Ottawa's choice for compost service leaves lingering odour

The City of Ottawa has created a potentially smelly problem by opting for the cheaper of two curbside composting services — one that doesn't include used diapers or pet waste.

When the composting program launches in October 2009, it is expected to substantially reduce the amount of garbage people have so the city will reduce regular garbage pickup to every two weeks.

That means people with used diapers and pet feces will have to keep them around for longer periods of time.

"Once the tenders closed, and we saw the prices, it made no sense to include them [diapers and cat feces]," said Albert Shamess, director of Ottawa's waste services.

The extra cost to include them would have been $2.4 million a year.

It's worth every penny, said Claudia Marsales, director of waste management in Markham, Ont., just north of Toronto.

'It's not just an issue of cost, it's an issue of participation, ease for our residents, of getting that level of garbage down to a much more sustainable level," Marsales told CBC News.

Both Toronto and Markham have composting programs that accept diapers, pet feces, and even plastic bags containing organic waste, and they employ the same company Ottawa will use to operate its program — Orgaworld Canada Ltd.

But they have to pay a higher rate for the service because the compost produced and resold by Orgaworld is less marketable.

Marsales said the more expensive composting program means Markham is able to keep 70 per cent of residential waste out of landfills. Ottawa's rate is currently at 33 per cent, and a long-term goal was recently set for 60 per cent.

To cope with the diaper problem, city staff have been discussing a possible special service that residents with children could register for, which would provide special bags for pickup along with recycling and compost. They have yet to calculate what that would cost.