By Joel van der Veen
CRAIK — Unwelcome items dropped off at Craik’s community compost bins had included everything but the kitchen sink — until last weekend, that is.
An employee of Titan Clean Energy Projects discovered a kitchen sink inside one of the bins over the weekend, along with a pile of plastic sheets.
It was the last straw for the compost program, which has been made available free of charge to Craik and area residents for the past six years.
Titan office manager Michele Kiss confirmed that the company, the town and the Craik Sustainable Living Project (CSLP) had agreed to end the program last week.
Kiss said that abuse of the bins — including a high volume of non-compostable items, such as bicycles, weights and furniture — had been an ongoing problem.
“We don’t want it to become a dumping ground for everything under the sun,” she said.
Kiss also observed that some users were leaving their yard waste outside the bins, rather than depositing them inside, creating more work as well as a potential eyesore.
The project had begun around 2010 as an initiative between the CSLP and multiple partners, including Waste Management, which provided the bins and transported the material, and Titan, which processed it into compost.
The initial goal was to divert as much organic waste as possible from the Craik landfill. Titan had agreed to accept the material for processing, and composted material was made available for community spaces and personal use.
For most of the project’s history, there were two bins — one for yard waste and the other for kitchen scraps — situated on Crossford Avenue near Titan’s company site.
The project was successful in its early years, with almost 10,000 kg of material collected up to June 2011, according to the CSLP website. However, Kiss said the volume of acceptable compost, particularly kitchen waste, had declined over time.
With items like plastic bags winding up in the bins, Titan would need to use screening equipment to sort the material, adding more time and expense to the process.
Titan, the town and the CSLP had discussed the issue last year, and a note was included in a recent town newsletter reminding residents that the bins were for compost only.
Kiss said part of the decline may be due to more people starting to compost on their own, noting, “Backyard composting is becoming more popular.”
She called it “unfortunate” that the program couldn’t continue, adding that sustainability has been something of a raison d’etre for Craik over the last decade and a half.
Craik administrator Sarah Wells confirmed that the town had received an email from Titan on Monday about the situation. By Thursday, the bins had been removed.
Wells also said the program’s demise would be unwelcome news for the people who were still using it, but she understood why it was happening.
“It’s a shame,” she said. “People abuse stuff like that, and it’s gotta go.”