On November 14, 2016, CUPE Local 500 President Gord Delbridge joined with NDP MLA Rob Altemeyer and Martin Entz, University of Manitoba, to call on the Provincial Government to invest carbon tax revenues on curbside composting.
“Every year, at least 140,000 tonnes of our residential waste is estimated to be organic material that could be composted,” said Local 500 President Gord Delbridge. “Having curbside organic waste collection will not only help with the reduction of harmful landfill emissions that contribute to climate change, but would also be a significant job creation opportunity.”
In October, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that all provinces and territories would require some form of carbon pricing by 2018. The Prime Minister also vowed to return the revenue to the provinces.
“The provincial government’s going to be bringing in the new carbon tax ... that’s going to be raising hundreds of millions of dollar in new revenues,” said NDP MLA Rob Altemeyer. “If we had curbside composting in Winnipeg and all the other cities in Manitoba, we would be able to accomplish some pretty great stuff.”
In 2011, consultations showed 60 per cent of Winnipeggers wanted curbside organic-waste collection, and a 2015 phone survey suggested support for the program had risen to 80 per cent, said city supervisor Randy Park.
On October 26, Winnipeg City Council approved a recommendation that the Winnipeg Public Service enter into discussions, including potential revisions to the Collective Agreement, with the Canadian Union of Public Employees to explore whether the City could deliver garbage and recycle collection at a cost comparable to private sector service providers, in order to create an innovative option whereby City of Winnipeg collection contracts (such as multifamily garbage and recycling collection and/or a potential compost pilot project) could be awarded in-house in the future. The City has five collection contracts expiring 2017 (bulky waste), 2018 to 2023 (bin collection).
“We will be meeting with the City shortly to discuss options for future in-house work including an organic waste collection program. Other cities such as Toronto, Vancouver and Saskatoon have already rolled out compost pick up services and Winnipeg should be doing the same as part of its efforts to maximize waste diversion.”
The Local will update the membership as more information becomes available.
