Residents invited to share thoughts on ‘pay as you throw’ waste system

Guided by its Waste Management Roadmap, Strathcona County is starting a journey to change how we think about and manage our waste.

In 2020 and 2021, Strathcona County engaged residents to develop a Waste Management Roadmap. The Waste Management Roadmap identified a need to update to a more equitable, flexible waste system, that provides incentives for reducing waste.

“‘Pay as you throw’ is a system where households pay based on the amount of waste they throw away, similar to how other utilities are charged,” says manager of waste services Leah Seabrook. “Currently, even if you reuse, recycle and compost everything possible you are paying the same amount as those households who don’t.”

A ‘pay as you throw’ system would give residents greater control over their costs, while allowing the flexibility to increase their waste capacity or decrease it as needed.

Residents are invited to complete a short survey to explore the concept of ‘pay as you throw’ and what it entails. Resident input will help to determine what an acceptable and effective program could look like in our community.

Talking out the trash: Pay as you throw

Survey is open until March 18, 2022 at strathcona.ca/WasteRoadmap

Strathcona County’s Waste Management Roadmap, guiding the next 10 years of waste diversion, covers much more than the 3Rs of reduce, reuse and recycle. The roadmap outlines a collective, community-wide commitment to rethinking waste and diverting more from landfill.

More information: strathcona.ca/WasteRoadmap

Contact: Strathcona County Communications, 780-410-6595