The Rural Municipality of Hanover has announced a compost pilot project for 2022.

Chief Administrative Officer Luc Lahaie says Pak-Man Disposals is responsible for the garbage collection in each of the five communities in Hanover. The service provider approached Hanover to see if the municipality might be interested in attempting curbside pickup of compost. Pak-Man suggested they start with a portion of one community to see what the level of interest might be.

"So in 2022 we are going to be going to Mitchell, the north portion of Mitchell, north of 52," says Lahaie.

Residents will be receiving compost totes, which are green and similar in size to the totes used for garbage and recycling. Lahaie says the compost will be picked up weekly, allowing residents to get rid of their leaves and grass clippings.

Lahaie says not all of the details have been ironed out, including cost. He notes they are going to start shopping around to look for green totes, which generally have a price tag of about $75. Having said that, Lahaie says the municipality intends to tap into its Garbage and Recycling reserves to handle some of the costs.

"We don't have a finger on the price yet for those," he says. "And only those that are interested in the service are welcome to request one when they are available."

He says another decision they will need to make is how the service might be offered in winter. That is because there is no grass or leaves to pick up in winter, and potato peel will likely just freeze to the bottom of the tote.

Lahaie says they have the green light from the Local Urban District committee of Mitchell to target the north portion of their community first. He adds there is also interest from Grunthal and Blumenort to be part of this initiative once they iron out the kinks.

According to Lahaie, initially, this service will be offered above and beyond their regular compost depots. However, he notes if this becomes something that everyone wants to subscribe to, this would eventually eliminate the need for weeknight depots in their communities. He says the problem with the depots is that crews are dealing with drop-offs on days leading up to and following pick-up dates.

"Some residents have been dropping off their compost the night before or even the day after compost day," he explains. "So we have to deal with the compost bags that have been left over when there are no attendants around to pick up that compost around that trailer."

Lahaie admits he has not put much thought into just how much interest there might be towards this service, however, he suggests that if at least 75 per cent of Hanover residents will buy in, it will be considered a success. Lahaie says the more compostable material that can be diverted from entering the landfill, the more money that is saved as a municipality. Hanover currently has a service contract with Overton Environmental Enterprises at Giroux that takes their compostable material.