Bonfield has 35 tabletop composters at their township office available to residents for $150 plus tax, all part of a new pilot project to help deter waste from the landfill.
The composters are FoodCyclers, designed for indoor use. This past fall, the municipality decided to team with Food Cycle Science Corporation, based in Ottawa, to implement a pilot project within the community to see how residents took to the composters, and how well they worked for users.
Food scraps are turned to compost within the FoodCycler in “an average of five hours” the company explains on their website. “It was presented to us as an option to reduce food waste going to the landfill,” explained Mayor Randy McLaren, speaking of Food Cycle Science’s presentation to council last fall.
See: Bonfield’s new initiative diverts food waste from landfill
“And whoever purchases one is obviously serious about managing their food waste,” he added.
The municipality received a grant to help subsidize the cost of the units, and anyone who purchases a unit is asked to take part in a survey “of how well it worked for you after using it for three months,” the mayor explained.
“We’ll see what the level of interest is” on this batch, McLaren explained, and he’s curious to see the surveys once completed to see if the machine is “user friendly, to put it that way.” If feedback is positive, and demand exists, the municipality will consider expanding the program by bringing in more units.
The program aligns with the municipal goal of reducing food waste ending up in landfill. Mayor McLaren mentioned the landfill has “a hundred-year lifespan left on it,” but that estimate will change as more residents move to the area, and with increases in construction waste.
So, diversion remains a priority for Bonfield because when it comes time for a new dump, “finding another one is difficult,” the mayor said.
Interested residents can reach out to Bonfield’s deputy clerk, Andree Gagne at 705-776-2641 for more information or to purchase a unit. Gagne can also be reached at [email protected]
David Briggs is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter who works out of BayToday, a publication of Village Media. The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.
