The Essex-Windsor Solid Waste Authority is moving closer to getting a region-wide organic waste program in place.
The province has mandated municipalities have a program up and running by 2025.
Board members were presented with a number of options Tuesday night ranging between $30-million and $150-million depending on the extent of the operation.
Tecumseh mayor Gary McNamara sits on the board and says, while it's going to be expensive, a program needs to be put in place sooner than later.
"I'm a firm believer that we have to reduce our greenhouse gases and there is a price to pay, but I want to make sure that it's cost effective and makes sense for us to meet the challenges into the future," he says.
McNamara says administration is going to take a closer look at what other municipalities are doing.
"It's a huge investment that we're going to be making right now and how much more investments are we going to have to make on top of that? I do believe we should be at least open and listening to other opportunities. The cost of information is free," he says.
McNamara says an investment of this size needs to be done right.
"This is a huge decision that we're making. Number one, meeting the challenges, climate change is a big deal. The other big deal is the amount of money that we're going to be spending. I don't want to be five or ten years down the road and saying we'll never even come close to meeting our challenges because we failed," he says.
Board members will now take the recommendations to their respective councils for further discussion.
The issue will come back before the solid waste authority board in June with a goal of making a decision on how to proceed at its July 6 meeting.
It's estimated 30,000 tonnes of organic waste can be diverted from the local landfill each year once a program is in place.