Leadership with the Municipality of Sioux Lookout is bringing an innovative composting program for the community, in the hopes of cutting down on food waste headed to the Hidden Lake Landfill.

In partnership with the Food Cycle Science Corporation, the Municipality will purchase 85 FoodCycler machines at a subsidized price for residents to use in their homes for a 12-week period, where residents track the amount of food waste diverted through the program.

FoodCyclers use heat to break down food waste including vegetables, chicken bones, bread and other things you can’t normally compost, and makes what it calls “a nutrient-rich soil amendment that can be added to plants/gardens or pelletized for home heating purposes.”

“The FoodCycler is very quick, compared to traditional composting,” explained Sioux Lookout’s Economic Development Officer, Jennifer Esposito.

“It processes food waste in a matter of hours instead of months. It is easy to clean and operate and doesn’t require any special training to use. Using a FoodCycler reduces our greenhouse gas impact and reduces the volume of waste going to the landfill. The benefits should be easily measurable,” adds Esposito.

The FC-30 unit will be available for $150 plus HST, compared to its usual price of about $500. The larger unit, the Maestro, will be available for $300 plus HST – down from $800.

Residents are asked to register online on a first-come, first-served basis with only one unit per household allowed. Registration will open on June 26 and close on July 6.

Units will be available for pickup on July 10 and July 11 by appointment in the Development Services department on the second floor of the Municipal Office at 25 Fifth Avenue.

Any leftover units not ordered will be available to residents on a first-come, first-serve basis between July 12 and July 14 from the Finance department on the main floor of the Municipal Office.

And of course, you get to keep the unit after the 12-week program – which runs between July 17 and October 8, 2023 in Sioux Lookout.

The Food Cycle Science Corporation is based out of Ottawa and was founded in 2011. They run similar projects in 44 Ontario communities, including Kenora, Fort Frances, Red Lake and Terrace Bay.

You can pre-register for a FoodCycler and find out more about the program HERE.