Our dry summer in Steinbach certainly left its mark on the amount of compostable material dropped off this year at community compost depots.

That is the word from Eldon Wallman, who heads Steinbach's Solid Waste Department. Wallman notes they took in 60 metric tonnes this year, which is only about half of what they received last year. But, Wallman says 2016 was a wet year.

Compost depots were held on Saturdays this summer at Stonybrook Middle School and Woodlawn School. The last of the depots were held Saturday.

Wallman says the summer of 2016 was so wet that they couldn't actually find time to screen their pile of compostable material from the previous year. As a result, they carried that over into 2017, screened it and had a large pile available for pickup to Steinbach residents.

The material that was collected this year is now brewing on a pile at the Steinbach Landfill. Wallman says if the weather allows, that pile will be screened in June of 2018 and available for pickup in July.

According to Wallman, the idea of composting is really catching on in Steinbach. He notes they get more and more feedback and the city is now considering expanding the program in the future to include additional sites and days.

"We'd like to make it better for the residents and easier for them to do the compost program," says Wallman.

Compost depots are staffed, which results in less material being dropped off that doesn't belong in a compost bin. Still, Wallman says some non-compostable material will inevitably find its way into the bin. He reminds the public that twigs and branches are still not accepted unless they are ground into sawdust.

Once the material is screened, city staff will use about half of the pile for tree planting and other projects within the Parks and Recreation Department.