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City of Richmond

Richmond Reduces Food Scrap Waste With New Green Can Program

12 March 2010

Richmond residents are about to receive a huge opportunity to reduce their landfill waste. A new City of Richmond recycling program, called Green Can, will start in April with the first garbage and recycling collections. The program adds organic food scraps to garden trimming collection and all will be recycled and composted into nutrient rich soil products, right here in Richmond.

"We're proud that Richmond residents are already recycling over 50 per cent of what used to be garbage," says Mayor Malcolm Brodie. "The Green Can program is a significant component of the City’s developing Zero Waste Challenge which has a target to divert 70% of solid waste to recycling. The program also joins Richmond with other Metro Vancouver municipalities in a regional food scrap program.”

The enhancements are simple but notable, and they affect only those presently receiving City operated yard trimming collection–primarily singe-family residences. First, you will be able to add food scraps to your yard trimmings. Secondly, plastic bags will no longer be accepted for yard trimmings after a one‑month grace period that ends May 1. Garbage-type cans and disposable yard trimming paper bags will replace plastic.

Yard trimmings collection can now include fruit and vegetable peelings, breads and pastas, coffee grounds and tea bags, egg and dairy products, paper towels and paper napkins, meat, poultry, fish, shellfish, bones and even pizza boxes.

Eliminating plastic bags from the recycling process will dramatically reduce plastic bag waste and improve the quality of the finished compost by eliminating plastic residue.

A door hanger explaining the program and two Green Can decals will be delivered to households included in this program in late March.

  • The yard trimmings/food scrap cans must be labelled with the City’s free Green Can decals.
  • Residents must provide their own cans or bags.
  • Due to the weight of organic materials, the reusable cans must be no larger than 80 litres and must not weigh more than 20 kilograms (44 pounds) when full.
  • Alternatively, people can use large, disposable, yard trimming paper bags available at local retail stores.
  • The Green Can decals must be visible to the Green Can collectors from the road to ensure pickup. Regular garbage collectors won’t dispose of Green Can materials, as yard trimmings are banned from landfills.
  • Residents can place an unlimited amount of decaled Green Cans or disposable paper yard trimming bags out for collection.
  • Beginning in April, additional Green Can decals will be available at local Richmond community centres, City Hall and the City’s Recycling Depot at no cost.
In addition to these changes, starting on the first collection day in April, the City’s garbage and recycling collection time will move to 7:30 a.m. This means all Green Cans, paper yard trimmings bags, blue boxes and carts, and garbage must be at the curb by 7:30 a.m. The time change is necessary to ensure crews have the time needed to collect all items on a resident’s regular collection day.

For further information, please visit www.richmond.ca/recycle.