Town of Osoyoos council did a little trash talking Monday as the town’s current garbage and recycling contract will expire in the summer of 2018.

Cameron Baughen, the solid waste management co-ordinator for the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen (RDOS), said the majority of communities in the regional district as well as the Town of Osoyoos will see their current garbage and recycling contracts expire in June of 2018.

The plan is to have contractors bid through a Request for Proposal (RFP) process at the end of April, with the new contract being awarded in late June or early July, he said.

If the RFP is awarded in late June or early July, it would provide the contractor one year to purchase new trucks and other equipment and set up the program, said Baughen.

The curbside collection contract for the RDOS, City of Penticton, Summerland, Oliver, Keremeos and Town of Osoyoos expires in June 30, 2018.

The Town’s contract with Multi-Material BC, the provincial program that collects printed paper, dry paper packaging as well as plastic, medal and wet paper containers, expires in November of 2018 and MMBC management won’t reveal details about any changes to that program until this fall, said Baughen.

MMBC hasn’t fined the Town of Osoyoos or any community within the RDOS, but has hinted the current contamination rate of people placing incorrect materials for collection is close to 10 per cent and they would like that rate to be reduced to three per cent or fines would likely increase, he said.

The Town of Osoyoos will be starting its own organic materials collection program as part of its new contract and the RDOS has studied options for collection of residential organics and options for commercial groups, including one possible site at the Oliver landfill, said Baughen.

“When it comes to organics, we’re not sure what system we will use,” he said.

Baughen said he would return to Osoyoos council within the next several weeks to discuss implementation of an organics collection program in more detail.

Some cities and towns in B.C. provide small bins for food waste only, while others provide separate bins for food and yard waste, he said.

Most communities have implemented a system where organics are collected every week and garbage and recycling materials are collected the following week, he said.

The City of Penticton has successfully implemented a cart system, where medium-sized, durable plastic carts are provided by the contractor to every homeowner in the community and each home receives three carts – one for recyclable materials, yard waste and garbage, he said.

There isn’t the capacity to offer a cart system in rural areas, but Baughen thinks the program could be successful in the Town of Osoyoos.

The contractor would purchase, deliver and maintain the carts, but the Town would own them after seven years and most carts last between seven to 15 years, he said.

An open house on the various options involved in a cart program would be held in Osoyoos sometime this spring, said Baughen.

Most roadside pickup garbage collection trucks are now semi-automated with the driver attaching the carts to a device that dumps the materials into the vehicle, but most communities are looking at fully automated side loading units where the driver would not have to leave the vehicle, he said.

Another important reason for considering using fully automated vehicles for collection is several garbage collection workers in Penticton are off the job due to injuries suffered from having to load and dump materials from bins into vehicles, he said.

Towns and villages within the RDOS are more than willing to work together with towns like Osoyoos to harmonize waste collection services, he said.

“We like to harmonize as much as we possibly can to save money,” he said.

If a cart program is initiated, cameras would need to be installed so drivers can look to ensure materials that shouldn’t be there are removed, he said.

The cameras can also take photos and users who continually contaminate their garbage with inappropriate materials like propane tanks would be warned through a letter and potential disruption of services, he said.

KEITH LACEY

Osoyoos Times