The Essex-Windsor Solid Waste Authority (EWSWA) will soon begin sending out approximately 120,000 green bins to homes in the region ahead of the program launch in the fall.
The program, similar to the blue/red box recycling program, will see residents compost their food waste and organic items for weekly collection. The collection will be sent to Seacliff Energy in Leamington and converted into a liquid fertilizer.
Green bin kit delivery begins July 21 through October, and will include a 120-litre green bin, a seven-litre kitchen catcher, a how-to-guide, and a sample of compostable bags.
Residents are reminded to write their address on the lid, as it is linked to a tracking system for repairs and replacements, and keep the bin in a safe place prior to the Oct. 21 program launch for phase one municipalities.
Phase one of the program includes Essex, Lakeshore, LaSalle, Tecumseh, and Windsor. Single-family homes, multi-family dwellings such as duplexes and triplexes, and row houses under six units will all receive the green bin.
Cat Griffin, EWSWA's communication coordinator, says delivery will begin within a couple of weeks.
"So Windsor is going to start us off on July 21, they're starting off in 4A, so it goes by the zones on your calendar. So if you want to know when it's specifically your zone that's going to be getting a green bin, you can visit our website and we have a delivery schedule right up on the front page."
She says you don't have to use the compostable bags.
"You can just use the green bin just as it is, you can use the kitchen catcher just as it is. You can also line it with newspaper if you get the newspaper, you can line your kitchen catcher with newspaper, you can line it with a paper bag, or you can use a compostable bag."
Griffin says it's important to start this new process.
"So we want to get that food waste out of the landfill, and it saves landfill space, it's doing the right thing and we're making a resource for our crops because we need food to eat, so we have to grow the food. It's that perfect recycling loop, we're doing what we should do with food waste."
Griffin says the cost of the program is tax based - the same as garbage or recycle collection - and it's a taxable municipal program.
The green bin has a lock on it to prevent animals from getting inside, and when tipped over completely the gravity lock will unlatch to allow for collection.
Phase two will include Amherstburg, Kingsville, and Leamington and will see green bin delivery in fall 2026.
More information on the delivery schedule can be found by clicking here.