Community well on its way to reaching waste targets

Editor:

Congratulations are due Lethbridge city council. A decade ago a municipal target was set for 50 per cent reduction by 2030 in kilograms of waste per capita dumped annually in our landfill.

Our community is well on the way to meeting that target across all sectors – residential, industrial/ commercial/institutional and construction demolition.

Leadership from City Council and administration, current and past, has helped Lethbridge households get on board with waste reduction.

Waste audits have shown that implementation of the curbside blue cart/recycling program beginning in 2019 achieved a 15 per cent diversion of residential waste.

The curbside green cart/organics program that began implementation in 2022 experienced an 85% participation rate and has diverted almost six million kilograms of waste (55 kg/capita) in its first year.

Additional organic waste diversion across all sectors is anticipated.

The organic waste is being converted into compost for use in yards and green spaces.

Benefits of these waste diversion programs include increasing the life span of our landfill, economic return on recyclables, reducing the risk of leachate pollution and management costs, and minimizing production of landfill methane thereby significantly mitigating climate change impacts.

As our community embarks on a climate adaptation strategy and action plan it is helpful to reflect on the progress made by residents over a relatively short period of time in significantly reducing waste.

It provides evidence that we can be an environmentally responsible city and bodes well for collectively improving our resilience to climate impacts including water conservation, drought- and fire-proofing our urban landscape and conserving natural areas and biodiversity.

Cheryl Bradley

Chair, WasteLESS team of Environment Lethbridge