The District of Muskoka is beginning its kitchen organics collection program this week.

While some Huntsville residents already received organic waste pick-up on Tuesday, the majority of Huntsville’s urban residents are being asked to put their green boxes out Thursday.

Those in Huntsville’s urban areas have been able to empty items such as peels, egg shells, cooked meats and other food scraps as well as facial tissue and even wood ashes into a green sealed box, to be collected weekly on the same day as the blue recycling bin.

The Kitchen Organics Collection Program originates from a long-range waste management plan initiated by Muskoka in April, 2004. The plan aims at identifying opportunities for waste diversion and waste disposal in Muskoka by using means other than landfills.

As part of the long-range plan, a diversion strategy was developed to provide recommendations for programs that would move Muskoka’s residential diversion rate toward the 60 per cent diversion target established by the province of Ontario.

District council approved the December 2005 Diversion Plan Implementation Strategy that included kitchen organic collection and composting.

Final budget approval was given in the 2008 District of Muskoka annual operating and capital budgets for the program’s rollout in May 2008, at an estimated cost of $1.1 million.

District of Muskoka manager of waste management Jaime Delaney said material that will not compost or potentially cause process issues at the composting site, will not be collected. These include waste such as plastics, metals, kitty litter/pet wastes, medical dressings, and raw meat.

A fridge magnet detailing what sort of household waste material can be composted in the green bin has been provided to each resident to help him or her place acceptable organics into their green bin for collection.

Bag limits for those residents who are within the kitchen organic service area have been reduced from three to two bags per week to promote participation in the program.

“I am very pleased that Muskoka will be providing this service and reducing the amount of waste going to landfills and thereby increasing the life expectancy of our landfills,” said Delaney.