Sault Ste. Marie prepares for organic waste collection
In response to a mandate from the province, the City of Sault Ste. Marie is preparing for organic waste collection.
The Sault has to begin organic waste collection by 2025. While not downplaying the need for waste diversion strategies, some are expressing concern about the costs of implementing the program.
Susan Hamilton Beach, the city’s director of public works, said an organics program will likely mean higher budgets, but it will also significantly reduce the amount of waste going to the landfill.
“It’s approximately 50 per cent of the waste stream,” she said.
“So, when you sit back and think that half of the waste is (organics,) and can, in fact, be diverted, there truly is no reason to place it in the garbage stream.”
Mayor Matthew Shoemaker said the provincial mandate should have come with corresponding funding that could be used to purchase greener garbage trucks and equipment.
“We’re stuck with equipment that runs on combustion engines and contributes to greenhouse gases,” Shoemaker said.
“It’s great that we are improving our collection system generally, but we want to make it a greener collection system across the board.”
Both Shoemaker and Hamilton Beach said organics collection has been looked at off-and-on, but was found to be cost-prohibitive.
But some said the move is long overdue.
“The whole community has asked for this for more than 25 years,” said Peter McLarty, vice-chair of the environmental group Clean North.
“It has been done in other communities 20 years ago and they say, ‘Why isn’t the Sault doing it?’”
McLarty said it’s ultimately up to citizens to take care of the environment.
“You could start at home, simply by reducing the amount of your own compostable materials or doing your own composting,” he said.
Meantime, the city is looking into the idea of bi-weekly garbage and recyclables collection as a means of controlling costs. Organics would be collected weekly to cut down on odours that could attract rodents and other wildlife.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
'Anything to win': Trudeau says as Poilievre defends meeting protesters
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming 'the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists,' after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, which his office has defended.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
'One of the single most terrifying things ever': Ontario couple among passengers on sinking tour boat in Dominican Republic
A Toronto couple are speaking out about their 'extremely dangerous' experience on board a sinking tour boat in the Dominican Republic last week.
Boeing's financial woes continue, while families of crash victims urge U.S. to prosecute the company
Boeing said Wednesday that it lost US$355 million on falling revenue in the first quarter, another sign of the crisis gripping the aircraft manufacturer as it faces increasing scrutiny over the safety of its planes and accusations of shoddy work from a growing number of whistleblowers.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Fair in Ontario, flurries in Labrador: Weather systems make for an erratic spring
"It's a bit of a complicated pattern; we've got a lot going on," said Jennifer Smith of the Meteorological Service of Canada in an interview with CTVNews.ca on Wednesday. "[As is] typical with weather, all of these things are related."