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The City of Yellowknife says it will start “compost cart checks” to see if residents are properly sorting their waste.
City Hall announced the move in a post to Meta’s channels on Tuesday, accompanied by example images of warning labels affixed to green carts.
Those labels – titled “Oops!” – appear to allow city staff to indicate problems with the contents of green carts, ranging from contamination with plastic or dog poop through to the cart simply being too heavy.
The checks will “improve the effectiveness of the composting program,” the city stated.
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“Residents are encouraged to be mindful when sorting organic waste and to ensure only accepted materials are placed in compost carts.”
Last year, the city told the CBC compost produced from the contents of green carts is used at the municipal landfill for erosion control and as landfill cover.
More: The city’s composting webpage
The city used to sell compost to residents and hopes to one day do so again, the broadcaster reported. Samples sent to the Compost Quality Alliance, which is overseen by the Compost Council of Canada, need to meet predetermined national guidelines before that happens.
As of 2024, only about half of the city’s homes with green carts were using them, the municipality reported. According to the city, the compost facility keeps “1,000 tonnes of organic materials from being landfilled” annually.
