In an effort to mitigate issues experienced over the holiday period last year, the city has shifted to a weekly organics collection through the winter. As it makes the adjustment, the city is giving tips and reminders on how to dispose of that material and not miss a collection day.

Following the implementation of community-wide organics last year, the format for organics collection was weekly for March through November and biweekly for December through February. City council voted to maintain a year round weekly collection schedule after some residents went about a month between organics collection due to the way statutory holidays lined up in 2023/24.

“There’s always a challenge through the Christmas season,” says Acting Utility and Environmental Services Manager Glen Farrow. “There’s certain zones that, depending on how the days fall, there’s a significant break between when that collection will be held.”

Farrow says one of the biggest challenges in the winter is material freezing to carts. “So you look at the leaves and other things that have high moisture when you put them in the cart, they’re they’re wet, and it’s sloppy when you put it in the cart, and then, you know, it drops below zero, so it freezes, freezes and tightens up and in some ways, adheres to the side of the cart, so then it’s unable to get fall out when we when we tip the cart. So we do encourage residents to layer the product in their carts and then potentially even use cardboard paper as a bit of a lining between the organic product and the plastic cart.”

If you don’t properly sort your garbage and recycling, it could prove to be an annoyance. Farrow says it is regularly doing inspections of carts to ensure the appropriate product mix. “Through our inspections, we do see the majority of the community putting the right product in the right cart at the right time. But, there is the odd situation where we see excessive garbage in the recycling and and those are the type of carts that we we spend a bit more time on repeat inspections and following up with those residents to ensure we we are communicating clearly of what the right product to put in those carts are.”

For updated solid waste collection schedules for December 2024 and 2025, visit Kamloops.ca/CollectionSchedules.

Tips For Managing Solid Waste and Recycling

• Recyclable items that can stay out of the garbage:
  • Excess curbside recyclables (cardboard, paper, plastic containers, and metal containers) are accepted at specified City Depots and Recycle BC Depots.
  • Glass, Styrofoam, foam packaging, lightbulbs, and flexible plastics are accepted at specified Recycle BC Depots. Flexible plastics include plastic bags, plastic overwrap on flats of beverages or paper towel rolls, crinkly wrappers (e.g. pasta, chip, candy), zipper lock or stand-up pouches (e.g. dried fruit, nuts, frozen foods), and woven net bags.
  • Keep bulky textiles out of the garbage. Recycle or donate unwanted clothing, bags, shoes, towels, blankets, sheets, and curtains. Find a list of options at Kamloops.ca/Textiles.
  • Recycle hard and soft cover books. There are four book recycling locations around the city. Find details at Kamloops.ca/BookRecycling.
• Managing cardboard:
  • Cardboard that is not fully broken down is bulky and takes up unnecessary space in the recycling cart. Flatten small boxes and cut or rip large cardboard into magazine-sized pieces. Large cardboard panels can also be taken to a depot.
  • Cardboard may be used in the organics cart. Use pieces of cardboard to line the bottom and sides and use them as layers within the cart. This will help absorb moisture in the cart and will help prevent material from sticking or freezing to the sides.
• Use the organics cart for all food scraps (including meat, bones, and fats) and food-soiled paper. For a complete list of what can go in the organics cart, visit Kamloops.ca/Organics.
• Dispose of household hazardous waste at a new year-round drop-off facility:
  • Take residential loads of paint, aerosol cans, fuel, solvents, cleaners, chemicals, and batteries free of charge to North-Wood Environmental Services at 480 Okanagan Way. Learn more at Kamloops.ca/HHW.
• Use the Waste Wizard in the free Waste Wise Kamloops app to search where hundreds of items go and whether they belong in the recycling, organics, or garbage cart or are accepted at a specified recycling depot. Visit Kamloops.ca/WasteWise to download or use the app.