RDN Curbside collection fees increasing this year

Rachelle Stein-Wotten

Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Gabriola Sounder

Curbside utility fees are going up in the Regional District of Nanaimo, but the cart exchange fee for recycling bins will be eliminated.

The RDN board of directors passed an amendment to the curbside collection bylaw that will increase 2024 utility fees by 4 per cent for the 30,000 households that fall into the RDN service area. Three per cent of the increase is related to collection contract fees while one per cent is attributed to operating costs of yard waste collection, the first phase of which was introduced into the organics program last year.

For a single family dwelling unit, the 2024 fees will be $184 for an 80L garbage cart, $194 for 100L and $279 for 240L. Cart exchange fees for garbage carts will increase from $50 to $75 while the exchange fee for recycling carts will go from $50 to $0.

“Our intent is to drive recycling as the first choice when we’re looking at curbside collection,” Ben Routledge, RDN manager of solid waste services, said at the March 26 board meeting. Routledge said when the program first rolled out in 2019, a discussion determined there should not be an exchange fee charged for recycling carts; however, it has been for the last four years.

Between 2022 and 2023, there were 668 exchange requests across the RDN, 25 of which were for recycling carts and the remainder for garbage, primarily for larger sized carts.