A pilot program on curbside composting in Kamloops will likely start in the fall, but where that compost would be taken is still to be determined.

Environmental services manager Glen Farrow says internal crews will collect the compost and, at first, it will have to be taken a compost site outside of the city.

“So with this type of product, it’s quite different than your regular yard waste. The risk or the threat of vectors, birds, rats, smell, is significantly higher. So the facility we have set up at Cinnamon Ridge is not set up to handle that product, and the intensity it would be.,” Farrow says.

“A lot of these other operations, they have the facilities to establish and control those vectors as well as then kick out a good quality compost product, that could be used either back here or elsewhere in the province. The other thing to think of, when we look at those other operations outside of the city, they have really good economies of scale. Because they’re producing and capturing so much more product than just the city of Kamloops.”

Council has committed reserve money to the curbside compost pilot project, and this year staff will be applying for grant funding, which could cover more than one-third of start-up costs.

Phase one will involve community engagement before the pilot program starts, as part of phase two. Phase three would be fully bringing in the compost program for Kamloops homes, which is currently expected to happen by July of 2023.