Organics Collection Program - Halifax Regional Municipality Part I

Let's Waste Less By Composting

Welcome to the Halifax Regional Municipality's Organics Collection Program!

Organics collection follows recycling and backyard composting as the next step in helping to protect and preserve our environment. By participating in this program, you will be joining the 2,000 households throughout HRM already successfully separating organic materials into their carts for collection. This program will help us become one of the first major North American communities with full-scale curbside collection of organic material for composting.

It's easy.It's responsible. It works.

All you have to do is collect your food scraps in the mini-bin we have provided for you. Then just take it out and empty it in your large organics green cart. A quick rinse of your mini-bin and you're ready to start collecting those resources again. You may also place your yard wastes and any non-recyclable or soiled paper or boxboard in the cart (see list of What's In on the following pages). Every two weeks, we'll empty your cart for you and compost the contents.

Keeping organic material out of the waste stream provides many great benefits:

• Combined with blue bag recycling, up to 75% of household waste can be diverted from landfill.
  
• The municipality's new landfill will be environmentally safe (without organics, the liquid run-off known as leachate will be substantially reduced).
  
• The municipality will comply with the province-wide ban on the disposal of compostable organic material in landfills.
  
• The municipality will comply with the provincial requirement of a 50% reduction in waste sent to landfill by the year 2000.
  
• Perhaps most importantly, by composting our organic wastes we will be giving back to the Earth something of great value. Compost gives soil increased ability to retain water, support all forms of life and resist erosion.

We're helping Mother Nature recycle, and we know that Mother knows best.

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