Approximately 50 residents turned up and had their say as the City held two open houses on May 7 and May 9 about the future of recycling services in Airdrie.
The open houses were the third step in public consultation into recycling services the City has held since November 2014, according to Team Leader, Waste and Recycling Services Tracey Chala.
A survey was conducted online and by telephone in November, and citizens were consulted at the Home and Lifestyle Show on April 25 to April 26. Focus groups are planned for the week of May 10, said Chala.
“We’re just trying to get a feel (for how people are feeling) from all of those. All that consultation is just one piece of the bigger picture,” she said.
“Behind the scenes we’re doing a lot of ongoing technical research into things like costs and other details. If we were to put up other depots where would those go, what would those look like? If we were to do a curbside program would it be a 240-litre blue cart, would it be a clear bag, would it be bins? All those kinds of things are being researched on the back end.”
Residents attending the open houses were given a chance to comment not just on the services they like but those they don’t like.
“There are three high-level options,” Chala said. “One is a curbside program, one is to enhance our depots and one is to (keep things) status quo.”
“We’re asking people to come in and talk about the advantages and disadvantages of any of those options. If you’re one of the people who really wants a blue cart, (we asked you to) write why it’s such a great idea under ‘Advantages’ but then go to the other boards and also write why you are opposed to those, what the ‘Disadvantages’ are so we can get a really good understanding of why people are thinking the way they are,” she said.
According to Chala, staff will compile the information they collected from the public consultation to complement the research they have done and present recommendations to City council, hopefully in June. If those recommendations are approved by council, rolling out any changes will still take time.
“If there’s going to be a change, I’d think that won’t happen until next year,” Chala said. “But that’s just a guess.”
Airdrie’s recycling services are feeling stress from a growing population, according to Chala.
“The Eastside Recycle Depot is probably getting close to capacity. It was built, I believe, in the early 90s and that was for a community a fraction of the size of Airdrie now,” she said. “On Saturdays, you see how many hundreds of cars are coming through and we feel that we’re outgrowing it. We feel like we need to have some other options on the table.”
Results from the survey, presented to Airdrie City council by Tracy With, vice-president of Bannister Research & Consulting Inc. on Jan. 19, showed that residents, while pleased with current recycling services, would like to see the City introduce curbside recycling.
“We have some very passionate recyclers here in our community,” Chala said.
