Organic waste still makes up about half of all garbage sent to Metro Vancouver landfills, but the region is hoping that will change soon with a ban on putting food and other compostable material in the trash.

 

The region plans to prohibit organic waste from the regular trash stream by the end of 2015, but Richmond Mayor Malcolm Brodie, also the chair of the Zero Waste Committee, acknowledges there's still a lot of work left to be done.

 

"No matter which sector you're looking in, a very large part of our waste stream -- the garbage -- is made up of food," he told CTV News.

 

Food scraps made up about 40 per cent of all residential trash last year, and if other organics like paper soiled with food are added in, the proportion rises to about 50 per cent.

 

While most Metro Vancouver municipalities will have green bin programs for single-family homes by the end of this year, getting apartment buildings, condos and businesses on board will be more of a challenge.

 

"Think how much food they put into the waste stream," Brodie said.

 

Richmond is in the midst of a pilot project targeting organic waste from multi-family buildings, which the mayor says is showing promise.

 

The region is also hoping to work with businesses like restaurants and grocery stores to show them the benefits of removing organics from the trash, according to Dennis Ranahan, deputy director of Metro Vancouver's solid waste department.

 

"We're implementing programs to help them be more aware of the problems, more aware of the opportunities for what they can do," he said.

 

"The financial incentives are there that it is cost-effective to divert the organics from the disposal stream."

 

Brodie says that with the ban in place in three years, garbage haulers could be handed a surcharge for bringing in organic waste -- a cost that will be passed on to offending residences.

 

"You're making them responsible at the curbside," he said. "What the hauler has to do is make sure that every house he goes to, only the right garbage is going into that truck."

 

The plan is for organic waste to end up at places like Harvest Power in Richmond, which converts trash like food scraps and yard trimmings into high-nutrient soil. The company's Steve Aulja calls that "the true definition of closing the loop in recycling."

 

The plant is also planning to build an anaerobic digester that will be able to turn as much as 30,000 tonnes of waste into energy each year, producing about two megawatts of power -- enough to power about 700 homes. Aulja said that system will likely be in place by the fall.

 

With files from CTV British Columbia's Maria Weisgarber