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
‘We’re going to rebuild’: Indigenous communities look to recover from devastating wildfires
The East Prairie Métis Settlement is one of several Indigenous communities that were hard-hit by the recent wildfires in Alberta. As the wildfire season rages on, residents and community officials are looking among the ruins, pondering how they’ll recover from all the losses.

Blue Jays pitcher 'truly sorry' for sharing anti-LGBTQ2S+ video
Toronto Blue Jays relief pitcher Anthony Bass said he is 'truly sorry' for sharing a controversial anti-LGBTQ2S+ video on Instagram.
O'Toole says CSIS told him he was focus of Chinese misinformation, suppression effort
Conservative MP Erin O'Toole says Canada's spy agency has told him he was the target of Chinese interference intended to to discredit him and promote false narratives about his policies while party leader.
Alberta Premier Smith wants to 'reset' federal-provincial relationship while eyeing sovereignty act
Fresh off leading Alberta's United Conservative Party to a majority victory on Monday night, Premier Danielle Smith says she wants to 'reset' her relationship with the federal government, while readying to invoke the province's sovereignty act over emissions targets, if needed.
Low sexual satisfaction linked to memory decline later in life: study
Low sexual satisfaction in middle age could be linked to future memory decline, according to a new study.
New study finds Canadian women are more likely to adhere to social and democratic values than men
New data from the General Social Survey by Statistics Canada examined values across different Canadian demographics and found that Canadian women are more likely to closely adhere to most social and democratic values than Canadian men.
U.S. officer shoots at truck driver near N.B. border crossing
Traffic is back up and running through the border crossing between Woodstock, N.B., and Houlton, Maine, after a security scare Monday.
Human rights activist confirmed to be held in Chinese detention centre: family in Canada
Chinese authorities have confirmed that human rights activist Dong Guangping has been held in a Chinese detention centre since October of last year, according to the man's family in Canada.
Police identify engaged couple shot dead after dispute with landlord near Hamilton
A young couple shot and killed after a dispute with their landlord near Hamilton have been identified by police.