Organics

Nice job, Whitehorse! Our city has raised organics diversion up 91% since 2000. That being said, this rate has only increased by 18% since 2014. We can do better! Of the total waste diverted organics only represents 26%. This means organics are still making it into the waste stream.

When organics get mixed into the general waste at the landfill, they get choked of oxygen and decompose anaerobically. This produces toxic leachate sludge that poisons our watersheds. Worse yet, it also produces methane, a powerful greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change. In fact, methane from our landfill is one of the leading sources of greenhouse gas in Whitehorse. The solution is to divert all our organics to the Compost Facility, where it can break down properly into a valuable garden-boosting product. It’s so simple! Scraping your plate in the right bucket is one of the most effective actions we can take to address climate change. Please help keep plastics and other contaminants out of the organic carts. Climate change and waste diversion go hand in hand!

Whitehorse is a leader in municipal composting. Along the way, we’ve defied misconceptions that composting north of 60° is difficult or even impossible. In fact, our product is one of the best: It’s tested for purity (free from contaminants) and is even certified for use on organic farms! Our compost meets the Organic Materials Review Institute (OMRI) standard, making it approved for use in organic operations.

The Compost Facility also creates local jobs, prolongs the life of our landfill, and gets us closer to our goal of 50% diversion. It also produces an awesome booster for your garden. You can buy this top-quality product at our Waste Management Facility.

Get the Dirt on Organics Separation

All residential properties and food service businesses are now required to have Green Carts or Green Bin. Feed your Green Cart every day with all your food, yard and garden waste.

Organics Collection Programs

Residential Organics is for properties with 1 to 4 residential units. It includes biweekly Curbside Collection of Green Carts. Click here for more info.

Commercial Organics is for properties with 5 or more residential units, food service businesses, and all other commercial enterprises. It includes weekly collection of both Green Carts and Green Bins. To learn more about Commercial Organics, and to sign up, email us at: [email protected]

What is Compostable?

For the quick answer, use the convenient What Goes Where app, or check out our handy Organics Sorting Guide.

Compost collection services accept:

• food including meat, fish, dairy products and shellfish (including the shells) – raw or cooked;
• garden and yard waste;
• food soiled paper (for example, that grease stained pizza box or muffin bag);
• human and pet hair;
• sawdust and wood shaving;
• coffee grounds and filters;
• loose tea and fibre tea bags;
• eggshells;
• and more.

Pet waste (feces, bedding or litter) is not accepted. It can contain harmful pathogens that can ruin batches of compost.

Plastic of any kind, is not accepted. It is not organic material and will not break down.

Compostable Bags

If you wish to use ‘plastic-style’ bags, you must buy compostable bags with either of these logos. These are made of plant-based materials and will break down into compost. Regular plastic bags can biodegrade over many hundreds years – but that just means they become smaller and smaller pieces of plastic!

Never use plastic shopping bags, grocery bags or any other type of plastic bag for your organic waste. Biodegradable does not mean compostable.