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Calgary councillors delay green cart composting fees until 2018

A green cart composting bin is shown in Calgary.
A green cart composting bin is shown in Calgary. Global News File

Calgarians are being given a break on their upcoming green cart fees.

City council members voted unanimously on Tuesday to waive a $6.50 monthly fee that homeowners will have to pay when the composting program is introduced in January 2017.

READ MORE: Calgary city council approves monthly fee for green carts

The motion was put forward by Ward 2 Councillor Joe Magliocca

“A lot of it had to do with giving people a chance to transition into changing their habits,” Ward 6 Councillor Richard Pootmans said.

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The monthly fee will be delayed for a year, not coming into effect until January 2018.

“We are seeing a significant economic downturn right now, all Calgarians know that,” Ward 8 Councillor Evan Woolley added.

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According to the City of Calgary’s website, green carts will be delivered to Calgarians quadrant by quadrant beginning in the spring of 2017, with all eligible homes receiving a new bin by the fall of 2017.

Green carts will be picked up once a week on the same day, along with blue recycling carts.

Black garbage carts will be picked up once every two weeks on a separate day.

“The idea that we can now compost fats and bones and things like that diverts a lot of waste from landfills,” Pootmans said. “We cannot afford to keep throwing this much garbage into the ground. We’ll eventually run out of landfill space.”

 

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