The City of Nelson is extending its Pre-treated Organics Program following a program evaluation that identified opportunities for improvement. The organics program, which provides interested residents with FoodCyclers, will continue into 2025 as the City continues to monitor the program’s effectiveness, pursue opportunities for improvement, and support residents in further reducing their organics waste. The City requires an organics program to divert food waste from the landfill, reduce methane emissions, and minimize wildlife attractants.

The Pre-treated Organics Program evaluation highlighted a high level of community participation with 2,200 homes (51% per cent of eligible homes) across the city voluntarily participating in the program to divert food waste from the landfill. 

Evaluation Methods and Metrics

With a traditional green cart program, diversion can be measured solely by the weight of organic waste collected at the curb. For the Pre-treated Organics Program, it is more challenging to directly measure diversion, because the City only receives a portion of the pre-treated material from residents. Participants have the option to either use the pre-treated material as a soil amendment in their home gardens or drop it off for collection. The City used a combination of metrics to estimate diversion rates, including curbside waste composition, curbside tonnage data, bag tag usage, and organics drop-off bin weights. 

Among households with FoodCyclers, staff measured a reduction in the portion of organic waste in the curbside garbage stream. The evaluation revealed an opportunity for participants to divert even more food waste with their FoodCyclers, as well as a need for the City to inform residents about items found in the waste stream that can go into their FoodCycler, such as avocado pits, bones, and some food-soiled paper. Staff also identified opportunities for improved recycling of materials not accepted at curbside, especially glass and soft plastics. 

Participant feedback was also used to evaluate the program’s impact in our community. Feedback included an overall high level of approval for the program, as well as experiences of common challenges to participating such as mechanical issues, and the size of the appliance in their home.

Sustainable Behaviour Change and Ongoing Data Collection

Components of the evaluation suggest we do not yet have a complete picture of our community’s waste practices.  Survey data on self-reported FoodCycler usage and drop-off bin usage suggest a higher diversion rate than was measured in the audits. 

Through the audits, staff measured low set-out rates for household curbside garbage and low volumes of bulky material and yard waste in the curbside waste stream. This indicates that Nelson residents self-haul these materials to the transfer station in addition to self-hauling household garbage. The weight and composition of the self-hauled material have not been measured. Moving forward, these will be important factors to consider in determining overall diversion rates. 

Evaluating this type of program generally takes several years, because the Pre-treated Organics Program requires participants to make a significant change to their daily behaviour. By extending the program into 2025, staff will assess how additional education and participant support impact organics diversion, which will help inform a decision on the program’s long-term effectiveness.

As the Pre-treated Organics Program continues, the City will focus on: 

• Ensuring participants have all of the information they need to use their FoodCycler to its full potential,
• Minimizing barriers to participation, and
• Continuing to gather data on the program’s effectiveness and potential for organic waste diversion.

For more information, read our organics evaluation. 

Residents are encouraged to join the Pre-treated Organics Program. 

Register today at nelson.ca/organics to claim a FoodCycler.