The municipality of Alleyn and Cawood has received over $14,000 from the provincial government that will help kickstart a composting program in the coming months.

The amount, which was obtained from Quebec’s environment ministry, will pay for half the cost of acquiring rolling compost bins and small indoor compost bins. The remaining 50 per cent will be covered by the municipality.

Each residential property will receive one rolling compost bin and each commercial property will receive two, while residential properties will also receive an additional smaller bin intended for indoor use.

Isabelle Cardinal, Alleyn and Cawood’s director general, said the composting program is part of a broader effort to reduce the municipality’s garbage tonnage

Garbage is more expensive to ship than compost, and she is hoping that by separating collection of garbage, compost and recycling, the municipality can save money on waste collection.

One tonne of garbage, she said, costs the municipality $300 to drop at the transfer site, while a tonne of compost will cost them $125.

Recyc-Québec, the province’s recycling authority, estimates that 40 per cent of the weight of municipally collected garbage bags is actually compostable material – an amount that Cardinal hopes they can get residents to put into a compost bin instead of a garbage bag

She said a small investment in the compost bins will yield a larger savings on garbage collection in the future.

“Yes, it’s going to cost money up front, but at the end of the line we will reap the benefits,” she said.

Alleyn and Cawood implemented a similar program last September whereby each household received a blue rolling bin to bring their recycling out to the street – the goal being to get people to separate out their recycling instead of putting it in the garbage.

Cardinal said the uptake has been huge, and people seem to be recycling more now.

“We’ve already seen a big difference,” Cardinal told THE EQUITY in French. “The garbage bags are smaller than the rolling recycling bins [ . . . ] people seem to be recycling more.”

Cardinal said she is hoping the composting program will be similarly successful.

“We’re really seeing a difference in our tonnages [ . . . ] so with composting we are hoping to have even more of an impact on our garbage tonnage.”   

Cardinal said residents of her municipality have been made aware of the program through collections calendars and through the recycling program. 

She said the municipality will begin collecting as soon as the rolling bins are delivered, likely this fall, and that they will collect weekly in the summertime and biweekly in the winter. 

Alleyn and Cawood will truck their compost to a site in Kazabazua, in addition to the compost they are already trucking there from neighbouring Otter Lake.

Otter Lake mayor Terry Lafleur said the two municipalities have a joint agreement with the MRC de la Vallée de la Gatineau to take their compost to the Kazabazua facility.

He said there aren’t many options for them in the MRC Pontiac in terms of compost collection. 

“There has not been any official plan from the MRC in regards to signing a contract for someone to collect our compost, and there’s no composting centre for the Pontiac.” 

And, Lafleur said, it’s more economical for his municipality to send its compost to Kazabazua, which is only 40 kilometres away. 

“It is a lot cheaper, transportation-wise.”

According to the MRC Pontiac, there are only five municipalities with door-to-door food waste collection, while 11 municipalities accept green waste such as branches and leaves.

In a statement to THE EQUITY, communications officer Francis Beausoleil said the MRC is in the process of meeting with municipalities about developing a program applicable to everyone in the MRC. 

“We’ll be holding meetings on this subject in August and September. We would like to increase door-to-door a voluntary drop-off services throughout the MRC.”

He added there are avenues available for funding, should they decide to implement a program. 

“There are funding programs available through Recyc-Québec [ . . . ] to help with the implementation of such programs, for example the supply of backyard compost bins.”

Cardinal said her municipality has ordered the compost bins and should receive them in approximately four to five weeks, at which point the bins will be delivered to each property in the municipality. Collection will begin as soon as all the bins are delivered. 

Any resident who wishes to have any additional rolling brown compost bins may purchase them from the municipality.