By David F. Rooney
Coming to a curb near you in January — it’s mandatory recycling. Yes, mandatory recycling at an initial estimated cost of $8.10 a month per single-family house in town.
Darcy Mooney, the Columbia Shuswap Regional District’s deputy manager of Environmental and Engineering Services, told City Council, which was meeting Tuesday afternoon as a Committee of the Whole (CoW), that after three years of discussion, meetings and policy development, the CSRD’s bi-weekly kerbside recycling service for Revelstoke is scheduled to begin next January.
Homeowners will be able to leave an unlimited number of recyclable materials such as paper, cans and glass at the curb in a blue or clear plastic bag. The City will collect the materials and the CSRD will be responsible for transporting them away for processing.
Mooney told Council that the next step is for the City and the CSRD to issue a Request for Proposals in June for a company to handle the recyclable materials.
He also noted that people paying for the recycling service will be expected to use bags — not blue boxes. Bags are more efficient and will themselves be recycled. The problem with blue boxes is that they can fill with rain or snow and, on windy days, their contents can be scattered all over the street. People living in apartments or suites will be able to continue using the drop-off depot by the arena.
City staff were directed to comment on the proposal for the next CoW meeting on Tuesday, June 1.
