The Town of Cochrane is moving forward with their March 24 approval of amending its Waste Management Bylaw to include all multi-family complexes.
An open house will be held at the Cochrane RancheHouse May 27 from 6-8 p.m., where residents, owners, tenants, condo board representatives and property managers are encouraged to view the draft bylaw and give feedback.
“The goal of the (multi-family recycling) strategy is to ensure that all residential dwellings in Cochrane are on a level playing field regarding waste and recycling services, that all residents have access to programming and that it is delivered in a consistent and financially suitable fashion,” explained Sharon Howland, manager of waste and recycling for the town.
If the bylaw is approved, on-site recycling programs must be implemented in multi-family complexes by April 1, 2015.
Each building will be able to seek out a private service provider who could meet their recycling needs; the town will serve a facilitative role to transition the initiative, which ties in with the town’s ‘Zero Waste Framework’.
The framework was adopted by council in 2012 and seeks to divert 80 per cent of waste from landfill by 2020.
“An interesting point to note is that the City of Calgary council has recently approved a number of policies that have a significant impact on all Cochrane sectors with regards to waste and recycling,” said Howland.
“New policy tools including mandatory source separation of recyclables like paper and cardboard, source separation of compostable organics, differential tipping fees — meaning that you will pay dramatically more to dispose of your waste if it includes paper, cardboard or compostable organics — as well as outright landfill bans to be phased in for paper, cardboard and compostable organics.”
Howland said this means that Cochrane needs to ensure all their waste and recycling programs, as well as bylaws and policies, align with the requirements established by Calgary, as Cochrane uses Calgary landfills for waste disposal.
