Campbell River takes food and yard waste year-round as part of weekly curbside collection. The City’s organics program page says the service is delivered by Emterra Environmental and funded by an annual collection service fee. The aim, the City writes, is to keep food and yard waste out of the landfill and turn it into fertilizer, while stretching the life of the regional landfill.
Set-out rules are specific. Organic materials should be at the curb as close to 7:30 a.m. as possible, and not earlier than midnight, on your collection day. After pickup, bring garbage containers back onto the property by 8 p.m., a wildlife rule the City ties to reducing the risk of attracting bears. There is a 360-litre limit per household per week. Individual containers must not exceed 121 litres, and cans should be no more than 20 kilograms (44 pounds). If you have more than 360 litres, you can buy a $4 organics collection tag at City Hall, the Sportsplex or the Community Centre. Yard waste can also be dropped off at the landfill; fees are listed by the Comox Strathcona Waste Management site the City links to.
What you put the waste in matters as much as when you put it out. Green kitchen bins are for daily indoor use and are not for curbside collection. Acceptable liners for those indoor bins are shredded paper, paper bags without a plastic liner, and newspaper; plastic and compostable plastic bags will be left at the curb. The City also says not to put organics out for collection in the green kitchen bins or in paper yard-waste bags, because unsecured containers increase human-wildlife conflicts. Leaves and lawn clippings that do not contain food may still go in paper yard-waste bags. Branches and pruning must be tied or bagged in secure bundles no more than 90 centimetres (36 inches) long and 60 centimetres (24 inches) wide, with individual branches no more than 7.6 centimetres (3 inches) in diameter, tied with twine or other compostable string. Exterior bins should be a strong, lidded container of plastic, rubber or galvanized steel, clearly labelled as organic waste. Collection day for your street is on the City’s Collection Schedules page, through the ReCollect tool or the Campbell River Recycles app.
Good to know
- Set organics at the curb by 7:30 a.m. (not before midnight). Bring containers back in by 8 p.m.
- Weekly limit: 360 litres per household. No plastic or compostable plastic bags. Extra tags are $4 at City Hall, the Sportsplex or the Community Centre.
- Official rules and accepted materials: the City’s organics program page.
Image: Screenshot of the City of Campbell River organics program page.
Photo: City of Campbell River, Screenshot of official source page, via source.
