Compost Centre Transition Plan
Thank you to everyone who attended our virtual Community Town Hall on September 1st to discuss the transition plan for the Compost Centre located at Olds College.
Currently, the compost centre is operated by a third party company, Stoney Soil Products Ltd., that offers commercial compost services to local municipalities and private companies, including the Town of Olds green bin program.
For the past two years Stoney Soil Products has leased and operated the compost centre in alignment with the Alberta Environment Code of Conduct for composting facilities. However, due to the nature and amount of material being composted, combined with the proximity of the site to our college campus facilities, town residents, and rural neighbours, it is not suitable for the site to continue to operate as a commercial compost site.
In addition, Olds College has determined that operating a commercial compost facility for municipal organic recycling on our campus is no longer in alignment with the College’s academic and research priorities. Therefore the College has decided to end the contract with Stoney Soils and transition the current site to a non-commercial compost centre by the end of this calendar year.
Olds College has worked with Stoney Soil Products to come up with a transition plan that includes the following dates:
November 30, 2020 - stop intake of new material
December 31, 2020 - removal of composted material, tennant equipment, and any other material
January 1, 2021 - Olds College takes over operation of the site for non-commercial purposes
Olds College’s Applied Research team will be closely monitoring the compost site as we discontinue commercial operations this fall. The elimination of commercial materials and limiting the types of material that we compost (no more food waste), and altering the compost methods, will result in an improvement in odor, birds and litter.
Olds College is committed to being a good neighbour and appreciates feedback on all our campus programs and applied research initiatives. We will be holding a follow-up virtual town hall community meeting in the New Year to receive feedback on the compost site. If you have questions or concerns about the compost site please contact the Olds College Centre for Innovation (OCCI) at occi@oldscollege.ca or call 403.507.7970.
