Regina food and yard waste pilot launching this fall

Approximately 2,800 homes in Regina will be part of the city's one-year curbside food and yard waste pilot this fall.

Letters are being sent out this week to homes in the pilot areas, which are spread throughout the city.

The green cart service accepts all food scraps, including: meat, bones, dairy and grease, yard waste and soiled paper like paper towel, cardboard and tissues.

Once collected, the food and yard waste will be turned into compost.

The pilot will include year-round weekly food and yard waste collection, biweekly garbage collection and biweekly recycling collection, the city said in a news release.

"The pilot will be used to seek feedback from residents on collection schedules, education materials, and waste sorting practices prior to a city-wide implementation in 2023," said Kim Onrait, Executive Director of Citizen Services, in the release.

Different cart size combinations for both garbage and food and yard waste will be tested during the pilot, and participants will receive a green cart as well as a kitchen pail.

Residents can't volunteer for the program

The pilot areas are found in every ward in the city and includes household with both front street collection and back alley collection, the city website notes.

The city says neighbourhoods were selected systematically and factors such as community age, median household income and tree cover were all considered in the selection process, so residents can't volunteer for the pilot program.

• See a map of where the pilot areas are located

Regina City Council has a target of diverting 65 per cent of residential household waste from the landfill but the city's waste diversion rate has remained at only 20 per cent since 2015.

Food and yard waste currently make up about 50 per cent of what goes in the average Regina resident's garbage cart over the course of a year, the city says.