City council has decided that every household in Calgary will have weekly pick-up of organic waste starting next year.
On Monday, council members approved a rate structure to pay for the system, which aims to divert a large portion of the city's waste out of landfills.
Administration was told a few months ago to come up with a cost to collect and empty the carts and have put forward a fee of $6.50 a month.
The program is scheduled to start next year in an effort to cut down on food and yard waste.
Approximately 8,000 homes in the communities of Abbeydale, Brentwood, Cougar Ridge and Southwood received green carts in the winter of 2012 for collection of food and yard waste as the first stage of a pilot project.
In the first three years of the pilot, the city collected more than 6.5 million kilograms of compostable material and there was a noticeable decrease in garbage collected from the participating neighbourhoods.
The contents of the green bins are collected each week and turned into compost to be used in green spaces and local farms. Black bin collection is reduced to every second week.
For more information on the program, visit City of Calgary Green Cart Frequently Asked Questions.
