Kelowna decision stalls regional curbside food waste program
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A proposed curbside food waste collection program will not be moving forward in Kelowna, after city council voted to delay the plan for at least five years.
The decision was made following a review of the program’s projected costs, which would have added an estimated $70 to the annual utility bill for single-family households already paying around $200 per year for waste collection services. Some councillors expressed concern that the actual increase could be significantly higher.
The program would have expanded green bin use to include food scraps, which currently must be discarded with regular garbage. However, the service would only have applied to detached homes, excluding apartment and condo residents as well as commercial food waste producers.
With Kelowna accounting for the majority of homes in the region, the city’s decision effectively halts the Regional District of Central Okanagan’s broader effort to implement a region-wide curbside organics program. The idea may be revisited during the next update to the regional solid waste management plan, expected in 2030.
