This spring, the District of Tumbler Ridge subsidized 130 FoodCyclers for residents of town to see if the program would keep food waste from entering the transfer station.
The program was run in conjunction with FoodCycle Science, a Canadian-based company out of Ottawa who manufacture the devices.
Over the course of 12 weeks, people with the FoodCyclers were asked to track how much they used the devices.
Of the 130 people with the devices, 97 responded.
According to the surveys, most people (90 percent) were interested in reducing garbage, followed by 80 percent interested in reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Of those 97 people, the majority (79 percent) threw food waste into the garbage, while another 17 percent or so composted.
Of the 79 percent of people who didn’t compost, the majority (65 percent) said they were worried about attracting wild animals. 25 percent didn’t want the smell, 25 percent said it was too much work, while others either didn’t have space, or didn’t want to invest in equipment. (Note: multiple answers were allowed, so the percentages add up to over 100.)
Just over half (60 percent) picked up the smaller, 2.5 litre unit, while the rest got the bigger 5 litre unit.
People ran an average of 3.5 cycles per week.
That means, says the report, that about 257 kg of food waste per year was diverted from the landfill for each household.
All together, if those 130 FoodCyclers are used in a similar manner all year, by the end of 12 months, 33.3 metric tonnes of waste will be diverted from the landfill.
To put that another way, that’s the equivalent of 43.3 metric tonnes of C02 being diverted every year.
That also means that every garbage day, the houses using the FoodCyclers generated about 1.5 fewer bags of garbage, or 36.5 bags per year per household.
Of course, by making the residents responsible for their own food waste, it means an increase in the amount of electricity used in a household. But 36 percent said they didn’t see any increase in electricity usage, and 58.4 percent said it was negligible or unnoticeable. Only 5.6 percent of people noted an increase in electrical usage.
Nearly the same percentage (5.7 percent) said they would not recommend the FoodCycler to a friend.
Meanwhile, 93.2 percent say they plan to continue to use their FoodCycler.
One resident wrote ““I love the FoodCycler. It brought composting to a whole new level. I love that it works great on chicken and pork bones. It’s nice that you can put stuff in the FoodCycler that can’t go in an outside composter.”
Another suggests having a pick-up service or drop-off area for the compost. “It might incentivize people who don’t have a use for the compost product to actually start doing it.”
However, it wasn’t all roses. “It takes a bit to get used to,” said another participant. “Too small when extra people are around so I would avoid using it all together.”
The FoodCycler can make a loud grinding noise when it’s working, but, says a third: “The noise issue of the FoodCycler is easily resolved by chopping harder foods before putting in and being careful of the blend of foods. Twice my FoodCycler got all bunged up—caused by too much bread or too fibrous a food item.”
Finally, someone said: “I was so excited when I heard this program would be an option, and I’m very glad I could participate. I’m still using the FoodCycler just as much even though the 12-week period is finished.”
Tumbler Ridge does not have its own landfill. Instead, the District pays to have solid waste trucked from Tumbler Ridge to the Bessborough Landfill near Dawson Creek.
The program cost the District $13,000. It is hoped that by reducing food waste, transfer fees will go down. By diverting waste, says acting CAO Aleen Torraville, the District saves $55/tonne. The cost is approximately $180/tonne to transfer to landfill.
Mayor Krakowka says he’s not sure how many people have contacted the District about getting their own FoodCycler since the program closed down. “I think we need to look at it and continue on. I think it’s great program.”
Trent is the publisher of Tumbler RidgeLines.
