New Brunswick’s proposed province-wide organics program still long way off

Nearly a third of the materials sent to New Brunswick landfills could be going to the compost pile instead.

That’s because a large part of the province doesn’t have a curbside compost collection program. And for the areas that do, waste sorting is difficult to enforce.

New Brunswick's Department of Environment and Local Government is working toward a province-wide organics program. The Strategic Action Plan for Solid Waste aims to have a new program in place by 2028.

“A comprehensive organic waste program will help reduce emissions and conserve resources,” said a representative from the department in an email.

In December 2025, the province conducted an online public consultation and it said it'll be months before the results are released. The Department of Environment did not agree to an interview with CBC but said it also consulted Indigenous partners and environmental groups.

The department estimates about 30 per cent of all waste sent to the landfill is organic waste, such food, soiled paper products as well as yard and pet waste.

It's proposing to install, through legislation, a 20 per cent cap on the amount of organic waste that can be disposed in regional landfills.

The province of New Brunswick is divided into 12 Regional Service Commissions. Only four of those actually collect compost at the curbside: Southeast (Moncton area), Fundy (Saint John area), Kings (Sussex area) and Kent County.

The other regions — Capital (including Fredericton), Northwest, Restigouche, Chaleur, Acadian Peninsula, Miramichi, Southwest and Western Valley — don’t. And it would be pretty expensive to implement.

“When it comes down to it, it's the financial aspect of having that implemented,” said Mélanie Rousselle, director of EcoDiversion with the Miramichi Regional Service Commission. "There is a lot of money that needs to go into that and the maintenance of it afterwards.”

She said it's a cost that would end up being passed down to residents.

“If there is a cost associated for organics, then it would be tacked on to the property taxes or the taxes by the municipalities currently," Rousselle said.

Other regions have similar reasoning.

“Introducing composting would require an additional collection stream, which would result in increased costs for municipalities, as well as significant infrastructure upgrades at our transfer station,” said a spokesperson with the Restigouche RSC.