Throwing your apple core in the garbage in Whistler could soon carry the same stigma as tossing a plastic drink bottle in the trash. The community’s new composting facility is set to begin operations this month and residential organic waste will soon be accepted at both local garbage compactor sites.

Brian Barnett, the municipality’s general manager of environmental services, on Monday (Nov. 3) said compost collection bins should be in place at the Nesters and Function Junction compactor sites within the next two weeks.

Municipal staff is working with local Rotary groups and the Cow’s ice cream shop to provide ice cream bins for Whistler residents to use for organic waste collection at home, he said. No plastic or metal is accepted in the compost bins, so people can’t simply drop off a plastic bag full of organic waste, Barnett said.

Organic waste accepted for composting includes food waste such as fruit, vegetables, meat, bones, baked goods and coffee grounds. Yard waste such as grass clippings, flowers and plant stalks are also accepted.

Whistlerites have previously been limited in their access to compost facilities because the sweet smell of backyard composters attracts bears and other wildlife, said Mayor Ken Melamed.

The new $13.77 million compost facility, which is located at the municipal waste transfer station in the Callaghan Valley, is expected to keep up to 6,000 tonnes of biosolids and compostable waste out of Whistler’s solid waste stream each year.

The “significant” environmental benefit of reduced waste also results in the economic benefit of lower costs to ship Whistler’s waste to the Rabanco facility in Washington state, Barnett said during a tour of the new compost facility last Thursday (Oct. 30). He acknowledged the high capital cost for the facility, but said the value gained is “immeasurable” and implementing composting is “doing the right thing.”

“The community should be very proud,” he said. “This is a major accomplishment.”

Melamed also said the cost to build the facility is a big investment, but he thinks the community will look back and say it was money well spent. With the composter in operation, Whistler will be diverting almost 70 per cent of its waste from the landfill, Melamed said, bringing the community closer to its goal of zero waste.

John Nelson, municipal capital projects manager, said the compost facility also removes wood waste from Whistler’s garbage stream. Wood chips are mixed with organic waste and biosolids from the sewage treatment plant as the compost feedstock.

“The operation is like a recipe for a cake,” Nelson said.

A mix of about half wood chips and half organics/biosolids is loaded onto trays into the compost tunnels for a 14-day biological process, he said. The material is heated to 55 degrees Celsius to kill pathogens.

The municipality purchased the composting tunnels from Carney’s Waste Systems after it closed its compost operations in Squamish in 2006. On Monday (Nov. 3), Council voted to approve a contract for Carney’s to operate the composter.

Owen Carney said the Whistler facility won’t have the same problems with odours he faced in Squamish because the Whistler facility is located away from other businesses and populated areas.

Whistler’s new compost facility is set to begin operating next week.