache

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This article was published 07/07/2019 (1748 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Two local municipalities want the province to help make composting simpler and more convenient, and one local mayor said his council is now looking for ways to make composting pick-up available in the not-too-distant future.

At a recent district meeting of the Association of Manitoba Municipalities (AMM), a resolution from Ritchot and Tache was affirmed asking the province to take steps to make composting more financially and operationally attainable for municipalities.

“We’re asking the province to help in getting rid of that red tape and reduce those prohibitive costs,” said Ritchot mayor Chris Ewen. “As an RM we have been looking at what we can do to reduce our waste, and one of the things we looked at was composting.

“Whether it’s having compost drop-off bins or looking at compost pick-up, we are dealing with a lot of red tape and prohibitive costs associated with composting so it’s hard to get it going.”

Ewen said council has been discussing the idea of compost pick-up and said it was something he believes the municipality should trial in the next year or two.

“It’s been in our discussions quite frequently and it will come up in our fall discussion, so nothing is set it stone but we would like to do a trial and that will be something we will be discussing.”

Ewen said if composting doesn’t become simpler and more convenient in Manitoba, he believes the amount of waste going to landfills is not sustainable.

“Something like 40 percent of waste going to landfills is organic,” he said, “So, why not do something with it and create opportunities for composting facilities and situations?”

Tache mayor Justin Bohemier said his municipality is also focused on improving composting services for residents.

“Right now it’s just all getting thrown into the same pile and it’s filling up the landfill and we want to minimalize that,” Bohemier said. “Any kind of waste that can be composted should be stopped from going into a landfill.”

“We have to find a solution to this and composting is a beautiful thing that we can and should be offering to people.”

Bohemier said he would also one day like to see composting picked up from homeowners’ properties, but said a lot of work would need to be done before that dream could become a reality.

“I think it would be simpler for the RM to pick it up, because that way we could make it simpler on the resident’s end,” he said.

“It’s a very difficult thing for all of us to navigate right now, but I believe if we can work together with RMs and with the province we can find a solution because the easier we can make it, the better chances we have for success.”