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RDEK to Provide Grant to City of Kimberley for Purchase of Curbside Recycling Carts

The RDEK has approved a grant to the City of Kimberley for the purchase of recycling carts to support the implementation of a Recycle BC curbside recycling program in the city.

“We salute the City for implementing a curbside program and are pleased to support these efforts by providing a grant to help offset some of the initial infrastructure costs associated with getting the service up and running,” explains RDEK Board Chair Rob Gay. “The introduction of curbside recycling will not only increase convenience for residents, but will also move a significant volume of material from the yellow bin system into the Recycle BC program, which will reduce costs for the whole Central Subregion.”

The RDEK will provide up to $281,600 for the purchase of 3,200 carts. The funding will come from a reserve account within the Central Solid Waste service, so will not result in any increased costs.

Recently, Recycle BC reached out to municipalities that provide curbside waste collection to offer funding for the curbside collection of recyclables. The City would be compensated for each residence served, which would help offset the ongoing operational costs of providing this curbside service. Currently, the RDEK pays for every tonne collected through the yellow bin program, and introduction of a curbside recycling program in Kimberley is estimated to save $81,000 per year in the yellow bins alone.

“This is a significant, positive step forward and, at the end of the day, we hope will further reduce the amount of material being landfilled,” adds Gay. In a recent waste audit, it was determined that up to 19% of waste sent to landfill in the region could have been recycled through either the Yellow Bin Program or the Recycle BC Program.

The City of Kimberley hopes to have the new curbside recycling service operational later this year. In July, the RDEK provided a similar grant to the City of Cranbrook, which will be launching its new curbside recycling service this spring.

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