After receiving considerable feedback from the residents of the county, the Municipality of the County of Antigonish has decided to move forward with the curbside/roadside collection of residential organics. The Municipality of the County of Antigonish will provide one 40 litre green collection cart and one 7.5 litre kitchen container to all households in the County of Antigonish for collection of organics. By definition, "organic" refers to anything that was once living. Residential organic material consists primarily of food scraps and yard waste.

Organics collection follows recycling and backyard composting as the next step in helping to protect and preserve our environment. Many residents who currently backyard compost are encouraged to continue to do so, as the curb/roadside organics collection program is meant to complement backyard composting by diverting the compostable organic material that cannot be backyard composted such as meat, fish, bones, dairy products and solid paper.

After completing a feasibility study for curbside/roadside organics collection for the County of Antigonish, the Municipality has decided that smaller 40 litre green collection carts are more suitable for residents of this area, rather than the larger 120 litre green collection carts that are more common throughout the province. The decision is based on the fact that many residents live in rural areas with long driveways, making the transportation of larger collection carts more difficult. Backyard composting has also proven to work in the region therefore when possible we are encouraging residents to keep kitchen greens, leaf and yard waste on premise, as it is a valuable material that can be used in gardens, flower beds and will decompose naturally.

Organics from the 40 litre green collection carts will be collected weekly in conjunction with regular garbage pick-up. Collection carts must be at the curb by 7:00am on the day of your collection. They can be set out the night before. A collection truck designed to carry both organics and garbage will transport the organics to the composting facility for processing.

The Municipality of the County of Antigonish completed delivery of the green carts to permanent residents of the county as of November 15th, 2005. If you are a permanent county resident and have not received a green cart, you may pick one up at the municipal office located at 285 Beech Hill Road. Users are responsible for any damages caused by neglect, fire, loss or cart misuse. Resident can begin organics collection as soon as they receive their carts, with collection taking place on the same day as regular garbage pick-up. For further information or if you have not received a cart please call the municipal office at 863-1117.

The following organic items will be collected by the County of Antigonish for transfer to a centralized composting facility:

Curb/Roadside Organics Collection

Food Waste	Soiled & Non-Recyclable Paper Products
table scraps meat, fish & bones vegetable & fruit peelings shellfish, including shells solid dairy products cooking oil, grease & fat bread, rice & pasta egg and nut shells coffee grounds and filters tea bags	soiled food napkins paper towel pizza boxes fast food wrappers wax paper paper plates (no styrofoam) sugar, flour & potato bags pet food bags (without plastic liner)
Yard Waste	Other
grass & leaves house & garden plant trimmings	sawdust & wood shavings dryer lint hair

For More Information:

For further information on organics collection, the clear bag program, recycling or backyard composting, please contact us at (902) 863-1117.

For more information on Residential Backyard Composting and Curbside Collection/Centralized Composting in Nova Scotia, please click here.

For more information on Composting Yard Trimmings and Leaves in Nova Scotia, please click here.

Please note: This symbol denotes a link to an external website.