The Regional District is testing out a new program that would allow residents to put just about anything to the curb.
The Bulky Pilot Project is selecting 500 residences in Peachland, Kelowna Mission, and Lake Country to have unwanted household items such as old furniture, renovation materials and exercise equipment picked up.
“There’s a lot of interest in people having a more convenient way of dropping off materials because a great deal of residents have to travel a long distance to dispose of these types of items,” says Peter Rotheisler, Manager of Environment Services “There was also some interest in setting up new depots or waste transfer stations at new locations throughout the regions. We thought that that could potentially be avoided by offering this type of program.”
The location selection criteria were determined by areas currently the greatest distance from an existing waste facility, namely the Glenmore landfill and the Westside Residential Waste Disposal Center. The chosen residents will be notified they can take part in the pilot through door knockers.
Rotheisler says the pilot will explore two challenges the program may face: whether residents would be willing to pay for the service through a user pay basis and how residents feel about the sight of various items sitting out on curbs in their neighborhood.
The pilot will run from October 10 to December 1 and once it is over the Regional Waste Reduction Office will survey residents to find out their preferences on items they would like included in a more permanent program and how much they would be willing to pay for the service.